Back to the Land

Feature-length documentary as part of Pierre Perrault's Abitibian Cycle. The filmmaker questions the past and present of Abitibi and draws up, face to face, the promises of colonization in the 1930s and the great disappointment caused by the closing of the land in the 1970s. There are witnesses to the heroic era, including the cultivator Hauris Lalancette, as well as extracts from films by Father Maurice Proulx (1934-1940).

1976-01-01 | fr

Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment

A documentary about direct-cinema from its very beginnings (Nanook of the North) to the fake-direct-cinema of the Blair Witch Project. All the important direct-cinema filmmakers are portrayed and/or interviewed: Leacock, Wiseman, Maysles, Pennebaker, Reisz and others.

2000-06-09 | en

Friday: About Cars

"Montréal under the snow and the cold winter. It is the period of the year when the garage owners strike it rich. The automobile at the service of man? This small opus would rather show the contrary. This is one in a series of eight films titled “Chronicle of Everyday Life,” a project that filmmaker Jacques Leduc took four years to realize, and whose goal was to revisit Direct Cinema at a moment when it was already heavily “contaminated” by mainstream TV." - Anthology Film Archives

1978-01-01 | en

Cesar's Bark Canoe

"This documentary depicts a canoe being built in the traditional manner. Cesar Newashish, a 67-year-old Attikamek of the Manawan Reserve North of Montréal, uses only birchbark, cedar splints, spruce roots, and gum. With a sure hand he works methodically to fashion a craft unsurpassed in function or beauty of design. Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Native Peoples whose traditional craft it is. The film is free of spoken commentary but text appears on the screen in Cree, French, and English." - Anthology Film Archives

1971-01-01 | fr

The Things I Cannot Change

"This feature documentary is considered to be the forerunner of the NFB's Challenge for Change Program. The film offers in inside look at 3 weeks in the life of the Bailey family. Trouble with the police, begging for stale bread, and the birth of another child are just some of the issues they face. Through it all, the father tries to explain his family's predicament. Although filmed in Montreal, the film offers an anatomy of poverty as it occurs throughout North America." - NFB

1967-01-01 | en

Little Burgundy

"This film is one of the first French Unit productions of the “Société Nouvelle/Challenge for Change” program. When an old area of Montréal is to be demolished to make way for a new low-income housing development, is there anything the residents can do to protect their own interests? The film documents such a situation in the Little Burgundy district of Montréal and shows how the residents organized themselves into a committee that successfully influenced the city’s housing policy." - Anthology Film Archives

1968-01-01 | fr

Belle famille

A working class family leaves St-Henri quarter in Montréal to build a new home in the countryside.

1978-07-11 | fr

Where Is the Jungle?

Deolindo and Stevenson try to find their place in the middle of the jungle. Along their path we will witness the transformation of a territory where in every moment the present and the past become confused, in a thought-provoking struggle between modernity and tradition. What are the secrets of the jungle? Where are its limits?

2015-11-02 | pt

… because I am not the 21st Century’s Giacometti

“Since 2011, as an author and in a frantic and committed fashion, I record music and dance expressions of various kinds all over the country. From a great conversation with film director Inês Oliveira, who followed my work for a while, I raise fundamental questions in this film: Why do I do what I do? What is this all about? What are the relationships with the people? What differentiates me from scientific work? What is tradition?” — Tiago Pereira.

2015-10-23 | pt

Cerro Rico: The Silver Mountain

An impressive insight into the hard and dangerous everyday work life of the miners of Cerro Rico. 4100 meters above sea level they are digging through the crumbly rock to scratch the last remains of silver, zinc, tin and lead off the rock face.

2015-07-01 | en

The Century of Le Corbusier

Based on interviews and personal writings, this documentary gives an overview of life at the time: the century of world wars, ideologies and totalitarianism.

2015-05-13 | fr

Yellow Tale Blues: Two American Families

Documentary by Christine Choy

1991-06-07 | en

The Punk Voyage

In December 2016 a remarkable chapter in music history was closed as the Finnish punk rock band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN) retired. Punk Voyage is a feature length documentary film about the last years of the band, with all the ups and downs included. After becoming celebrities in Finland, this incredible quartet continued to conquer new fans around the World. In its seven years run PKN played nearly 300 gigs in 16 countries. In 2015 the band was selected to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, where they played to over 100 million television spectators. However, the busy traveling and success created a lot of pressure within the band: Kari struggled with the temptations and responsibilities brought by publicity; Sami extended his territory to politics and religion; Toni's and the band's roadie Niila's crush to the the same girl caused conflicts; and Pertti, tired of this all, decided to retire.

2017-10-13 | fi

Video Games: The New Masters of the World

In thirty years, the video game has conquered an increasingly wide audience. Drawing on the recent work of economists, sociologists, experts and interviewing major players in this field, this investigation unravels the overwhelming domination of this new mass media.

2016-11-15 | fr

How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer

From Brooklyn beginnings to literary pantheon, Norman Mailer's unorthodox trajectory spans marriages, offspring, and accolades. An unprecedented glimpse into the preeminent 20th-century author's private and public worlds through intimate biography.

2023-11-21 | en

Pimenta no Clima

2025-08-06 | pt

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other

Life, death and making meaning are the heart of a beautiful and often very funny film about an aging couple who, after an accident, face the inevitability of impermanence and seek a deep peace in their relationship while they still can.

2025-03-21 | en

Fighting Demons with Dragons

Three pupils on the precipice between childhood and adulthood are studying at Østerskov Boarding School, one of the most unique schools in the world; here, classes are conducted through role-playing games, and the pupils are taught to come to terms with the trauma and their fluid selves through masquerades and metamorphosis. For two school years, the film follows the pupils and their highly emotional adventure through puberty, self-discovery, and maturity, illuminating with a sharp, intimate, humorous as well as poignant gaze, the chaos, the anguish, and the inexpressible joy of the first years of one’s youth.

2024-03-09 | da

The British Fascisti

The British Fascist movement holds a 10,000-strong rally in Trafalgar Square the day before Remembrance Sunday.

1924-11-11 | en

Broadway's Lost Treasures II

The annual Tony Award broadcast provides the only filmed record of Broadway's best for audiences to experience as if they were front-row-center on opening night. This second compilation of great musical moments from the Tonys features another dazzling array of stars and performances. Hosts Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Jerry Orbach introduce these one-of-a-kind performances and share their personal Broadway and Tony memories.

2004-10-26 | en