Immigrants & Immigration
Alice in Big Noses' Land
This documentary follows filmmaker Nicole Giguere and her adopted Chinese daughter Alice, as they and many of their friends face the challenges of living in North America within a hybrid family.
All ah We
Second-generation Caribbean Canadian Karen Chapman undergoes a cultural transformation into a carnival masquerader at Toronto’s Caribana Parade. On this colourful journey, she discovers her Afro and Indo-Caribbean heritage while asking, “Can you call a place home if you have never been there?”
Beyond the Gardens' Wall: The Immigrant Workers of Tod Inlet
Stories of early 20th century Sikh and Chinese immigrants who built first a cement plant, and then the Butchart Gardens, enriches the history of Vancouver Island, while illustrating the harsh impact Canada's restrictive immigration laws had on those communities.
Canadian Steel, Chinese Grit
This documentary, released for distribution in November 2000, delves into the history of the Chinese workers without whom Canada's national railway could never have been realized.
The Canneries
The Canneries is a historical exploration of the salmon canning industry along the coast of British Columbia.
A Day of Thanksgiving
A Day of Thanksgiving explores this holiday's history, visiting ancient harvest festivals around the world, through European immigration to North America and Thanksgiving as it exists today.
Distant Sounds: The Story of Qui Xia
Distant Sounds profiles Qiu Xia He, a Chinese-born pipa musician who lives in Vancouver.
Fortune Cookies
Filmmaker Xia Tong explores the loneliness and turmoil that often mark the transition to a new country.
A Fortune in Frozen Dim Sum
Filmmaker Ling Chiu tells the sweet, complex and near-tragic tale of one Chinese immigrant family and their brush with disaster and fortune.
growing up among strangers
Teens from diverse cultural backgrounds share their struggles to balance the two worlds of traditional, cultural values at home and the popularized western culture they experience with friends and in school. Wayson Choy adds his comments.
Health Care 911: the plight of immigrant medical doctors
Health Care 911 introduces some of the 8,000 medically trained immigrants unable to practice in Canada despite a critical shortage of doctors across the country.
Henry's Glasses
In this short drama, a young boy in a Japanese Canadian internment camp comes to understand how sharing something beautiful can help another to cling to hope in the darkest moments.
The Last Chinese Laundry: The Chinese in Newfoundland
The Last Chinese Laundry relates the story of the Chinese in Newfoundland since their first arrival in 1895. Forced to leave their wives and children behind in China, the men endured both loneliness and prejudice as they toiled for a meagre living in the hand laundries of St. John's.
Lest We Forget
With a critical eye, Lest We Forget looks at the issues of race, human rights and homeland security post-911 in the United States and Canada.
Made in China: The Story of Adopted Chinese Children in Canada
Made in China tells the story of several remarkable children from China between the ages of five and thirteen who make three regions of Canada-British Columbia, Québec, and Newfoundland-their new home.
Mahjong & Chicken Feet
Jacqueline Levitin, filmmaker and professor in Film and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University travels to China to seek out traces of her family's past.
New Frames
New Frames was created with active participation of young immigrant and refugee men to shed perspectives on mental health and well being as they seek a better life in a new country. In a time where the world is witnessing the largest displacements of people since the Second World War, this uniquely collaborative work gives voice to those not often listened to, encouraging conversations on topics stigmatized for far too long.
Olivia's Puzzle
Goanese girls Reshma and Olivia grow up at opposite ends of the earth-India and Canada-but their daily rituals hold more than one surprising similarity.
OWNING the SLAVE
This documentary follows ex-pat American Andy Stringfellow, who left behind the rich African-American culture of the rural south where he was raised, to move to Canada. Thirty years later, the only black man in a white town, he offers a frank, complex view into the experience of being an outsider.
Les passeurs
Ulysse, Maya, Adam, Barbara and Thomas are the Fictional characters of this film built with true stories. Quebecers of various ethnic backgrounds tell their sense of Quebec identity.
Regarding: Cohen
Outspoken and unconventional, Lee Cohen is a high-profile advocate for asylum seekers. For over 20 years, this dedicated Halifax lawyer has been the constant watchdog of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board, an increasingly secretive entity in the wake of 9/11. Cohen continually drags closed-door refugee hearings into the public eye, as he does with the two talked-about cases at the center of this documentary.
Roger Ing's Utopia
Enter the eclectic world of Roger Ing, a prolific Canadian artist, philanthropist, and former ower/operator of the New Utopia Café in Regina, a place where magical moments happened and a legend was created.
A Song for Daniel
This charming short documentary compares a routine day for two nine-year-old Iraqi boys--one living in Baghdad and the other born and raised on Long Island.
The Spirit Wrestlers
The Spirit Wrestlers exposes the dramatic and troubling story of the century of Doukhobor life in Canada. It portrays successive governments' efforts to forcibly assimilate a unique, proud and stubborn group of Russian immigrants to this country.
Stolen Memories
If you had to walk out of your present life in 48 hours, possibly never to return, what would you take with you? What would you leave behind?
