Genres: documentary

  • Portrait of a Street: The Soul and Spirit of College

    Eight Canadians vividly recall their childhood and youth growing up in Toronto’s Jewish, Italian and black communities during the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. They captivate us with engaging and poignant stories on the immigrant experience, growing up poor and ethnic in the city, enduring discrimination, and keeping the spirit alive with music, friends and family. Their reminiscences on the joy and hardships of growing up in Toronto’s Little Italy paint a portrait of a time, a place and a generation. Featuring Johnny Lombardi, the Sherman Brothers, Sam (The Record man) Sniderman, Rose Grieco, Fanny Brass and Stanley G. Grizzle.

  • Cape Breton Endangered Spaces, The

    This film documents the large scale clear-cutting on public lands on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and areas that are still uncut that are in urgent need of wilderness preservation.

  • Japan: Kesei Line Single Take

    This film is part of an ongoing series of 16mm films simply called “Japan.” “Kesei Line Single Take” is a visual poem; its imagery (of passing Japanese landscape) is at times like that of Abstract Expressionist painting. This entire film is comprised of one take- there are no cuts, no camera moves, no exposure, focus, or shutter adjustments. “Absolutely captivating.” – Tor Lukasik-Foss, Art Gallery of Hamilton

  • Divas: Love Me Forever (Festival Version)

    “Divas: Love Me Forever” is a comic-serious documentary about female impersonation, desire, fantasy, self-acceptance and the search for love. Edimburgo Cabrera, the Cuban-Canadian director and videographer (Latin Queens), follows six black female impersonators through Toronto’s vibrant gay club scene as they search for home, family, and love. The life stories of these six divas become a prism illuminating gay life in the Caribbean and North America from the 1970s to the present. A diva is a female impersonator who stands out amongst her peers because of her superior performance talents, devoted public following, and public advocacy on behalf of her…

  • Saskatchewan

    Using home movies, vintage memorabilia, and the straight facts about Saskatchewan, the filmmaker creates an eccentric portrait of the first year of his life, and the province that shaped his identity. “Brian Stockton’s bittersweet tribute to the province he was born in perfectly captures the essence of life in the vast and lonely prairies.” – Nicole Cohen, EYE Weekly “Miss at your peril… Stockton’s grounded, deadpan voice-over, combined with the homely seduction of the images, keeps the tether strong between private myth and real life.” – Cameron Bailey, Now Magazine

  • No You Cyant Touch It!

    Shot in black-and-white and sepia tones, “No You Cyant Touch It!” incorporates an understanding of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality as it deals with Black women’s favourite obsession – hair – from an interesting perspective. The film’s creatrix and subject examines the link between her locks, her Black, queer identity, and other people’s understanding/assumptions of who she is and where she “belongs.” The stark tones and political subject matter are mediated by Rhizome Syndrigast Coelacanth Flourishing’s lyrical poetics.

  • Rub

    Masturbation is one of life’s sweetest distractions. This experimental film is an homage to the pleasures a girl can experience, all on her own.

  • Filmmaker’s Journey, A

    “A Filmmaker’s Journey” is a feature-length mockumentary which chronicles Gerald L’Ecuyer’s attempt to shoot the movie of his dreams in New York City. With only Canadian grant money to spend, L’Ecuyer faces everything from a funding board that insists on nudity in every scene, to a crew that threatens mutiny from day one. Featuring Bob Balaban, Christopher Durang, Lothaire Bluteau, Ann Magnuson, Dan Futterman, Mary McLaughlin, and Gerald L’Ecuyer. The film was shot over a three-week period in New York City in May of 2002.

  • Oil Wells: Sturgeon Road & 97th Street

    Highlighting the repetitive nature of oil wells in northern Alberta, this film documents a sighting common to the Canadian prairies.

  • Divas: Love Me Forever (Broadcast Version)

    “Divas: Love Me Forever” is a 48-minute comic-serious documentary about female impersonation, desire, fantasy, self-acceptance and the search for love. Edimburgo Cabrera, the Cuban-Canadian director and videographer (Latin Queens), follows six black female impersonators through Toronto’s vibrant gay club scene as they search for home, family, and love. The life stories of these six divas become a prism illuminating gay life in the Caribbean and North America from the 1970s to the present. A diva is a female impersonator who stands out amongst her peers because of her superior performance talents, devoted public following and public advocacy on behalf of…