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Prince Edward Island as Seen by NFB Filmmakers
Discover PEI and its distinctive communities through a wide-ranging program of films made between the 1940s and the 2020s.
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Then Sings My SoulSusan Rodgers 2021 14 minPrince Edward Island singer and part-time fisherman Chad Matthews is a hardworking father of four and a Stompin’ Tom Connors tribute artist. In a rural town where making a living means only earning minimum wage, Then Sings My Soul follows Chad as he reaches for a guitar to help ease the pain. -
Island GreenMillefiore Clarkes 2013 25 minThis short documentary takes a look at the changing face of PEI's agricultural industry. Once famous for its spuds and red mud, this tiny island province now has higher than average cancer and respiratory illness rates. Is there a link to industrialized farming? Rather than dwelling on PEI’s worrisome monocropping practices, Island Green dares to ask: What if PEI went entirely organic?
The stirring words of PEI-born poet Tanya Davis are coupled with beautiful imagery and poignant stories from the island’s small but growing community of organic farmers, reminding us that we can rob the land only so much before it robs us of the nourishment we need for life. Island Green is ultimately a story of hope and healthy promise. -
Hubert Reeves: Star TellerIolande Cadrin-Rossignol 2002 52 minHubert Reeves is an astrophysicist whose honours from the scientific community include the Albert Einstein award. But Reeves is known to the public as a wonderful popularizer of scientific ideas, possessed of an exceptional talent at combining science and humanism.
As a child growing up near Lac St-Louis in Quebec, Reeves was fascinated by nature and its relationship to the rest of the universe. This fascination led him to Cornell University, where he studied with some of the great scientific minds of the 20th century. A raconteur, Reeves tells stories about his remarkable professors, men like Hans Bethe, Philip Morrrison and Bob Wilson, whose research led to the atom bomb. Reeves also offers revealing anecdotes about Einstein, Niels Bohr, Oppenheimer and Teller.
With his usual enthusiasm, Reeves highlights milestones in astrophysics, showing us a view of the moon as seen by Galileo in 1609, and remarkable photos of galaxies colliding billions of light-years away. Along with stunning visuals, we listen as Reeves explains history and theory in a highly accessible way.
A committed ecologist, Reeves warns about the deterioration of our planet. In the face of explosive economic globalization, Reeves believes that the globalization of ecological movements offers hope. -
The Kitchen GoddessDonna Davies 1999 53 minIn the chaos of the post-modern world we still need the village psychic. Throughout the Maritime provinces of eastern Canada, neighbourhood fortune-tellers and village wise-women are alive and well, and their practices have survived intact. These women often work at the kitchen table--and today, they're more sought-after than ever. They're seemingly average people who don't put on airs and affectations, but who go about doing some rather extraordinary things with very little fuss. Using herbal preparations, spells, astrology, or tools as simple as tea leaves and tap water, they look into the past, present and future -- and offer tips on coping with what life throws our way. It's a fascinating tradition--and director Donna Davies has been immersed in it since childhood. Join her in The Kitchen Goddess as she takes you on a personal visit into the worlds of seven Maritime psychics.
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In Love and Anger: Milton Acorn - PoetKent Martin 1984 52 minThis feature documentary profiles poet Milton Acorn, who left his home in Prince Edward Island in the late 1940s to earn his living as an itinerant carpenter, and wound up in Toronto as one of Canada's most highly regarded poets and one of its most outrageous literary figures. Dubbed "The People's Poet" by fellow poets, he won the Governor General's Literary Award in 1975. Burned out by personal crises, Acorn moved back to Charlottetown in 1981. This film, directed by a P.E.I. filmmaker, brings out Acorn's wit, love of nature, unorthodox political views, and sometimes infuriating personal contradictions.
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Eastern GraphicMichael McKennirey & Kent Martin 1975 19 minThis short film takes a look at Prince Edward Island through the eyes of Jim McNeil, editor and publisher of the Eastern Graphic, the Island's only weekly. Filmed during the 1974 provincial election, the film places particular emphasis on grass-roots politicking and the newspaper's role in reporting on it.
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The Queen in Canada, 1964Gordon Sparling 1965 20 minThis short documentary follows Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh as they visit Canada to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation. A hundred years earlier, the Fathers of Confederation had gathered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to discuss the idea of a united Canada. At a time when Canadians are once again reassessing the nature and role of the diverse communities within Canada, the Queen’s arrival unites onlookers in the idea of Canada as one great nation.
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Island RomanceDonald Ginsberg 1957 30 minThis short fictional film features the picturesque seaside landscape of Prince Edward Island as the setting for a summer romance between a girl from Winnipeg and a young fisherman from North Rustico, PEI. The young couple visits historic and scenic sites such as Government House in Charlottetown and Cavendish, of Green Gables fame. The film is a classic summertime romance and a nostalgic visit to the delightfully sun-soaked PEI of the past.
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Prince Edward IslandMargaret Perry 1943 10 minThis film offers a look at Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island. Known worldwide for its potatoes, the islanders are expert lobster fishermen as well as world leaders in raising foxes. The film also offers a look at the famous Green Gables house as well as the legislature where Confederation was born.
