Payback (Trailer)

This documentary looks at the microchip, an American invention exploited by the Japanese that caused a second industrial revolution. The devastating effect on millions of human lives is related through interviews with some of the newly jobless in Hamilton, Ontario. Using the example of Japan for contrast, host James Laxer demonstrates that the cost of technological advances need not be so high if their effects are foreseen and planned for. Part 2 of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.

This feature documentary focuses on the reality of life before, during, and after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the profound effects the economic agreements between big business and government can have on human lives.

Filmed over a three year period in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, this documentary poses a sobering question: In this global war of cut-rate economies, are people on the losing side?

In this feature documentary, 6 student activists visit 36 Canadian towns to take on one giant corporation. Filmed over 2 summers, these young crusaders (plus a gonzo journalist) try to raise public awareness about Wal-Mart's business practices and their effect on cities and towns across Canada. With youthful passion and often hilarious cultural jams, this film takes us to the frontlines of the ongoing debate over the company's increasing dominance in the Canadian retail market.

More than a decade after the worldwide financial crisis of 2007–08, what does globalization mean today? Filmmaker-philosopher Jean-Daniel Lafond takes us behind the scenes of the International Economic Forum of the Americas, a massive annual gathering at which economists, financiers and politicians hold forth on the key issues of the day. Featuring first-hand testimonials by nearly two dozen influential men and women, The End of Certainties unfolds as a multi-voice meditation on the state of the world. This observational documentary offers a cogent assessment of globalization—and its ideals, disillusionment, fears and hopes—and the quest for a new humanism, characterized by greater inclusiveness and fairness.

This short documentary is an introductory portrait of labour relations in mid-20th century Canada. Produced in cooperation with the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada, the film traces the process of filing a worker’s grievance in the mechanical and industrial fields. In one instance, an auto-worker files a grievance for being demoted after refusing to work inside a truck cab that he considered too hot. Through several stages of negotiation between union and management, the rights of a worker with a genuine grievance are shown to be protected under the union.

This feature documentary reveals how Bank of Montreal chairman William Mulholland dealt with his debt-laden customers Dome Petroleum and Mexico during the global debt crisis of '82. Interviews with bankers and financial experts demystify the causes of debt crisis, confirm the fragility of the international banking system and outline the problems to be solved if the system is to survive.

This feature documentary chronicles the lives of young call-centre workers in Bombay (Mumbai), India. The film profiles several characters who attempt to sell phone services to clients in the UK, showing both sides of globalization’s impact on India – the economic benefits as well as the break with tradition and loss of innocence. A compelling insider’s look at youth culture in India and the growing number of young people who choose to follow the American dream, Indian-style.

In this feature-length documentary, Marilyn Waring demystifies the language of economics by defining it as a value system in which all goods and activities are related only to their monetary value. As a result, unpaid work (usually performed by women) is unrecognized while activities that may be environmentally and socially detrimental are deemed productive. Waring maps out an alternative vision based on the idea of time as the new currency.

For decades, Colombia has ranked first among countries in the number of social leaders assassinated. From 2002 to 2009, more than 470 leaders were killed by paramilitary militias in the pay of companies ready to do anything to crush the unions. Among these unscrupulous corporate brands were bottling plants of Coca-Cola company products.

These unpunished crimes spur U.S. activists Dan Kovalik, Terry Collingsworth and Ray Rogers into an ambitious crusade against the soft drink giant, accusing them of turning a blind eye to the misdeeds brought to their attention. By following the relentless efforts of this unshakeable trio, The Coca-Cola Case takes us on a fascinating legal road-movie, against a backdrop of denunciation campaigns claiming: Stop Killer Coke!

After five years of struggle, will Coca-Cola yield in the end? And on the verge of a settlement, what will the victims choose—cash, or power and integrity?

This feature documentary is an inquiry into Canada's economic troubles of the 1970 and '80s. The film summarizes the facts at hand, including some pre-NAFTA speculation about economic dependency on the United States. At roughly thirty percent, the Canada of a few decades ago was more foreign-owned than any other country in the world. Still, however, a great and stubborn national pride in our cultural and social idiosyncrasies persists, resulting in the confidence to look elsewhere besides the United States for economic alliances and models. This episode is the fifth and last part of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.

This feature documentary explores the state of prostitution laws in Canada. It captures the complexity of the issue by listening to the frequently conflicting voices of sex workers, policy-makers, lawyers, and even the male buyers who make their argument for why prostitution is good for society. Warning: This film deals with mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.

Following the release of Buying Sex, Professor Alan Young, counsel for the applicants in Bedford v. Canada and a participant in the film, contacted the NFB to complain that the film provides an incomplete and inaccurate account of the case. The NFB acknowledges that the constitutional challenge is not the focus of the film. Rather, the aim of the film is to examine the current controversy in Canada around the decriminalization of prostitution, of which the Bedford case is one aspect. The goal is to create a film which encourages Canadians to engage in an informed debate about sex work from a national and international perspective. The NFB believes the film achieves this purpose. In the spirit of furthering an informed debate on these issues, including the constitutional challenge, and in response to Prof. Young's concerns, the NFB provides below links to the legal briefs filed by the parties before the Supreme Court of Canada as well as links to the judgments of all three Canadian Courts. The third judgment, from the Supreme Court of Canada, was released in December 2013, following the completion of the film. The Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional the three prostitution related laws challenged by Prof. Young, but suspended its judgment for one year to allow Parliament to consider whether to enact new laws, thus ensuring that the debate surrounding the decriminalization of prostitution will continue in Canada for some time.

Legal Briefs Filed by the Parties in the Supreme Court of Canada

Judgments from the Trial Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada

Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72 (Supreme Court of Canada)

Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2012 ONCA 186 (Court of Appeal for Ontario)

Bedford v. Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264 (CanLII) (Superior Court of Ontario)