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Substance Use and Abuse/Addiction (37)

  1. Available in English Options
5 years old
18 years old
  • Ashes of Doom
    Ashes of Doom
    Grant Munro  &  Don Arioli 1970 1 min
    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...
  • The Agony of Jimmy Quinlan
    The Agony of Jimmy Quinlan
    George Mihalka  &  George Williams 1978 27 min
    This short documentary follows Jimmy Quinlan, one of the estimated 5000 men and women who lived in the streets and alleys of Montreal in the late 1970s. The film casts a harsh light on the realities of life on the street, as Jimmy battles his addictions; sobriety is a goal he's tried to achieve before and will probably have to try again. In and out of shelters, Jimmy's life is anything but stable, but his unique personality shines through in this affecting portrait.
  • At Home: Still Out There
    At Home: Still Out There
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    Lynne Stopkewich 2013 4 min
    When Blair lost everything he loved, he lost his mind. Since then he's become an expert on how to be homeless in Vancouver.
  • Alanna
    Alanna
    Julie Plourde 2009 25 min
    Taken in by a loving family at the age of eight weeks, Alanna grew up in the majestic wilderness of the Yukon mountains. Because her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, Alanna’s development was seriously compromised. She has fetal alcohol syndrome. She will never be like other kids.

    Tackling the subject with sensitivity, Julie Plourde’s documentary speaks to the heart. Alanna is a wake-up call about a tragedy that’s largely underestimated by the public but of growing concern to health professionals around the world. In French with English subtitles.
  • Alone in the Abyss
    Alone in the Abyss
    Claudie Ottawa 2009 5 min
    Drugs. They sneak into your life, into your veins. You wake up and you're all alone in the depths. But the Earth keeps turning. Since 2004, the travelling studios of Wapikoni Mobile have enabled Quebec First Nations youth to express themselves through videos and music. This short film was made with the guidance of these travelling studios and is part of the 2008 selection.
  • The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar
    The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar
    Peter Pearson 1968 49 min
    The setting for this drama is a logging community, focusing on a man who chooses the unfettered life and uncertain income of an itinerant bush worker, even though it means that his family lives poorly as a result. The film is a study of the effects on family life of isolation and deprivation. Features a wonderful performance from a young Margot Kidder.
  • Bevel Up - Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing
    Bevel Up - Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing
    Nettie Wild 2007 45 min
    Bevel Up follows street nurses as they reach out to people working in the sex trade, and people who use drugs in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver’s inner city. Most importantly the nurses reflect on the attitudes they bring to their work—attitudes that can make or break their relationships with the people to whom they provide practical, non-judgemental health care on a daily basis.

    The Bevel Up Educational Playlists offer viewers a dynamic way to learn through more than four hours of additional footage, interviews and a Teachers Guide. The interactive resource gives students and instructors in the healthcare field access to the experiences of practitioners who work with people who use drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

    For more information, images, and clips, click here.
  • The Beauty of My People
    The Beauty of My People
    Alan Collins 1977 29 min
    The film centres on Arthur Shilling, an Ojibwa artist from the Rama Reserve on Lake Couchiching, Ontario. Shilling's artistic evolution is traced, as is his move to Toronto and the difficulties he encountered there. Also discussed is the illness that caused Shilling to re-evaluate his artistic goals. Interviews with the artist and others interested in his paintings are juxtaposed with examples of paintings.
  • Children of Alcohol
    Children of Alcohol
    Gil Cardinal 1984 18 min
    This short documentary focuses on the children of alcoholics. In the relaxed environment of a mountain campsite, a group of young people discuss their anger and frustration, and talk about their struggle to cope with the problems created by their parents' drinking. By sharing their experiences, they open a door for others like them. Aimed primarily at an audience of elementary school children and older, this film provides an excellent vehicle for generating discussion about alcohol abuse and the family.
  • Crazywater
    Crazywater
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    Dennis Allen 2013 56 min
    This feature-length documentary from Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen is an emotional and revealing exploration of addiction among Indigenous people in Canada.

    After years of struggle and shame, 5 Indigenous Canadians bravely come forward with their stories of substance abuse, presenting the sensitive topic of alcoholism in an honest and forthright manner. Alex, Paula, Desirae, Stephen, and Dennis himself maintain a deep and devoted commitment to their traditional culture to achieve long-term sobriety. Through their voices, this insightful doc offers an inspirational beacon of hope for others.
  • Carts of Darkness
    Carts of Darkness
    Murray Siple 2008 59 min
    Murray Siple's feature-length documentary follows a group of homeless men who have combined bottle picking with the extreme sport of racing shopping carts down the steep hills of North Vancouver. This subculture shows that street life is much more than the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media.

    The film takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk. Shot in high-definition and featuring tracks from Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, Vetiver, Bison, and Alan Boyd of Little Sparta.
  • Conviction
    Conviction
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    Nance Ackerman Ariella Pahlke , … 2019 1 h 17 min
    Conviction envisions alternatives to prison through the eyes of women behind bars and those fighting on the front lines of the decarceration movement. Not another ‘broken prison’ film, this collaboration is a ‘broken society’ film—an ambitious and inspired re-build of our community, from the inside out. The film compels viewers to examine why we imprison the most vulnerable among us, and at what cost.
  • Dehors novembre
    Dehors novembre
    Patrick Bouchard 2005 6 min
    This animated short evokes the tragic death of Dédé Fortin, frontman, and vocalist of the Québécois band Les Colocs. To the soundtrack of “Dehors novembre,” one of the band’s songs, animator Patrick Bouchard weaves of dark tale of death and ruin, as they unfold in the dark of night, in November, the Month of the Dead. Not for children.
  • Drug Addict
    Drug Addict
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    Robert Anderson 1948 34 min
    How drug traffic operates, how the drug addict is made, and how this grim social reality may be curbed. From the poppy blowing innocently in the wind to the relationship between addict and pusher, this film traces the strange progress of illicit narcotics. The story of a young first offender, who hears of the joys of addiction while in jail, shows how many people become chained to the habit, their only future a pattern of crime and jail. Different authorities offer different solutions to the complex drug problem--but all agree that for the sake of society, the problem must be solved.
  • Exiles in Lotusland
    Exiles in Lotusland
    Ilan Saragosti 2005 1 h 10 min
    This feature documentary tells the story of 2 teens who head out west in search of self. Like a quarter of Vancouver’s itinerant youth population, Mélo and Ti-criss made the trip from Quebec, hopeful for a better life. Still minors, the pair seeks escape and adventure, perhaps the meaning of life. From east to west, from the streets to a hotel, with a welcome interlude in the country, they seek their place in society.
  • Finding Farley
    Finding Farley
    Leanne Allison 2009 1 h 2 min
    In this feature documentary, husband-and-wife team Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison (Being Caribou), along with their 2-year-old son and dog, retrace the literary footsteps of Canadian writer Farley Mowat. They canoe east from Calgary towards the Prairies (the geography of Farley's Born Naked and Owls in the Family) and then traverse the same paths that Mowat took more than 60 years earlier in Never Cry Wolf and People of the Deer. Their epic 5,000 km journey—trekking, sailing, portaging and paddling—ends in the Maritimes, at Mowat's Nova Scotia summer home.
  • F.A.S.: When the Children Grow Up
    F.A.S.: When the Children Grow Up
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    Sharon Bartlett  &  Maria LeRose 2002 40 min
    When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, she can do irreparable harm to her baby. This program explores the realities of living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (F.A.S.) and partial F.A.S., called Fetal Alcohol Effects (F.A.E.), the leading causes of birth defects. The effects associated with F.A.S. continue even when children become adults.

    This documentary tells the stories of three adults living with F.A.S., along with commentary from experts in the field.
  • Monkey on the Back
    Monkey on the Back
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    Julian Biggs 1956 28 min
    This documentary drama, based on the real-life experiences of a drug addict, not only portrays the terrible consequences of the misuse of narcotics but presents the general problem of addiction and, particularly, of the addict as an individual. Dick Smith lost everything valued most in life because of his craving for the narcotics which finally killed him. In relating the story of his attempts to break the habit, the film reveals the essential nature of addiction as both a social and a human problem.
  • No Quick Fix
    No Quick Fix
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    Andrée Cazabon 2000 51 min
    A revealing portrait of two young addicts, their life on the street and their despairing parents who find themselves powerless to save their children from the habit that is consuming them. As filmmaker Andrée Cazabon follows Cathy and Laurent for many months, recording their desperate drug-fuelled existence, she remembers her own life on the street. "My parents and I relived that horror," she says of her creative journey. But it was for all parents that she made this film. Cathy's and Laurent's parents live in a permanent state of bewildered anxiety and guilt. How can they avoid being totally destroyed by grief? How do they manage to carry on with their lives, in spite of everything? And how do they deal with a system that views them with suspicion? By grimly showing two children in the grip of a brutal addiction, No Quick Fix hopes to alleviate and identify some of the enormous pain endured by parents coping with an addicted child. In French with English subtitles.
  • Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
    Poundmaker's Lodge: A Healing Place
    Alanis Obomsawin 1987 29 min
    Just north of the City of Edmonton lies Poundmaker’s Lodge, an addiction and mental-health facility specializing in treatment for Indigenous people. Founded in 1973 and still operational today, the Lodge’s programs and services are Indigenous-run and based in culturally appropriate recovery and healing techniques. Framing the short documentary with the words of the great Plains Cree Chief Pîhtokahanapiwiyin (Poundmaker), Alanis Obomsawin presents a frank examination of the root causes of substance abuse in Indigenous communities and how the absence of love and support – exacerbated by the impacts of colonialism and racism – created a legacy of alcoholism for some individuals.
  • Ryan
    Ryan
    Chris Landreth 2004 13 min
    This animated short from Chris Landreth is based on the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Ryan is living every artist's worst nightmare - succumbing to addiction, panhandling on the streets to make ends meet. Through computer-generated characters, Landreth interviews his friend to shed light on his downward spiral. Some strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.
  • The Sniffing Bear
    The Sniffing Bear
    Co Hoedeman 1992 7 min
    This animated film uses the Arctic landscape and the traditional Inuit characters of the Bear, the Seal and the Owl to raise young people's awareness about the harmful effects of substance abuse. A polar bear experiences hallucinations after inhaling fumes from an abandoned gas can. A nearby owl and seal help to show the bear the error of his ways, thus preventing him from falling further into addiction. This film was an initiative of the Natives of the Institution La Macaza to warn children of the dangers of inhaling toxic chemicals.
  • Still Longshots
    Still Longshots
    David Finch  &  Maureen Marovitch 2007 52 min
    This documentary demonstrates the transformative power of video through the stories of four at-risk youths. These young people have issues ranging from addiction to a life spent on the street, or in foster homes. In learning to make videos about their lives, they've discovered a creative outlet that allows them to heal.

    The group completes their experience by spending a weekend with a group of former street kids who did a similar workshop a decade earlier. Now in their 30s, they share their stories with their younger counterparts. Surprising, and often disturbing, parallels emerge between the two groups, along with glimmers of hope for the youth.
  • Societies Under the Influence
    Societies Under the Influence
    Germán Gutiérrez 1998 52 min
    Despite the overflowing prisons and billions of dollars spent by governments, drug trafficking is a bigger problem than ever. In an unending spiral, increasingly effective repression only makes drugs scarcer, thus driving up the cost, which in turn increases criminality and makes life less safe for ordinary citizens. After so many years of this war on drugs, many observers are calling for a cease-fire in the hope that legalizing drugs might be the solution.
  • Shredded
    Shredded
    Douglas C. Taplin  &  Richard Gaudio 2005 22 min
    This short film follows a group of teenage boys eager to emulate the muscle-filled bodies of their media heroes. Revealing the lengths these boys are willing to go to achieve their goal, this film explores the use of supplements and the temptations of steroids. The boys relate their experiences, desires and motivations to the audience, who are left to draw their own conclusions.

    The film is designed to provoke discussion among teenagers about body image and where lines should be drawn between healthy and dangerous behaviour.
  • Street Kids
    Street Kids
    Peg Campbell 1985 21 min
    In this short documentary, a succession of black and white photographs provides a gritty look at juvenile prostitution and at the young people, male and female, struggling to get off the streets. Highlighting the links between being sexually abused as a child, loss of self-esteem, and turning to the streets, the film quickly dispels the images of glamor and big money usually associated with prostitution, and shows the positive efforts of child-care workers to help juvenile prostitutes find a way out.
  • The Sacred Sundance: The Transfer of a Ceremony
    The Sacred Sundance: The Transfer of a Ceremony
    Brian J. Francis 2008 1 h 9 min
    This feature-length documentary chronicles the Sundance ceremony brought to Eastern Canada by William Nevin of the Elsipogtog First Nation of the Mi'kmaq. Nevin learned from Elder Keith Chiefmoon of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta. Under the July sky, participants in the Sundance ceremony go four days without food or water. Then they will pierce the flesh of their chests in an offering to the Creator. This event marks a transmission of culture and a link to the warrior traditions of the past.
  • Self(less) Portrait
    Self(less) Portrait
    Danic Champoux 2014 1 h 38 min
    In this feature documentary, 50 people decide to bare all about their personal lives and discuss a multitude of subjects on camera, ranging from funny anecdotes to heartbreaking experiences. From their stories emerges a human mosaic with which we can all identify, one that celebrates the diversity of human experience. This inventive, free-form ensemble film breathes new life into the documentary genre.
  • The True Story of Linda M.
    The True Story of Linda M.
    Norma Bailey 1995 1 h 6 min
    In 1980, Linda M. was the subject of a film about prostitution directed by Norma Bailey (Nose and Tina). It's 16 years later, and Linda renews her relationship with the filmmaker, inviting her back into her life. Now in rehab, Linda introduces her family and various boyfriends in a funny, sometimes upsetting, but always riveting account of day-to-day life.
  • Triptych
    Triptych
    Pedro Pires  &  Robert Lepage 2013 1 h 34 min
    Triptych is a contemporary urban saga that tells the story of Michelle, a schizophrenic bookseller, her sister, Marie, a singer and actress, and Marie’s future husband, Thomas, a German neurosurgeon. Against a backdrop of written and visual poetry, the film depicts three pivotal moments in the lives of these characters while touching on an array of subjects—artistic expression, social engagement versus solitude, the many nuances of emotion. In this study of human communication in all its forms and complexity, these three lives intersect in their quests for personal identity and a burning desire for self-expression. Directed by Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires, this film adaptation of Lepage’s epic, nine-hour play Lipsynch captures the essence of the original work, which deals with the human voice.