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Bilingualism (9)
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BilingualismArthur Hammond 1973 28 minThis full-length documentary is the 4th part of the Corporation, a film series about the inner workings of the Steinberg supermarket chain. This installment looks at the management of cultural conflict: how a major Canadian corporation comes to grips with one of the principal challenges it faces--the bilingual, bicultural nature of the Québec society in which it is headquartered. A close and remarkably candid view of how the president, Sam Steinberg, and his top and middle management handle a problem with parallels far beyond the borders of Québec. -
Bons amisNevil Pike 1974 12 minThis bilingual film features the Commissioner of Official Languages and two intermediate school students. The Commissioner explains, in English and in French, the Official Languages Act, his duties and the activities of his Office under the Act. A number of light-hearted situations simulated in the film demonstrate how individual efforts can put Canada's two official languages on an equal basis.
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French EnoughAlexis Normand 2022 18 minAt her family’s cabin on Wakaw Lake, Saskatchewan, renowned Fransaskois singer-songwriter Alexis Normand invites audiences into a series of candid exchanges about belonging and bilingualism on the Prairies. Weaving together old home movies with current conversations, French Enough illuminates the struggle and triumph of reclaiming francophone Canadian identity. As parents, children and grandchildren sing, play and celebrate, in both French and English, the act of carrying a language forward finally becomes a thing of freedom and joy.
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A Foreign LanguageStanley Jackson 1958 29 minThis short documentary focuses on a Montreal public school where thousands of immigrant children learn English for the first time. Part of the Candid Eye series.
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If at FirstGilles Gascon 1969 22 minIn learning a language such as French or English it is certainly a matter of trying again and then again. This film, made with the cooperation of teachers and students, takes a sympathetic look at the application and perseverance required in mastering all the idiosyncracies of a foreign language. It shows the methods of a language laboratory and, most important, the value of venturing into situations where expression in the language being learned must be attempted.
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Twice upon a TimeGiles Walker 1979 10 minThis short satirical film takes us to Stereoville, a city where citizens must literally double up in their efforts to deal with the community’s 2 official languages. In Stereoville, each speaker of one language is tied to a speaker of the other, back-to-back. Into this two-stepping society stumbles a character whose very existence causes considerable consternation among locals: an unattached individual with command of both languages.
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Tickets s.v.pPierre Perrault 1973 9 minAn incident from the early days of Québec's quiet revolution, tailor-made for the cartoonist. It is the story of a Montréal commuter train, a unilingual ticket collector and a bilingual passenger. The passenger appears on screen himself to describe his bid to have tickets requested in French as well as in English. What ensued, and how even the railway president became involved, is illustrated with wit and humor.
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Where the Land EndsLoïc Darses 2019 1 h 29 minAgainst the backdrop of the camera’s meditative wandering through the places that created Quebec, Where the Land Ends explores and questions the historical narrative, as a group of young people who were not old enough to vote in the 1995 referendum express their views. They seem to have decided, on their own, to create a new “Terre des Hommes” (Man and His World).
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Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - LanguageDan Moscrip 1999 27 minThrough interviews with new Canadians and supporting dramatizations, episode 2 looks at the trials and successes of newcomers struggling to learn one or both of Canada's official languages. Language, immigrants stress, is of major importance since the ability to communicate in English and/or French affects employment, social integration and acceptance. Without the necessary language skills, immigrants with academic or professional credentials often find themselves doing menial jobs. In some cases, newcomers are exploited by members of their own ethnic community. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
