Documentaire sur le Sommet des Amériques de 2001. Québec a des allures de ville assiégée. Alors que, dans le périmètre de sécurité, les invités des milieux politique et financier discutent des accords de la Zone de libre-échange des Amériques (ZLEA), des groupes de citoyens, venus de partout sur le continent, manifestent leur opposition dans les rues. La majorité d'entre eux entendent le faire dans le calme. D'autres, non. La fin de semaine s'annonce chaude. Elle le sera. Caméra à l'épaule, sept équipes de tournage ont suivi les événements dans Québec à demi asphyxiée par les gaz. En anglais avec sous-titres français.
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.
This documentary is the story of citizen activists opposing a methane tanker terminal practically on their doorstep. Lucid and compelling, the film shows citizen action pitted against powerful lobbies and reminds us to be vigilant faced with Quebec's environmental and energy-related issues over the coming years.
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 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013: the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929, rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. Director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary follows the grassroots campaign of a young attorney named Rosa Iris, as she challenges electoral corruption and fights to protect the right to citizenship for all people.
Celebrate Black Canadian cinema with the NFB. Explore our collection of films from Black filmmakers across Canada.
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.
Featuring a diverse cast—including celebrated philosophers, trauma surgeons, factory workers, refugees, and politicians—What Is Democracy? connects past and present, emotion and the intellect, the personal and the political, to provoke and inspire. If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word even means.
This feature documentary is considered to be the forerunner of the NFB's Challenge for Change Program. The film offers in inside look at 3 weeks in the life of the Bailey family. Trouble with the police, begging for stale bread, and the birth of another child are just some of the issues they face. Through it all, the father tries to explain his family's predicament. Although filmed in Montreal, the film offers an anatomy of poverty as it occurs throughout North America.
Economist Armine Yalnizyan offers a radically honest and deliciously sweet review of our absurdly dysfunctional economic system and what we must do in order to survive and thrive in the 21st century.
Criminologist and community activist Munira Abukar believes justice and equity begin in your own home and heart. Embracing the uncomfortable awakening that 2020 has brought about, she debunks the cozy narrative of social equality and puts her finger on the key issues needing change.
From the Canada Carries On series, this documentary emphasizes the importance of conservation and rationing, and the increased industrial production, during World War II. It suggests that "tomorrow's world" will be more prosperous and better planned because of the war efforts.
This wartime publicity trailer by Norman McLaren focuses on wartime inflation and the role of price control. Single-frame animation is used with pen drawings made directly on 35mm film stock. Music is by Louis Applebaum, a leading composer and advocate for the arts in Canada.
Ages 11 to 17
Civics/Citizenship - Citizen Responsibilities
Media Education - Documentary Film
Social Studies - Canada in the World Today
Social Studies - Economics
At the April 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, two conflicting visions of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), designed to achieve the economic integration of two whole continents, played out. How would you describe the forces at work? Name the various activist factions seen in the documentary, and the actions they defended. How would you describe the media’s treatment of the summit? Do you think they exaggerated the level of violence to sell more newspapers or boost ratings, or simply conveyed the information provided to them by the police? What is forbidden by the Geneva Convention? What lesson does one draw from the Nuremberg Trials? Do you think it is a fair comparison, under the circumstances? Do you think the director was able to maintain a balance of viewpoints?