Encounters

An ecological study of plant and animal life on the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic. The film includes profiles of animals such as musk-oxen, lemmings, arctic hares and various forms of plant life.

This short documentary vignette reveals the curious origin of the name of Flin Flon, Manitoba.

This documentary from the Shining Mountains series explores the discovery of the Rockies by retracing the footsteps of its earliest European visitors. At first nothing more than an obstacle to fur trading, the Rockies became, with the arrival of the first CPR train, an all-too accessible Shangri-La, a playground for Easterners armed with easels, cameras and climbing gear. Here, the filmmaker joins modern-day adventurers and historians to relive these early explorations. It's a journey by dog team, locomotive, canoe and climbing party to the roof of the Canadian Rockies. From there, one can almost see forever, and that's the problem. The future is cause for concern.

This short documentary by Bill Mason explores Pukaskwa National Park on Lake Superior, providing a background of the park's geological past and plant life. The film also shows scenes of hiking, canoeing and camping. The result is to put us back in touch with the natural elements that our ancestors both fought and enjoyed.

A young Chinese-Canadian couple is visiting family in Wuhan, epicentre of the virus, at the very moment the pandemic is declared. Interviewing his subjects in a novel socially distanced mode, director Weiye Su explores the culturally specific concept of Jia—an idea evoking family or home that acquires sharp new meaning during COVID times.

Part of THE CURVE, a collection of social distancing stories that bring us together. Enjoy more works from this series here .

Using videos shot on her phone, a director of Syrian origin gives her housebound grandparents back in Syria a look in her adopted city of Montreal.

Through an intimate archive of the Chow’s family lineage, A Passage Beyond Fortune offers an homage to the culturally significant but buried history of Chinese-Canadian communities in Moose Jaw.

This short documentary profiles the uniquely cloistered wildlife of Sable Island, known as the “Atlantic graveyard” due to its inhospitable conditions. Barren sands and endless gales proved too much for human settlement on this island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Only a small group of researchers and maintenance people occupy the island; horses run wild, seals and birds multiply profusely, and the Ipswich sparrow has found a fruitful breeding ground for itself. Sable Island provides a perfect opportunity to observe nature in an untouched, organic laboratory.

Pictures from Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island in the Northwest Territories.

This short documentary from Morten Parker takes audiences on a tour of the islands in the West Indies Federation, circa 1959. While there, we see the various resources of the islands, including sugar, coffee, bananas, oil, and bauxite.

This short film served as an invitation to the World's Fair that was held in Montreal in 1967. It was largely considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century with over 50 million visitors. The film presents impressions of the event and of Montreal at its liveliest and most exciting moment in history.