The Individual and Society (M)
Kali Jones
27 min. 1998
This dynamic investigation into the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) illustrates that although no deal was signed by the April 1998 deadline, the formation of an agreement is far from over. Initially held as secret negotiations, leaked information on the MAI led to protests in France, Germany, Canada and Australia. In Australia, the government bowed to public pressure to bring the MAI in front of Parliament for a full debate. No such assurance has been given in Canada.
Some of the most controversial provisions, including the Standstill, Rollback and Performance Requirements clauses, are discussed by several who are active in the debate: Maude Barlow of The Council of Canadians, Michael Walker of The Fraser Institute, Steven Shrybman of the West Coast Environmental Law Association and Murray Dobbin, writer and advocate of policy alternatives. Interspersed with their analysis are excerpts from Question Period in Canada's House of Commons. This video resource is an excellent discussion starter for debate on globalization and the future of the nation state in the 21st century.
Subject(s): Communications,
Environmental issues,
Globalization,
Politics
Tom Allen/Phil Seguin
29 min. 1984
A documentary about the lives of five ex-convicts - all chronic repeaters - who
finally broke free from the destructive pattern of their lives.
Subject(s): Criminology, Prisons
Produced by Pamela Millar / Sher Morgan / The May Street Group Ltd.
Directed by Moira Simpson
Shari Ulrich, composer
48 min. 1998
Closed captioning
“People think the women's movement is dead,
passé, irrelevant. They should watch this film.” – Francine
Pelletier, journalist
On December 6, 1989, 14 young women at Montréal's Ecole Polytechnique
were systematically hunted down and shot to death in what would become known
as the Montréal Massacre. Within hours, the name of the man responsible
was known across Canada and beyond, but who could remember the names of the
murdered women?
As Canadians denied the connection between this crime and the larger problem
of violence against women, a determined band of Vancouver feminists came together
to build a monument and to educate Canadians on the widespread occurrence of
such crimes. Marker of Change: The Story of the Women's Monument follows
the seven-year struggle of the group to create "something loving, something
permanent" that named and remembered women murdered by men.
From the moment of its inception, the project was dogged by controversies,
the biggest of these when its dedication hit the media. The inscription, "for
all women murdered by men" sparked a furor, as some charged that the monument
labelled all men as murderers. Overcoming negative press, the group found many
supporters, among them Suzanne LaPlante Edward, mother of murdered student Anne
Marie Edward; feminist /activist Rosemary Brown; Québec feminist and
Governor-General award-winning author Nicole Brossard; and Vancouver City Councillor
Nancy Chiavario. Some 6,000 donors contributed to the monument before it was
completed.
Toronto artist and instructor at Ontario College of Art & Design, Beth Alber,
was selected from a national competition to create the monument. She talks about
the process of its creation, intercut with footage of the installation.
Like the monument itself, this vital documentary is intended to provoke a
shift in Canadian consciousness from denial to healing to societal change.
Award(s):
- Bronze Apple Award, National Educational Media Competition (Oakland)
1999;
- CanPro Award, Excellence in Television (Ottawa) 1999;
- Nomination – Best Social Documentary, Golden Sheaf Awards, Yorkton
Short Film & Video Festival (Saskatchewan) 1999;
- Nomination – Best Screenwriters, Documentary, Leo Awards (British
Columbia) 1999.
Subject(s): Artists
- Beth Alber, Gender equality,
Healing, Public
art, Sculpture, Violence
against women, Women
Barbara Anderson/Evelyn Victory
Amazon Communications
47 min. 1999
This engaging documentary provides insight into the world of dating in today's urban milieu. People have access to a variety of new ways to meet people, many of which rely on advancing technologies. Telepersonals, online chatting, lunch dating services and joining community groups are some of the methods investigated. Viewers have the opportunity to join several individuals as they embark on their hunt for a mate and meet potential companions face-to-face for the first time. With these new dating services women and men are taking contol of their romantic situation, or lack of, and take steps to make things happen.
Subject(s): Internet, Love, Relationships
Me, Mom, and Mona
Directed and produced by Mina Shum
20 min. 1993
Available on DVD and VHS
In this evocative and entertaining documentary, the women of the Shum familySu Yee Shum and her two daughters Mina and Monashare in a discussion that reveals the impact of conflicting values on their lives. Patriarchal expectations imposed by cultural traditions and by Mr. Shum clash with each woman's independent identity and feminist aspirations. In order to survive, the women construct a mythology about themselves within the family that satisfies Mr. Shum's demands of how women should behave. The gap between mythology and personal reality often proves to have amusing consequences. Family photographs and home movies further enrich this complex picture of relations between the sexes and generations in one family.
Subject(s): Chinese-Canadians,
Family, Gender
equality, Humour, Identity,
Relationships, Women
Ian Herring
20 min. 1990
The realities of disability and society's perceptions and attitudes toward
physically challenged people are examined through the lives of two very unique
individuals: Brian Lendrum, totally blind since the age of two, and Rick
Hansen, paralyzed from the waist down. Brian lives alone in the Canadian
wilderness, tending his farm. Rick Hansen mounted a world-wide campaign through
his 25,000-mile "Man in Motion" tour and continues to work at a community level
advocating independence for people with disabilities.
Subject(s): Inclusive education
Mark Sawers
20 min. 1989
Through sardonic humour and a "home video" style, this presentation of family
life illustrates interactions in a dysfunctional family in a unique and
entertaining way.
Award: Best Video, Best Drama, B.C. Student Film Festival
Subject(s): Family, Irony
Lulu Keating
Red Snapper Films
39:50 min. 1999
Also available on DVD
A documentary unlike any other, The Moody Brood explodes the myth of
the idealized, normal family—a popular and pervasive post-WWII notion.
The film examines issues universal to all families: the effects of community
and religion, the influence of siblings, and the moral standards imposed by
parents.
Award-winning filmmaker Lulu Keating traces the lives of her 10 siblings from
their childhood in the 1940s to present day, from a small Catholic community
to the world stage. Along the way, she asks some difficult questions: Can we,
as adults, shed past experiences? Or do they shape our whole lives?
In this innovative production, Keating conducts interviews using a small tape
recorder, rather than a film crew, to allow her siblings to respond more candidly.
Her kaleidoscope of old family photographs on painted backgrounds are brought
to sparking life by animator Helen Hills. Combining old and new technology—16mm
film, computer manipulation, and a whimsical soundscape by Helen Bredin and
composer Sandy Moore—Keating creates an offbeat look at the forces that
shape family.
Subject(s): Family
Perversity Productions
46 min. 1999
This is a salute to Muriel Duckworth whose commitment to peace and social justice has spanned most of a century. At age 90, she was still on the street protesting NATO bombings and armed interventions. Her actions have helped shape the sensibilities of generations of Canadians. Through rich archival material, insightful interviews and personal encounters, the loving documentary explores the relationships and beliefs that fuel her fierce attachment to life and to the well-being of humanity.
Subject(s): Canada,
Human rights,
Peace/War,
Women,
Renée Poisson
26 min. 2001
Warm, lively, painful and sometimes funny, My Father Goes to Sea is a portrait of the relationship between Sheila Haegert and her 98 year old father, Joe Haegert, well-known for his civic and social acitivism in Victoria, BC. While Sheila comes to terms with her family history, Joe is packing for the last time all his thoughts and memories-voyages around the world and adventures in foreign countries-preparing for his final days and peaceful death.
Subject(s): Family, Grief, Relationships
Pat Barker
8 min. 1993
Black humour, cel animation, and live action interviews come together in
this humorous look at a woman's research into ovarian cysts. Partly
documentary in style, partly experimental, the film is based on a real
experience, which the filmmaker takes the liberty of embellishing in the
animation sequences.
Subject(s): Healing
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