MAN THE POLLUTER

This feature-length animation is a richly illustrated cartoon film with an environmental message: how much longer can humans foul their own nest and ignore the consequences? Made by a joint team of Canadian and Yugoslav animation artists, the film transmits its warning with unflagging humour, imagination, movement and design. In between animated sequences, Dr. Fred H. Knelman, Professor of Science and Human Affairs at Montreal’s Concordia University, comments on the importance of what is shown and on what lies in store if more responsibility is not taken on a global scale to conserve what is left of our vital resources.

An amusingly drawn cartoon about a highly proficient lady bricklayer, graduate of Specialists' School, whose work takes her high up in the world, and her erstwhile friend, whose equally dedicated professionalism brings him lower. She builds towers of bricks while he tunnels down below ground. What develops in the story involves other unlikely characters, plausible enough in this cartoon context.

In this short documentary from conservationist Bill Mason, he illustrates that although the Great Lakes have had their ups and downs, nothing has been harder to take than what humans have done to them lately. In the film, a lone canoeist lives through the changes of geological history, through Ice Age and flood, only to find himself in the end trapped in a sea of scum.

This short documentary presents the environmental challenges in Nunavut. Beneath the immaculate layer of snow, there are mountains of trash. Iqaluit's 2 dumps are filled beyond capacity and the municipality has no plan to solve the problem. Throughout the film, we discover the problems faced by this isolated region and learn just how serious they are. But above all, we hear a call to action from the residents, who don't want to see the North they love disappear. In French with English subtitles.

This documentary was made as part of the Tremplin program, with the collaboration of Radio-Canada.

This short film was produced for The Department of National Health and Welfare to warn against the dangers of cigarette smoking. Set against the backdrop of a typical '60s-era horror movie, a young woman is seen lighting up cigarette after cigarette. When a vampire appears at the stroke of midnight, she faints from sheer terror. But when the vampire closes in for the kill, he is hit with a nasty surprise...

A 2001 documentary about the dangers of pesticides used by potato farmers in Prince Edward Island. Filmmaker Sylvie Dauphinais made this documentary to issue a wake-up call about an environmental crisis that put the ill, the elderly and the young at great risk. Includes some subtitles.

VIEWER ADVISORY
Produced in collaboration with Information Canada, a branch of what’s now the Department of Foreign Affairs, this sponsored short film is an ad for national unity in Canada. In this satirical view of Canadian society, a series of images and words illustrate various prejudices, serving as a pretext to show that despite their differences, Canadians from all backgrounds form a unified nation thanks to federalism. Today, some of the cultural depictions and language in the film are considered outdated and offensive.

A cartoon film about the whole heterogeneous mixture of Canada and Canadians, and the way the invisible adhesive called federalism makes it all cling together. That the dissenting voices are many is made amply evident, in English and French. But this animated message also shows that Canadians can laugh at themselves and work out their problems objectively.

Propelled by Claude Cloutier’s signature drawing style and absurdist humour, this animated short offers an overview of the evolution of life on Earth from rock to human, with some surprising twists in between.

This short animation attempts to show the landscape of Canadians through a series of transforming faces -- young, old and from many different backgrounds, illustrating the great variety of people living in the country.

This lively satire uses animation and a pseudo-documentary style to depict Canada's search for a national identity. The National Scream explains, amongst other elements of Canadiana, how and why the beaver became the country's symbol.

Based on a song by the Great Western Orchestra, this animated short traces the adventures of Pete, the North West Mounted Police officer who is awakened in the badlands by a varmint band and witnesses a cactus line dance.