Trouble in the Forest

This feature-length documentary tells the story of two very different men brought together by New Brunswick's decision to hand the management of millions of acres of Crown land to six multinationals. One man is an Acadian woodlot owner retired after nearly 40 years in a pulp mill; the other is a painter and winemaker with homes in France and New Brunswick.

The activitists travel to Finland, home of UPM-Kymmene, one of the largest licence holders of New Brunswick Crown lands, to urge company officials to practise responsible forestry. They also go head-to-head with the provincial government to secure a new community-based forestry policy that is environmentally sustainable and produces more jobs than the highly mechanized techniques used today.

This documentary examines the battle strategies of citizens, scientists, loggers, environmentalists and First Nations people who are fighting over the liquidation of public forests and, with it, a way of life.

This short documentary looks at how modern technology affects the forestry industry and the role of the forester in ensuring the sustainability of this great natural resource. It was in the '60s that people started to realize that the forests did not provide an endless supply of wood, and thanks to recent developments in the science of forestry, people are learning how to manage the resources more effectively.

This short documentary dispels the myth that Canada has an inexhaustible supply of usable wood and forest resources. In documenting the use and misuse of forest resources in Northern Ontario, it shows the efforts of the government and industry to find better ways to find a sustainable solution. The film also serves as a reminder that this is not just a problem for Northern Ontario - a crisis in the forest industry would affect one out of every ten Canadian jobs.

Filmed in several of Canada's national parks (including Banff and Wood Buffalo), this feature documentary looks at forest fires versus fire suppression. Sometimes forest fires are essential for plant renewal, healthy growth, soil enrichment and new environments for wildlife.

In his new feature documentary Borealis, acclaimed director Kevin McMahon (Waterlife) travels deep into the heart of the boreal forest to explore the chorus of life in Canada’s iconic wilderness. How do trees move, communicate and survive the destructive forces of fire, insects, and human encroachment? Borealis offers an immersive portrait of the lifecycles of the forest from the perspective of the plants and animals that live there.

This documentary looks at developments in the Canadian forestry industry from the 1970s. Turning a Newfoundland bog into woodland, fostering British Columbia seedlings that withstand mechanical planting, inoculating Ontario elms against the bark beetle, devising ways of controlling fire... these are some of the experiments shown being carried out in laboratories and in the field to protect and conserve the country's vast forests.

A documentary portrait of ecologist Pierre Dansereau, the film takes us from Baffin Island to New York City, from the Gaspé Peninsula to Brazil. At each stop on this world tour, we hear his story and witness landscapes of breathtaking beauty.

This 1975 documentary examines the challenges faced by the Canadian forestry industry, such as deforestation, pest control and forest fire.

This 1950 documentary examines the penalties of forest destruction: fire, flood, wasted resources and barren lands. The film describes measures to preserve Canada's prime source of national wealth. Scenes of the wilderness created by stripping land of protective trees show the need to halt careless exploitation. Contrasting the slow process of re-seeding with the swift, modern methods of felling trees, the film urges planned cutting to ensure a protected yearly crop.

A brief essay on the ecology of a forest along the Laurentian Shield, in Quebec. We see the forest as an integrated community of living things, balanced by conflict as well as harmony, and learn why the maple tree is best able to survive the struggle for supremacy in the Laurentian forest area.