Every year more than 60 students from across Canada travel to Europe to learn the lessons of history. A journey of transformation; a journey where they will meet head on with the very depths of cruelty and the best of humanity.
In the hours between dusk and dawn: 20 million hungry bats, 700,000 watts of light beaming into space, 80,000 flaming rockets, 60,000 drunken club kids, 9,000 cemetery candles, 1000 miles of dark road, 600 desk lamps, 500 red umbrellas.City dwellers are only able to fully appreciate the magic of the night skies during blackouts. Inspired by one-and by Christopher Dewdney's book- filmmaker Michael MacNamara traveled around the world exploring stories of nighttime phenomena, customs and rituals from sunset to sunrise.
Reel Injun takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American natives through the history of cinema. Traveling through the heartland of America, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond looks at how the myth of "the Injun" has influenced the world's understanding - and misunderstanding - of natives. With candid interviews with directors, writers, actors and activists, including Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch, Robbie Robertson, Sacheen Littlefeather, John Trudell and Russell Means, clips from hundreds of classic and recent films, including Stagecoach, Little Big Man, The Outlaw Josey Wales, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Atanarjuat the Fast Runner, Reel Injun traces the evolution of cinema's depiction of native people from the silent film era to today.
In an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. A tender and moving family tale, director Rohan Fernando's lush cinematic journey intimately captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is suddenly and dramatically changing. A lament for cultures lost, this timely and vital film challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.
In many Canadian mosques, women are put behind barriers to pray and sometimes are not even expected to enter. This documentary covers the historical role and the current state of Canadian mosques regarding the presence of women, mainly focusing on how they are regarded by their parish.
A Dialogue to Hope reveals the shared narratives found in individual and collective ideologies of hate, and how we as a species can overcome them. For six years the filmmaker worked with unprecedented access to some of the most venomous ideologies and violent conflicts of our time including the White Supremacist movement, Christian Fundamentalism as an anti-gay platform, Muslim Extremism, the Palestinian Intifada, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers, and US Forces in Iraq. By juxtaposing this verite footage with interviews from leading sociological, psychological, and neurological experts, and interspersing stories of redemption told by former "combatants", the film weaves a tapestry that reveals both the emotional and biological mechanisms which make all of us susceptible to acts and ideologies of hate, and demonstrates how these very same traits make us equally capable of overcoming them.
In 2007, Nobel Prize winning US scientist James Watson was quoted referring to research suggesting that black people were less intelligent than other races. His comments caused a storm of controversy, Watson was condemned. Although he apologised for the offence he caused, his public engagements were cancelled and he left his British speaking tour in disgrace. Meanwhile, right wing websites hailed him as the new Galileo - a martyr to political correctness that was concealing the fact that there is indeed evidence that shows different races score differently in IQ tests. But are the tests biased? Is race really a scientific category at all? In this documentary, part of the season Race: Science's Last Taboo, Rageh Omaar sets out to find out the truth, meeting scientists who believe the research supports the view that races can be differentiated as well as those who vehemently oppose this view. By daring to ask the difficult questions, Omaar is able to explode the myths about race and IQ and reveal what he thinks are important lessons for society.
Hellbound? is a Canadian documentary film which details the current debate regarding various views about the existence and nature of hell.
Imagine being able to watch as Edison turned on the first light bulb, or as Franklin received his first jolt of electricity. For the first time, a film gives audiences a front row seat to a significant and inspiring scientific breakthrough as it happens. Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start-up of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist? Directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker, and masterfully edited by Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient), Particle Fever is a celebration of discovery, revealing the very human stories behind this epic machine.
