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.
In 2014, actiivists of all ages, ranging from First Nations people to long-time Vancouver residents and new Canadians, ascended Burnaby Mountain in Canada's third largest city. There they made camp on the proposed route of a future pipeline. Their determination to do whatever it takes to keep the project from going forward springs from a firm belief in the need to protect this area of unceded Coastal Salish people for future generations.
This third documentary from Series 1 of La Voix des Mechif, explores the history of Canada's Métis people, dispossessed from land allocated to them in Manitoba as they moved across the prairies into Saskatchewan and later Alberta. The contrast between how the Alberta Government handled the situation from that of Saskatchewan and Manitoba provincial governments reverberates today in the treatment of the Métis people.
With a nod to the theatre of the absurd, Kelvin Redvers has created a musical like no other to provoke discussion about relationships between law enforcement and First Nations people.
A documentary on drug facilitated sexual assault.
Three 30-minute films, made in partnership with two First Nations bands in the Carrier territory of north central British Columbia, describe conflict over land and sovereignty and ask if there is a way forward.
"Deep down we're all fractured," an oil and gas representative tells young Aboriginal leader and lawyer Caleb Behn. Behn knows that feeling all too well, as he struggles with the role he'll play in protecting his traditional territory under Treaty 8 in northern British Columbia, an area that is currently under siege from some of the world's largest natural gas operations.
A young family from the Secwepemc First Nation lives in a traditional pit house near Kamloops in the Thompson River Valley of British Columbia. Their lives are rooted in concern for the environment, respect for unceded traditional territory and a return to traditional First Nations culture.
This documentary centers on the debate over censorship as it follows Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore and its 20-year struggle with Canada Customs over the seizure of books.
This documentary centers on the debate over censorship as it follows Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore and its 20-year struggle with Canada Customs over the seizure of books.
Why is representation of women in government worse in Canada, the USA and the UK than in many other democracies? An exploration of attitudes, political structures and different democratic voting systems that affect how many women get their names on the ballot reveals answers and solutions.
A riveting and powerful one-hour documentary of an Ojibway woman's struggle to reconnect with her Aboriginal self.
POTLATCH...a strict law bids us dance looks at the history of the traditional potlatch ceremonies of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations people. It is based upon historical research compiled by the U'mista Cultural Society of Alert Bay, British Columbia and features important testimony from Kwakwaka'wakw elders.
The marine ecosystem off the coast of British Columbia is in trouble. Alexandra Morton, a biologist who lives in the Broughton Archepelago, began to document the decline of pink and chum salmon in the late 1990's following a massive expansion of open-net pen fish farming on the west coast of Canada. The Pristine Coast explores the policy decisons taken and not taken that have led to this crisis for the Pacific Coast ecosystem.
The marine ecosystem off the coast of British Columbia is in trouble. Alexandra Morton, a biologist who lives in the Broughton Archepelago, began to document the decline of pink and chum salmon in the late 1990's following a massive expansion of open-net pen fish farming on the west coast of Canada. The Pristine Coast explores the policy decisons taken and not taken that have led to this crisis for the Pacific Coast ecosystem.
Hokouk is the word for "rights" in the language spoken by Afghan women. Reclaiming Rights follows a team of sassy Afghan lawyers and their clients, the young girls under the turquoise blue burqas, in and out of meetings and court appointments.
This tragic story of a young visitor to Victoria, B.C., beaten by a gang of youths, is a powerful illustration of the high costs of glorification of gang violence.
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.
In 1996, Leilani Muir won a landmark legal case against the Canadian province of Alberta for wrongful sterilization and confinement at the Provincial Training School in Red Deer, an institution for "mental defectives". Surviving Eugenics traces the history and ongoing significance of eugenics in Canada.
In this second documentary from Series 1 of La Voix des Mechif, the essential need for land ownership to establish any form of jurisdiction is explored, along with how The Manitoba Act of 1870 allocating land to the Métis people failed them through the Scrip program exploited by both Church and State.
Heiltsuk filmmaker Frank Brown shares the story of his personal encounter with traditional Indigenous justice.
Heiltsuk filmmaker Frank Brown shares the story of his personal encounter with traditional Indigenous justice.