Genres: documentary

  • My Father’s Idea of Heaven

    Using found and manipulated Super 8 footage from his family archives, RM Vaughan explores his late father’s bizarre HAM radio hobby.

  • Moving Pictures Quartet

    A new DVD compilation of four short dance films produced by the Moving Pictures Dancefilm Art Society. ICARUS Dir. Curtis Wehrfritz, 6 min., 2001 Shot on two hand-cranked cameras, this film captures segments from “Wind,” part of a performance cycle about the four elements choreographed by Bill James. Inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, who fell from grace after flying too close to the sun, this work contrast post-industrial waste with stunning images of artifice. Performed by Yvonne Ng, Shannon Cooney and Robert Glumbek, with music by Tom Third. GARDEN OF STONE Dir. Gregory Nixon, 5 min. 1999 Kathak…

  • Devotion

    “Devotion: a story about Ogawa Productions” is an 82-minute documentary of an important Japanese post-war documentary collective that made significant films of social struggle and village life. This investigative documentary situates the revolutionary lifestyle and films of Ogawa Productions within the framework of the global student movement of the New Left in the mid-’60s and the emerging documentary movement in Japan. In-depth stories from the collective members who contributed to this unique film making process are examined from a variety of perspectives and understandings. OSHIMA Nagisa, HARA Kazuo and HANEDA Sumiko, well-known film directors, present their personal recollections of this…

  • Byron Chief-Moon: Grey Horse Rider

    Byron Chief-Moon is a multi-talented actor, stuntman, dancer, choreographer, playwright, founder of the Coyote Arts Percussive Performance Association, and member of the Blackfoot Confederacy, member of the Blood Band. Through his art and his life, Chief-Moon’s story is one of cultural survival. Themes of his dance creations begin with his people’s traditional stories, his attachment with the land and his community, as well as the inner conflict he faces in existing within the Aboriginal culture and the wider community. He is ensuring the preservation of his native language through its incorporation in his work. As well, he’s firm in his…

  • Dear Guy

    “Dear Guy” dramatizes an inward and sometime romantically sentimental meditation on the relevance, remembrance and acculturation of Guy Debord’s life and works. The layered histrionics of the film engender reconsiderations of identification, moral responsibility, nostalgia and the potential of art in contemporary society. Excerpts from Debord’s memoir and fictional epistolary monologues are combined with an eclectic assortment of appropriated materials, invented leitmotifs, lecture performances, hybrid forms of the essay film, documentary and edutainment formats. “Dear Guy” drifts through a labyrinth-like montage structure that frustrates passive viewing while inviting contemplation. “DEAR GUY is an energetic response and thoughtful companion piece to…

  • Tide Marks

    Ten years after the triumph over Apartheid in South Africa, four former activists deal with the consequences of their dedication to human dignity with humour, frustration and hope. In this poignant and educational documentary, filmmaker Sarah Abbott presents issues that have been largely ignored by mainstream media, as its focus on the brutalities of apartheid shifted to the successes of transforming a nation. “Tide Marks” is an evocative collection of interviews, memories, observational footage, found photographs and South African music that re-visits apartheid history and looks at aspects of its present-day aftermath. Abbott’s intimate engagement with Cape Town residents reveals…

  • Always for Pleasure

    This film is an intensive insider’s look at Mardi Gras and the myriad of musical traditions in this annual celebration in New Orleans. It provides an interesting background to black America’s honouring of the native peoples in the southern States. Dressing in elaborate Indian costumes they make specifically for the Mardi Gras, black Americans tell of the time when native communities gave them refuge from the slavery of the southern States. A film rich in its investigation of Southern music as a cultural expression of a people’s struggles.

  • Dance with Me

    The impressionist, lyrical style of the film is a departure for Nicolaou, who describes this film as “one half documentary and one half fictional narrative.” The film is a collage visually and thematically, though the narration serves to anchor the piece with a freestyle kind of story telling. Nicolaou drew upon experiences in her own life when creating the film. She incorporates footage from her family’s home movies of the 60s and 70s. “A haunting portrayal of the yearning for intimacy between parent and child.” – Henry Mietkiewicz, Toronto Star Life always appears to be more joyous in old home…

  • Digital Nudes in Oil

    A short documentary of the artist working in his studio speaking about his painting, modernism, formalism and censorship in Canada from a gay perspective.

  • Moving Images – The Film-Makers’ Cooperative Relocates

    The day the Film-Makers’ Cooperative was forced by loss of lease to move from their offices at Lexington Ave. and 31st Street in New York City, filmmaker and Coop member Joel Schlemowitz showed up with a camera to document the historic moment. On the soundtrack Jonas Mekas, one of the Coop’s founders, and MM Serra, the current executive director, describe the Coop’s beginnings, the organization’s recent struggles, and the difficulties of finding space for the arts.