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Environmental Science (89)

  1. Available in English Options
5 years old
18 years old
  • Arctic IV
    Arctic IV
    James de B. Domville 1975 57 min
    This feature-length documentary offers a glimpse at the unknown world that lies beneath the Arctic ice. Arctic IV follows Dr. Joseph MacInnis, a specialist in underwater medicine, as he probes and explores the polar depths. Filmed at Resolute Bay, Dr. MacInnis and his team must chip through over 2 metres of ice and dive into the frigid, watery depths at the North Pole - all in the name of science.
  • Atonement
    Atonement
    Michael McKennirey 1970 50 min
    This documentary shows efforts by Canadian wildlife specialists to preserve and nurture the creatures that remain in our wilderness areas, species such as the whooping crane, prairie falcons, bighorn sheep, bison, polar bears and grizzlies.
  • Abegweit
    Abegweit
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    Serge Morin 1998 1 h 11 min
    A day-to-day record of the construction of the Confederation Bridge linking Prince Edward Island to the mainland, Abegweit reveals some of the innovations that made this mammoth project one of the most impressive engineering feats in Canadian history.

    The film also gives a voice to the people affected by the bridge--construction workers happy to have the work and proud to be part of the project, ferry employees sad about losing their jobs and their seagoing family, islanders whose lives will be forever changed by the fixed link, and fishermen worried about the impact it will have on the environment and their livelihood. It is a stunning meeting of technology, politics, high finance and intense emotions.
  • Across Arctic Ungava
    Across Arctic Ungava
    1949 20 min
    This documentary follows four scientists and their Native guides into the unmapped wilderness of the Ungava Peninsula, in northern Quebec. Crossing this territory in large canoes, they collect samples of Arctic flora and rocks, take readings of soil temperature and record the correct bearings for rivers and lakes en route. The keen excitement of opening a new chapter in Canadian exploration is evident throughout the film.
  • Beef Inc.
    Beef Inc.
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    Carmen Garcia 1999 50 min
    A struggle for control of the world food market is waging, and the battle promises to escalate in the 21st century. Beef Inc. examines how a handful of companies have come to dominate beef production and distribution in North America.

    As traditional farming falls victim to agri-business, small producers and consumers are paying the price. What has been a way of life for generations is now solely a money-making venture for big business. In the beef industry, a strategy of "intense livestock production" has been implemented to boost profit margins. Cattle are housed and fattened in overcrowded feed lots, a situation which exposes them to disease. To combat this, the animals are systematically vaccinated, given antibiotics and pumped with growth hormones. No regard is given to the potential health risks to consumers or the quality of the end product.

    This film gives a voice to the independent cattle producer who, unable to compete with the corporations, find themselves being squeezed out of the industry. In French with English subtitles.
  • The Battle of Rabaska - Chronicle of an Environmental Conflict
    The Battle of Rabaska - Chronicle of an Environmental Conflict
    Magnus Isacsson  &  Martin Duckworth 2008 1 h 18 min
    This documentary is the story of citizen activists opposing a methane tanker terminal practically on their doorstep. Lucid and compelling, the film shows citizen action pitted against powerful lobbies and reminds us to be vigilant faced with Quebec's environmental and energy-related issues over the coming years.
  • Borealis
    Borealis
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    Kevin McMahon 2020 1 h 33 min
    In his new feature documentary Borealis, acclaimed director Kevin McMahon (Waterlife) travels deep into the heart of the boreal forest to explore the chorus of life in Canada’s iconic wilderness. How do trees move, communicate and survive the destructive forces of fire, insects, and human encroachment? Borealis offers an immersive portrait of the lifecycles of the forest from the perspective of the plants and animals that live there.
  • City Center and Pedestrians
    City Center and Pedestrians
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    Michel Régnier 1974 56 min
    This film focusses on the approaches that several cities have taken to one problem. Through various examples, it examines the implications and options for a pedestrian-oriented city core.
  • Circuit marine
    Circuit marine
    Isabelle Favez 2003 7 min
    "All you need is food," the Beatles could have sung if they had been inspired by Circuit marine, a whimsical fantasy about our cruel, carnivorous world. To be eaten or not to be eaten: that is the question for a ginger cat, a goldfish and a colourful parrot which a tender-hearted pirate tries to get to live happily together along with his hungry crew. We can only wonder who will be the next meal on this ship of food. As the ship pitches and rolls to a sprightly gypsy tune, the cat relentlessly pursues the goldfish, and even the parrot gets into the act. But who is predator and who is prey? Everyone ends up down someone's gullet. Isabelle Favez's colourful and humorous film is a tasteful reminder that we're all links in the food chain.
  • Chemical Conquest
    Chemical Conquest
    Larry Gosnell 1956 25 min
    A documentary about the chemical research that was used against crop-threatening insects, plant diseases and weeds in the 1950s. The film shows laboratory experiments at a government research station and poses questions about the ultimate effects of toxic substances on food-producing soil.
  • The Chocolate Farmer
    The Chocolate Farmer
    Rohan Fernando 2010 1 h 11 min
    This full-length documentary takes us to an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, where cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. The film captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing around them. A lament for cultures lost, The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.
  • Cry of the Wild
    Cry of the Wild
    Bill Mason 1972 1 h 28 min
    This feature-length documentary from Bill Mason imparts his affection for the big northern timber wolves and the pure-white Arctic wolves. Filmed over three years in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, the High Arctic and his home near the Gatineau Hills in Quebec, Mason sets out to dispel the myth of the bloodthirsty wolf. Going beyond the wolf's natural habitat, Mason relocated three young wolves to his own property and was able to film tribal customs, mating and birth. As a result, Cry of the Wild offers viewers access to moments in wildlife never before seen on film.
  • Citizen Harold
    Citizen Harold
    Hugh Foulds 1971 8 min
    This animated short is the tale of a man roused from the torpor of his TV viewing by the sound of chainsaws whining their way through neighbourhood trees! Harold has to do something, and how he does it is the subject of this film. It's a story that any citizen might well ponder. After all, Harold is the familiar non-hero that everyone knows.
  • Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes
    Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes
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    Jeff McKay 2003 52 min
    A hazardous mix of waste is flushed into the sewer every day. The billions of litres of water - combined with unknown quantities of chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, human waste and food - where does it all go? And what does it do to us? Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this bold documentary questions our fundamental attitudes to waste. Does our need to dispose of waste take precedence over public safety? What are the alternatives?
  • The Chocolate Farmer (Short Version)
    The Chocolate Farmer (Short Version)
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    Rohan Fernando 2010 52 min
    This full-length documentary takes us to an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, where cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. The film captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing around them. A lament for cultures lost, The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.
  • Class Project: The Garbage Movie
    Class Project: The Garbage Movie
    Martin Defalco 1980 23 min
    In this short documentary, a group of pupils aged 8 to 13 embark on a school project to find out all they can about garbage and its impact on the environment. The places they visit tell us a lot about the society we live in and about ecology, cities, art and history.
  • A Crack in the Pavement: Digging In
    A Crack in the Pavement: Digging In
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    Jane Churchill  &  Gwynne Basen 2000 18 min
    This short documentary follows students from Toronto's Jesse Ketchum School as they take steps towards the greening of their schoolyard. Along the way they get how-to advice and inspiration from kids across the country; from Pauline Public School, where students raised $10,000, to Broadacres School, where a family of wild ducks found a home in their pond.

    A Crack in the Pavement is a two-part video set that shows children, teachers and parents how they can work together to 'green' their school grounds and make positive changes in their communities
  • A Crack in the Pavement: Growing Dreams
    A Crack in the Pavement: Growing Dreams
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    Jane Churchill  &  Gwynne Basen 2000 19 min
    This short documentary shows initiatives kids take to transform bare pavement into dream schoolyards. Some grow trees for shade, and vegetables for a food bank. Others build a greenhouse or a rooftop garden, while others yet construct a courtyard pond as an outdoor classroom and refuge for wildlife.

    A Crack in the Pavement is a two-part video set that shows children, teachers and parents how they can work together to 'green' their school grounds and make positive changes in their communities.
  • Cries from the Deep
    Cries from the Deep
    Jacques Gagné 1981 1 h 36 min
    This documentary records the journey undertaken by Jacques Cousteau, his 24-member team, and an NFB film crew to explore the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, one of the world's richest fishing areas. They discover shipwrecks, film icebergs and observe beluga whales, humpback whales and harp seals. The film also includes a fascinating sequence showing Calypso divers freeing a calf whale entrapped in a fishing net.
  • David Suzuki Virtual Classroom: Our Food Systems - Are You Hungry for Change?
    David Suzuki Virtual Classroom: Our Food Systems - Are You Hungry for Change?
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    Dan Thornhill 2016 1 h 9 min
    The NFB, in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation and Humber College invite Canadian students to get together—virtually—and talk about the impact that modern food systems might be having on our health, land and food security. Environmentalist and broadcaster Dr. David Suzuki is joined by J.B. MacKinnon, Utcha Sawyers, and Tanya Davis, whose compelling poem appears in the NFB film Island Green, a look at conventional and organic farming on Prince Edward Island. Co-hosted by the NFB, DSF and Humber College, this special event is geared towards high school seniors, student groups and college and university classes.
  • Dirt
    Dirt
    Meghna Haldar 2008 1 h 21 min
    This feature documentary is an exploration of the concept of dirt and impurity. From the slums of Kolkata to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to a barbeque joint in Central Texas, Dirt digs deep into the webs of meaning and feeling attached to that deceptively simple 4-letter word. An odyssey into all things unclean, the film features animation to make Hieronymus Bosch blush and music from Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
  • Deserter
    Deserter
    Michel Murray 1991 19 min
    In this short fiction film, the observation satellite Zenon has, on its own, left its assigned orbit and is refusing to send back vital data concerning the Earth's water reserves. Those in charge of the Research Center that sent the satellite up are threatening to destroy this free and intelligent "spirit" if Estelle, the scientist controlling it, cannot make her "friend" see reason.
  • Estuary
    Estuary
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    Don White 1979 11 min
    Winter lasts nine months in Canada's alpine regions, but when spring does arrive in late June, the different alpine zones--the meadow, the treeline, and the tundra--teem with life. From the lichen surviving at the uppermost limits of life to the insects, birds and mammals that populate the beautiful meadows, this film explores the special adaptations and delicate balance established between the plants and animals of this harsh environment.
  • Freshwater World
    Freshwater World
    Giles Walker 1974 24 min
    This documentary explores a variety of projects undertaken by scientists at Environment Canada's Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg to study the processes that pollute or disrupt clean and balanced freshwater environments.
  • Foresters
    Foresters
    Werner Aellen 1968 13 min
    This short documentary looks at how modern technology affects the forestry industry and the role of the forester in ensuring the sustainability of this great natural resource. It was in the '60s that people started to realize that the forests did not provide an endless supply of wood, and thanks to recent developments in the science of forestry, people are learning how to manage the resources more effectively.
  • From Ashes to Forest
    From Ashes to Forest
    Tony Ianzelo 1984 52 min
    Filmed in several of Canada's national parks (including Banff and Wood Buffalo), this feature documentary looks at forest fires versus fire suppression. Sometimes forest fires are essential for plant renewal, healthy growth, soil enrichment and new environments for wildlife.
  • The Forest Watchers
    The Forest Watchers
    Peter Raymont 1975 25 min
    This 1975 documentary examines the challenges faced by the Canadian forestry industry, such as deforestation, pest control and forest fire.
  • The Forest in Crisis
    The Forest in Crisis
    Susan Murgatroyd 1981 21 min
    This short documentary dispels the myth that Canada has an inexhaustible supply of usable wood and forest resources. In documenting the use and misuse of forest resources in Northern Ontario, it shows the efforts of the government and industry to find better ways to find a sustainable solution. The film also serves as a reminder that this is not just a problem for Northern Ontario - a crisis in the forest industry would affect one out of every ten Canadian jobs.
  • Fire - Energy
    Fire - Energy
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    Michel Barbeau 2000 21 min
    This short documentary is about Canada's energy resources: wind, water, sun, oil, uranium and natural gas. The film is part of the TRANSIT series on Canada's geography, which travels from the humid rainforests of British Columbia, to the desert-like badlands of Alberta; from the frosty Arctic where no trees grow, to the fertile farmland of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region.
  • A Great White Bird
    A Great White Bird
    Michael McKennirey 1976 51 min
    This film documents the efforts of a group of Canadians and Americans to save the whooping crane from extinction. They display great determination in their dealings with this independent, pre-Ice Age creature. The issues of wild animals imprinting on people and the preservation of wild animals in captivity are examined in this film. Produced in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.