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Body Image (16)
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Available in English Options
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AdventuresMichael Rubbo 1968 10 minThis short live-action film tells the story of little raccoon who encounters many adventures when he strays from home to explore the world. -
AnatomyPatrick Bossé 2013 8 minA white room. The aging bodies of actors Gilles Pelletier and Françoise Graton testify to a love that has triumphed over time and engage in a captivating dialogue of desire, defying inertia, old age and death. This short film is a starkly pure evocation of the senses.
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The Colour of BeautyElizabeth St. Philip 2010 16 minRenee Thompson is trying to make it as a top fashion model in New York. She's got the looks, the walk and the drive. But she’s a black model in a world where white women represent the standard of beauty. Agencies rarely hire black models. And when they do, they want them to look “like white girls dipped in chocolate.”
The Colour of Beauty is a shocking short documentary that examines racism in the fashion industry. Is a black model less attractive to designers, casting directors and consumers? What is the colour of beauty? -
Fair PhyllisBeth Portman 2003 9 minFair Phyllis affirms to all women 'You're not alone!' in the craziness of busy, multi-tasking lives--what with the demands of career, the kids or just trying to get a moment alone with your man. This short animated film delights in celebrating the resiliency and resourcefulness of the female sex. Set in an 18th century pastoral countryside, Fair Phyllis the shepherdess struggles with her chaotic woolly world. Will she find balance or crack under the shear stress of it all?
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FlawedAndrea Dorfman 2010 12 minFlawed is nothing less than a beautiful gift from Andrea Dorfman's vivid imagination, a charming little film about very big ideas. Dorfman has the uncanny ability to transform the intensely personal into the wisely universal. She deftly traces her encounter with a potential romantic partner, questioning her attraction and the uneasy possibility of love. But, ultimately, Flawed is less about whether girl can get along with boy than whether girl can accept herself, imperfections and all.
This film is both an exquisite tribute to the art of animation and a loving homage to storyboarding, a time-honoured way of rendering scenes while pointing the way to the dramatic arc of the tale. -
Get a JobBrad Caslor 1985 10 minThis short animation follows the tribulations of a cartoon character, Bob Dog, as he hunts for a job. Self-motivation, preparing a résumé, and getting ready for an interview are all dealt with in a highly entertaining fashion, while the Doo-wop mover Get a Job provides the upbeat musical soundtrack.
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Hue: A Matter of ColourVic Sarin 2013 1 h 25 minThis feature documentary by renowned director and cinematographer Vic Sarin is a personal yet global investigation into the history and current state of colourism: the discrimination within one ethnicity based on differences in skin tone. Sarin travels the globe to discuss this complex cross-cultural social issue with individuals whose lives it affects, including a Filipina entrepreneur whose business has flourished within the billion-dollar skin-whitening industry. Hue leads viewers on a thoughtful and surprising journey to the heart of a painful and pervasive social issue that not only polices appearance, but also class, gender, and geography.
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Land of the HeadsCédric Louis & Claude Barras 2009 6 minThis animated short tells the tale of a vampire forced go out every night to separate children from their heads. The reason? His vain wife wants to replace her wrinkled head with one that is young and pretty. What a horror! Especially since the lady of the house is never satisfied and the heads keep piling up on the floor. How will our reluctant vampire ever get out of this vicious cycle?
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A Monster's CallingLouise Johnson 2001 5 minA Monster's Calling is a humorous animated film about the nature of personal anxieties, and body image. An "under-the-bed" monster wanders through a slumbering household, wreaking typical monster havoc. First a little girl, then an older brother, and finally the teenaged big sister. It's surprising, to both the monster and to us, what frightens each of them. A film without words. Ce court métrage d'animation 2D raconte l'histoire d'un monstre qui rôde dans une maison, telle une ombre insaisissable venue troubler le sommeil d'un gamin et de ses deux sœurs. Avec une terrifiante habileté, il s'infiltre tour à tour dans leurs pensées pour réveiller leurs plus grandes peurs. Pour l'adolescente, la pire crainte serait de ne pas correspondre à l'idéal de beauté véhiculé par les médias.
D'où viennent ces monstres qui nourrissent leur sentiment d'insécurité? Pourquoi exercent-ils tant de pouvoir? Conçu pour de jeunes spectateurs, ce film d'animation plein d'humour favorisera les échanges sur l'origine des angoisses suscitées par l'image corporelle. Film sans paroles. -
A Matter of FatWilliam Weintraub 1969 1 h 38 minThis feature-length documentary follows a man as he sheds nearly half his body weight (63.5 kg) by complete starvation under hospital observation. The film explores what brought him to so desperate a course and catalogues what actions other overweight people are taking, singly or in groups, to reduce to healthier proportions. Medical authorities comment on some misconceptions and malpractices of the slimming industry.
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Rock the BoxKatherine Monk 2015 9 minCritic-turned-filmmaker Katherine Monk trains her lens on DJ Rhiannon Rozier in this short film about breaking the glass ceiling in a music industry dominated by men. The Vancouver-raised, university-educated Rozier was so intent on making a career in the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) scene that she did something she never thought she’d do: she posed for Playboy.
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Rose & VioletClaude Grosch & Luc Otter 2011 26 minThe animated short film Rose & Violet tells the story of two Conjoined twin sisters who are recruited as star acrobats in the world’s biggest circus. They seem bound for glory, but when a new strongman joins the troupe, a conflict turns tragic… Filmmakers Luc Otter and Claude Grosch employ a clever combination of 2D and digital cut-outs and clay animation in their exploration of the circus realm.
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Staying Real - Teens Confront Sexual StereotypesSophie Bissonnette 2010 24 minA documentary geared to 11 to 13-year-olds in which preteens and teens discuss the adverse effects of the sexual stereotypes they're bombarded with. They talk about how hard it is to develop their own personality and make friends when they don’t conform to media and advertising images. Produced in collaboration with the Montreal Women’s Y as a follow-up to Sexy Inc.: Our Children Under Influence, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Sophie Bissonnette, this film is a great way to kick off a lively discussion.
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ShreddedDouglas C. Taplin & Richard Gaudio 2005 22 minThis 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. -
They Called Us "Les Filles du Roy"Anne Claire Poirier 1974 56 minStructured as a love letter, this feature film is an impressionistic history of the women of Québec down through the ages: the Indigenous woman, the fille du Roy, the nun, the settler's wife, the soldier's wife, and, finally, today's woman.
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Western EyesAnn Shin 2000 39 minThis documentary presents two Canadian women of Asian descent who are contemplating eyelid surgery. Maria and Sharon, of Philippino and Korean heritage respectively, believe their looks--specifically their eyes--get in the way of how people see them. Layering their stories with pop culture references to beauty icons and supermodels, filmmaker Ann Shin looks at the pain that lies deep behind the desire for plastic surgery.
