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Ecosystems (17)

  • Across Arctic Ungava
    Across Arctic Ungava
    1949 20 min
    This documentary follows four scientists and their Native guides into the unmapped wilderness of the Ungava Peninsula, in northern Quebec. Crossing this territory in large canoes, they collect samples of Arctic flora and rocks, take readings of soil temperature and record the correct bearings for rivers and lakes en route. The keen excitement of opening a new chapter in Canadian exploration is evident throughout the film.
  • The Biosphere
    The Biosphere
    William Pettigrew 1979 56 min
    The Mackenzie and Amazon valleys are 10 000 km apart and are ecologically distinct. Yet, in a subtle sense they are collaborating elements within the biosphere, the Earth's thin layer of living matter. In this film are seen two of the world's myriad river ecosystems and how they are linked within the biosphere.
  • The Changing Forest
    The Changing Forest
    Maurice Constant 1958 17 min
    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.
  • Edge of Ice
    Edge of Ice
    William Hansen 1986 55 min
    This feature documentary highlights the nature of Arctic sea ice, and its crucial importance to life in the Far North. Underwater photography presents rare views of some of the most spectacular wildlife, with micro- and macro-photography enhancing the world within the individual ice crystals. Footage from Inuit hunting camps at the floe’s edge illuminate the relationship between the Arctic people and their intricate ecosystem.
  • An Ecology of Hope
    An Ecology of Hope
    Fernand Dansereau 2001 1 h 24 min
    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.
  • The Glass Ark
    The Glass Ark
    Bernard Gosselin 1994 1 h 29 min
    Montreal’s Biodome, one of the most popular attractions in the city, features a microcosm of the Earth’s major ecosystems, from tropical rainforest to the Arctic. This feature-length doc shows the enthusiasm brought to the last stages of this undertaking and the magnitude of the challenge met by a young team of scientists who planned this unusual nature museum, home to thousands of animals and plants.
  • High Arctic: Life on the Land
    High Arctic: Life on the Land
    Dalton Muir 1958 21 min
    An ecological study of plant and animal life on the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Canadian Arctic. The film includes profiles of animals such as musk-oxen, lemmings, arctic hares and various forms of plant life.
  • The Intertidal Zone
    The Intertidal Zone
    David Denning 1985 16 min
    This documentary explores the ecosystems of the intertidal zone in British Columbia. An "intertidal zone" is an area that is covered by the highest tides and exposed during the lowest. The filmmakers study the ecology of this unique environment, including its life cycles and food chains.
  • Islands of the Frozen Sea
    Islands of the Frozen Sea
    Dalton Muir Hugh O'Connor , … 1958 29 min
    This short documentary offers a look at the life forms on the Queen Elizabeth Islands within the Arctic Circle. Even in this frigid zone of icebergs and glaciers a surprising variety of wildlife and vegetation is seen. Writings from the logbooks of early explorers provide vivid descriptions of scenes as arresting to them in their century as to today's explorer.
  • Indigenous Plant Diva
    Indigenous Plant Diva
    Kamala Todd 2008 9 min
    Kamala Todd's short film is a lyrical portrait of Cease Wyss, of the Squamish Nation. Wyss is a woman who understands the remarkable healing powers of the plants growing all over downtown Vancouver. Whether it's the secret curl of a fiddlehead, or the gentleness of comfrey, plants carry ageless wisdom with them, communicated through colour, texture, and form. Wyss has been listening to this unspoken language and is now passing this ancient and intimate connection down to her own daughter, Senaqwila.
  • Life on Ice
    Life on Ice
    William Hansen 1986 27 min
    This documentary film focuses on the animal life that survives in this harsh arctic climates at the edge of the ice - from the simple algae to narwhals, polar bears, sea birds, seals, whales and walruses.
  • Pocket Desert - Confessions of a Snake Killer
    Pocket Desert - Confessions of a Snake Killer
    Teresa Marshall  &  Craig Berggold 1999 24 min
    This personal documentary is the story of Teresa Marshall, who grew up on a British Columbia ranch. Every child needs a demon, and Teresa took battle against rattlesnakes. In the dry interior of B.C., the south Okanagan and Similkameen valleys form the bio-region known as Canada's "pocket desert." As settlers' dreams of creating an agricultural Eden erase fragile desert lands that support a breathtaking array of wild species, the narrator and her snake-hunting neighbours are forced to examine their environmental attitudes.
  • Return of the Swift Fox
    Return of the Swift Fox
    Jy Chiperzak 1988 26 min
    The swift fox is one of the many lost species that has suffered from the cultivation of the prairie grasslands. An innovative program has been implemented to reintroduce the swift fox into its original habitat in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Documenting the history and human misuse of this fragile ecosystem, this short film illustrates the precious balance between human and wildlife use of the environment.
  • St. Lawrence: Stairway to the Sea
    St. Lawrence: Stairway to the Sea
    Jacques Gagné  &  Jacques-Yves Cousteau 1982 1 h 36 min
    In this spectacular feature-length documentary, oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and an NFB crew sail up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes on board the specially equipped vessel, the Calypso. They explore the countryside from their helicopter and plumb the depths of the waters in their diving saucer. They encounter shipwrecks, the Manicouagan power dam, Niagara Falls, the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway and an underwater chase with caribou.
  • The Temperate Rain Forest
    The Temperate Rain Forest
    Don White 1982 16 min
    This short documentary examines the special characteristics of the northwest coastal rain forest. Its highly acidic soil results in a specialized plant community and an abundance of amphibians and reptiles. As the camera reveals, it is a place of exquisite beauty, and one that has an important place in the ecology.
  • The World at Your Feet
    The World at Your Feet
    Larry Gosnell 1953 22 min
    This short, downward-gazing documentary presents the soil in a new light. Man's inevitable and invaluable associate, the soil is a veritable thriving community in miniature, populated by living things of the animal, plant and insect worlds. Using highly magnified sequences, the film shows how this complex universe maintains a harmonious balance.
  • Where the Bay Becomes the Sea
    Where the Bay Becomes the Sea
    John Brett 1985 29 min
    This is a documentary about the fragile and complex marine ecosystem in the Bay of Fundy. The film traces relationships within the food chain - from tiny plankton to birds and seals and finally to whales and humans. The film is a plea for careful management of our ocean resource and was first telecast as part of CBC's Nature of Things series.