The Woman Who Loves Giraffes

Director Alison Reid
Year 2018
Run Time 83min
Genre Documentary
Decades after her groundbreaking study of giraffes, Dr. Anne Innis Dagg retraces her path, revealing how environmental changes have impacted the habitat of the animal she devoted her life to.

Director

Alison Reid

Writer

Alison Reid

Producers

Joanne Jackson, Alison Reid, Paul Zimic

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Environment, Female Filmmaker

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

KinoSmith

There Are No Fakes

Director Jamie Kastner
Year 2019
Run Time 113min
Genre Documentary

This mesmerizing and shocking art world exposé centres on the works of Norval Morrisseau, one of the most influential Indigenous artist in Canada. 

After spending $20,000 at a reputable Toronto gallery to purchase his Spirit Energy of Mother Earth, Kevin Hearn (of the Barenaked Ladies) was surprised to discover its authenticity being called into question. His decision to sue the art dealer spurs an investigation into the painting's provenance, and so begins the unravelling of an art fraud ring with fighting factions, all claiming to be the true protectors of the Anishinaabe painter's legacy—and all of whom happen to be white. 

Questions of authenticity, appropriation and exploitation underlay a devastating story about a visionary artist caught between worlds. As the legal case proceeds, shocking new revelations emerge, detailing damages that spread far beyond the canvas.

Director

Jamie Kastner

Writer

Jamie Kastner

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Biography, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Language Version

None

Canadian Distributor

Mongrel Media

The Romance of the Far Fur Country

Director Harold M. Wyckoff
Year 1920
Run Time 120min
Genre Documentary

Shot with a scope that reaches from coast to coast to coast, this early documentary about the fur trade is about as ambitious as it gets. With scenes ranging from intimate to awe-inspiring, this silent epic tells a story that encompasses a wide variety of landscapes and people that participated in the industrial frenzy.

Created to commemorate the Hudson’s Bay Company’s 250th anniversary, this is the first feature length documentary in Canadian History, and is an important piece of history. Documenting different aspects of Canada almost 100 years ago, it is a fascinating look into the culture of that era.

Director

Harold M. Wyckoff

Producers

E. W. Hammons, Hudson's Bay Company

Genre

Documentary

Interest

History

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

Five Door Films

Viola Desmond Is On The Money

Directors Pat Jeflyn, Kim Kristy
Year 2019
Run Time 21min
Genre Documentary
Lesley McCurdy discusses her one woman show about unheralded but historically important Black Canadian women, including Viola Desmond, an icon of Canada’s civil rights movement, and the face on the country’s new ten dollar bill.

Directors

Pat Jeflyn, Kim Kristy

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

English

ScaredSacred

Director Velcrow Ripper
Year 2004
Run Time 104min
Genre Documentary

A five-year search around the world for ways in which people take the experience of being scared and turn it into something sacred. Sites of catastrophe are scoured for signs of hope.

Director

Velcrow Ripper

Writer

Velcrow Ripper

Producers

Cari Green, Harry Sutherland, Tracey Friesen

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Global Experiences, History, Social Justice & Politics

Original Languages

English, Other Language

Canadian Distributor

Mongrel Media

Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey

Directors Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
Year 2005
Run Time 96min
Genre Documentary

A lifelong heavy metal fan, Canadian anthropologist Dunn travels around the world to explore the origins of the genre as well as the controversy that sometimes accompanies the culture of the music and its fans.

Directors

Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise

Writers

Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise

Producers

Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen

Genre

Documentary

Interest

Arts and Culture

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

eOne

Enfants de choeur! (The Choir Boys)

Director Magnus Isacsson
Year 1999
Run Time 76min
Genre Documentary, Drama
A documentary focusing on the relationships between a choir of homeless men in Montreal and their founder and choirmaster, Pierre.

Director

Magnus Isacsson

Genres

Documentary, Drama

Interest

Arts and Culture

Original Language

French

Language Version

EN Subtitles

  • Own Voice

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

Director Ann Marie Fleming
Year 2003
Run Time 90min
Genre Documentary

A loving and entertaining portrait of the director’s greatgrandfather, a brilliant Chinese magician and acrobat.

Director

Ann Marie Fleming

Fleming is a visual artist, filmmaker and writer who has animated over 20 films, including the shorts Stories Sarah Tells, Big Trees and Heart. Her features include New Shoes, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam and The French Guy. Fleming has won nearly 20 awards for her films, including 10 for Window Horses. Most recently, she directed the shorts A Short Film About Tegan & Sara, Question Period, and Old Dog.

Writer

Ann Marie Fleming

Producers

Ann Marie Fleming, Svend-Erik Eriksen

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Asian Filmmaker, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

The Ghosts in Our Machine

Director Liz Marshall
Year 2013
Run Time 93min
Genre Documentary

In a film that explores the rights of non-human animals through the compassionate lens of international photographer Jo-Anne McArthur, we meet individual animals living within — and rescued from — the machine of our modern world. 

Director

Liz Marshall

Writer

Liz Marshall

Producers

Nina Beveridge, Liz Marshall

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Environment, Female Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Languages

English, French, Other Language

Canadian Distributor

INDIECAN ENTERTAINMENT INC

Super Duper Alice Cooper

Directors Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Reginald Harkema
Year 2014
Run Time 98min
Genre Documentary

In this found-footage Dr. Jekyll–and–Mr. Hyde tale, the former is revealed as Vincent Furnier, a preacher’s son from Detroit, Michigan, who transforms into Alice Cooper, a veritable rock-and-roll legend.

Directors

Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Reginald Harkema

Writers

Sam Dunn, Reginald Harkema, Scot McFadyen

Producers

Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Biography

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

eOne

Monsoon

Director Sturla Gunnarsson
Year 2014
Run Time 108min
Genre Documentary, Drama
Captured in gorgeous, ultra high-definition 4K video, Sturla Gunnarsson’s documentary profiles not just expert meteorologists but also farmers, fishermen, city dwellers and even bookies — real citizens whose lives, rain or shine, are profoundly affected by the monsoons.

By treating this natural phenomenon with the respect it commands, this Canada’s Top Ten audience award–winner becomes an epic journey into a phenomenon many call “the soul of India.”

With swells of music by the Bombay Dub Orchestra, Monsoon is wet, wild and utterly astonishing.

Director

Sturla Gunnarsson

Born in Iceland and raised in Vancouver, Gunnarsson earned an Oscar nomination for his debut feature doc, After the Axe. His films include Beowulf and Grendel, Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie and Monsoon, and he has directed hit TV shows such as Motive, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Art of More, and most recently Schitt’s Creek and Ransom.

Writer

Sturla Gunnarsson

Producers

Ina Fichman, Sturla Gunnarsson

Genres

Documentary, Drama

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Global Experiences

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

KinoSmith

RiP! A Remix Manifesto

Director Brett Gaylor
Year 2009
Run Time 87min
Genre Documentary
In this challenging and thought-provoking documentary, filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age and the crumbling barriers between users and producers.

The film centres on Girl Talk, a mash-up musician who tops the charts with his sample- based creations, provoking debate about ownership, copyright, piracy and what it means to be an artist in the 21st century.

Musicians, authors and pop culture critics all weigh in on the issues in this wildly innovative and experimental doc.

A great mix of compelling analysis and difficult questions, RiP! addresses issues of sampling, sharing, intellectual property and creative freedom with flair and style.

Director

Brett Gaylor

Writer

Brett Gaylor

Producers

Mila Aung-Thwin, Kat Baulu, Germaine Ying Gee Wong

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, History

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

KinoSmith

  • Own Voice

Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam

Director Omar Majeed
Year 2009
Run Time 82min
Genre Documentary
The word “taqwacore” is taken from a novel by Michael Muhammad Knight, The Taqwacores, combining “taqwa,” an Arabic word for God-consciousness, with “hardcore”. His book, about a group of young Islamic punk rockers, inspired the creation of an actual Muslim punk scene.

The first half of Omar Majeed’s documentary deals with this burgeoning scene as a group of bands travel together touring the American countryside. Young, disaffected and secular, these musicians are caught between two worlds: the Islamic culture from which they come, and the Western culture in which they are coming of age.

In the second half, the setting moves to Pakistan, where the bands have travelled to perform. Author Knight is along for the ride to observe and comment on the reality his writing has created.
 

Director

Omar Majeed

Writer

Omar Majeed

Producer

Mila Aung-Thwin

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Arts and Culture, Asian Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Language Version

None

Canadian Distributor

KinoSmith

Warrendale

Director Allan King
Year 1967
Run Time 100min
Genre Documentary

Originally produced for the CBC (but not aired on TV due to profanity), Warrendale is one of Allan King’s most searing and revealing pieces of work. King places us inside Warrendale (a facility for troubled youth in Toronto’s Rexdale community) like a fly on the wall, and we witness the full spectrum of emotions displayed by 12 fascinating children and the caregivers trying to nurture and guide them.

The stunning Warrendale won the Prix d’art et d’essai at the Cannes film festival and a special documentary award from the National Society of Film Critics.

Director

Allan King

Writer

Allan King

Producer

Allan King

Genre

Documentary

Interest

Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Language Version

EN CC

Canadian Distributor

Allan King Films

Pour la suite du monde (For Those Who Will Follow)

Directors Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault
Year 1963
Run Time 105min
Genre Documentary
For centuries, the villagers of Île aux Coudres, a small island in the St. Lawrence River, hunted beluga whales by creating a sort of “fence” of saplings in shallow, muddy waters, trapping the mammals in low tide as they swim by.

In 1962, Michel Brault and a team of filmmakers travelled to the island to document the resumption of the practice decades after it had been abandoned, shedding light and wit on this “resourceful” tradition.

A balance of grace, humour, and up-close observation, Pour la suite du monde is known as a landmark achievement in documentary filmmaking and was screened at the Cannes film festival.

Directors

Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault

Writers

Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault

Producers

Jacques Bobet, Fernand Dansereau

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Classics, Environment, History

Original Language

French

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

  • Own Voice

The Spirit of Annie Mae

Director Catherine Anne Martin (Mi’kmaw)
Year 2002
Run Time 73min
Genre Documentary

Annie Mae Pictou Aquash was a 30-year-old Nova Scotia-born Mi’qmaw woman and a prominent figure in the American Indian Movement (AIM) until her life was tragically cut short in 1975, when she was brutally murdered in South Dakota. Decades later, as the crime remains unsolved, her friends and family reflect on her life and what she meant to each of them. 

While remaining an intimate portrait of a loving mother and friend, The Spirit of Annie Mae also chronicles the history of AIM, and ways in which the government sought to destroy it from within.

Director

Catherine Anne Martin (Mi’kmaw)

Writer

Angela Baker

Producer

Kent Martin

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English

Canadian Distributor

National Film Board (NFB)

Speed Sisters

Director Amber Fares
Year 2015
Run Time 80min
Genre Documentary
The Speed Sisters are the first all-women race car driving team in the Middle East. They're bold. They're fearless. And they're tearing up tracks all over Palestine.

Director

Amber Fares

Writer

Amber Fares

Producers

Amber Fares, Avi Goldstein, Jessica Devaney

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, Sports, Strong Female Leads

Original Language

Other Language

Language Version

EN CC

Canadian Distributor

KinoSmith

The Accountant of Auschwitz

Director Matthew Shoychet
Year 2018
Run Time 78min
Genre Documentary

This powerful documentary chronicles the trial of Oskar Gröning, one of the last surviving perpetrators of the Holocaust and a former members of the SS. In 2015, the 94 year old was brought to trial for his role in the murder of 300,000 Jewish people.

This thought-provoking and insightful film explores his life and actions before, after and during the Second World War. An emotionally affecting and intellectually challenging look at responsibility, forgiveness, justice, and the role of an individual in one of human history’s greatest evils.

The runner-up for the audience award at the 2018 Hot Docs festival, this deeply affecting documentary has resonated with critics and audiences around the world.

Director

Matthew Shoychet

Writer

Ricki Gurwitz

Producers

Ric Esther Bienstock, Ricki Gurwitz

Genre

Documentary

Interests

Biography, Global Experiences, History

Original Languages

English, Other Language

Language Version

EN CC

Canadian Distributor

Aqute Media

The Magic of Anansi

Director Jamie Mason
Year 2001
Run Time 6min
Genre Animation
This animated short tells the story of Anansi, a little spider who is tired of being snubbed by other jungle animals, especially Mr. Tiger. Anansi hatches a plan to make the other animals respect him, but soon learns an important lesson about how to treat his friends.

Director

Jamie Mason

Genre

Animation

Interest

Literary Adaptation

Original Languages

English, French

Invasion of the Space Lobsters

Director Janet Perlman
Year 2005
Run Time 6min
Genre Animation
As they try to assemble their barbecue, a suburban family is stunned by the appearance of giant lobsters in an egg-shaped UFO, leading to hilarious pandemonium. In this clever animated throwback to 1950s monster movies, a neighbourhood learns the value of clear communication!

Director

Janet Perlman

Genre

Animation

Interest

Female Filmmaker

Original Languages

English, French