Eye Witness No. 58

A disturbing portrait of four Western volunteers who risk their lives to fight ISIS alongside Kurdish forces. The feature documentary My War probes the complex motives behind the need to take up arms on someone else’s behalf.

This short film looks at the plans made at Dumbarton Oaks in 1945 for a renewed international organization devoted to world peace - the United Nations.

Vocational Training for Repats: Vocational training for Canadian veterans includes courses in the building trades, haircutting, mechanics and electronics, as well as home economics and hairdressing. Canadian Soap for UNRRA: Soap is manufactured in Canada for distribution throughout Europe by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Railway Cars for Russia: Railway cars are produced in Canada and shipped to the Soviet Union to help rebuild the Russian transportation system.

Produced as an introduction to the NFB film Now - The Peace, this film features discussion among members of various unions in the Vancouver area. They express hope that the newly established United Nations, with its Economic Council, will be able to reduce the threat of war and increase the security and prosperity of workers everywhere.

This full-length documentary tells the story of 2 Afghans who return to Afghanistan in search of their families after a 16-year exile. Like many Afghan children, Soorgul and Amir were sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the civil wars that broke out on both sides of the border left the children stranded, unable to leave the country until Canada accepted them as refugees.

The Sweetest Embrace tells an intimate story set against one of the world's most harsh and yet beautiful landscapes, in a land where life has been shaped by war and hardship but where spirit remains resilient.

A film made for the United Nations to chronicle its role in restoring peace in the Middle East after the Suez Crisis of October 1956.

On September 9, 2002, a scheduled appearance by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked heated debate at Montreal's Concordia University. By the end of the day, the "Concordia riot" had made international news, from CNN to Al-Jazeera. This film documents the fallout from that eventful day, following three young campus activists as they negotiate the most formative year of their lives. Filmmakers Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal jump into the fray with street-smart bravado and a handheld camera. Buoyed by the songs of hip-hop artist Buck 65, this film offers a tonic reflection on the current state of Canadian student activism and the enduring value of tolerance.

This feature documentary offers a rare glimpse into the frontlines of democracy building through the eyes of a Canadian mother and her daughter. In the heart of Kosovo, an international mission struggles to bring democracy to a land torn apart by bloodshed. There, Canadian lawyer Carolyn McCool works to build bridges between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, while her 20-year-old daughter Kate travels with a musical roadshow to generate grassroots support for the election among the youth.

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series. At the end of World War II there were sixty million sick and starving children in Europe. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration undertook to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education and sympathetic attention to these terrorized victims of war.

Two sisters grow up in Vietnam and are separated by the war between North and South. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Thao, in her teens, must leave the country with her uncle. Her sister Sao Maï, only a little older, remains with their parents, hoping they will soon be reunited. But their separation will last nearly 20 years, and the letters they exchange are their only way to connect and relieve their loneliness. Thao and Sao Maï write about their everyday lives, their memories, the war, and its ghosts.

This autobiographical documentary revisits the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s. More than 50 years after the conflict, in which the director participated as a young British soldier stationed in Kenya for his national service, he confronts his past with audacity and unflinching self-inquiry.

Combining McWilliams' own photographic record of the times with original animation and archival imagery, A Time There Was crafts a thoughtful account of the Mau Mau Rebellion – one of the most contentious episodes in Britain’s imperial endgame.