Unheralded

This feature documentary is a portrait of Montreal political cartoonists Aislin and Serge Chapleau. In the pages of The Montreal Gazette and La Presse, respectively, they’ve been skewering politicians for 30 years. But who are these biting satirists? The film seeks to answer this question through interviews with the cartoonist's friends, families, colleagues, and even a few of their favourite victims, including Gilles Duceppe and Louise Beaudoin. Featuring many of their classic cartoons, Nothing Sacred pays tribute to gifted iconoclasts whose hilarious characters have seeped into our collective consciousness.

This short documentary profiles Sophie Wollock and the newspaper she founded for the western suburbs of Montreal in l963, The Suburban. A weekly paper distributed free to some 45,000 homes, most of them anglophone, The Suburban became famous for the strongly worded editorials written by Wollock, mainly on the subject of Québec nationalism. The film looks at the paper, then under the guidance of her son, and sums up some of Wollock's more impassioned editorials.

This short film from 1948 takes an in-depth look at local newspapers and their relationship to the community they serve. Following the weekly editor of one such hometown paper for a day, the film tracks the local events that will be news tomorrow. In town, we meet the people whose names are scattered through the pages: the mayor and his hope of a new city hall, the local angler who breaks a record and even the lacrosse team, sharing spectators with the band concert in the park.

This feature documentary is a profile of Canadian press tycoon Roy Thomson, whose single-minded attention to business brought him riches, power, and even a baronetcy in England. A native of Timmins, Ontario, Thomson had a tremendous career as publisher, television magnate, financier, and owner of many newspapers, including leading London dailies. The film is a frank study of an equally frank man.

This short film takes a look at Prince Edward Island through the eyes of Jim McNeil, editor and publisher of the Eastern Graphic, the Island's only weekly. Filmed during the 1974 provincial election, the film places particular emphasis on grass-roots politicking and the newspaper's role in reporting on it.

This documentary examines the media's coverage of the federal election of May 1979. Filmed over a 3-week period, it takes a fascinating look at journalists in action and the politicians who attempt to manipulate the media.

This documentary offers a witty and engaging view of Canada's history through the unique perspectives of its political cartoonists. Duncan Macpherson, Robert LaPalme, Aislin, and others chime in on the most notable cartoons from more than 50 artists while we also enjoy the reactions of the targets. As one cartoonist proclaims, "A picture is worth a thousand words. A cartoon, well done, is worth a thousand pictures."

This short film from 1945 demonstrates how broadcasters and journalists relayed war news back to Canada. It includes glimpses of the complex organization behind them - the military PR directors, the censors, dispatch riders, engineers and the Canadian Press and British United Press offices.

This feature documentary takes us through the twists and turns of judicial proceedings pitting Canadian mining companies Barrick Gold and Banro against author Alain Deneault, his co-writers and publisher Éditions Écosociété, following the 2008 release of the book Noir Canada, which raised troubling questions about the controversial practices of Canadian mining companies in Africa. Silence is Gold is a legal and political thriller that captures years of intense psychological tension.

This short documentary profiles cartoonist, painter, humorist, publisher, iconographer, and teacher Jacob Maydanyk. Part of the first wave of Ukrainian immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1896-1914, Maydanyk was an imaginative artist who created the beloved comic strip character Shteef Tabachniuk, a hapless and endearing galoot who became a folk hero to Ukrainian immigrants. Laughter in My Soul is a tribute to the dignity and heroism of those early pioneers and to those whose spirit lives on, to those who had laughter in their souls.

This feature doc tells the story of the improbable friendship between acclaimed Quebec singer Félix Leclerc and the intriguing Frank Randolph Macpherson. A chemical engineer from Jamaica, Macpherson immigrated to Quebec in 1917 and was the inspiration for the popular song that Leclerc named after him. But this is also a story about memory: it was animator Martine Chartrand’s memory of this song that compelled her to create the striking animated short MacPherson, made by filming paintings on glass using 35mm film. A sympathetic look at an artist at work, Finding Macpherson takes audiences on a personal journey, exploring the imperceptible yet powerful connections that bind us to each other.