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Coping with Adversity (7)
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Modern AlchemyBren López Zepeda 2022 2 minStrength. Challenges. Courage. Modern Alchemy depicts a quest for self-knowledge that revolves around resilience, reconstruction and rebirth. A succession of colours, each more vibrant than the last, in which one stops breathing for a moment to find a path toward inner peace. A film from the Alambic collection, a creative lab by the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio that’s designed for emerging filmmakers. -
AccidentMartin Duckworth & Patrick A. Crawley 1973 16 minThe subject is the actual crash of a small plane, which one man survived. Pat Crawley describes his view of the world now, after being on the edge of death. It is, he says, like being continually stoned--neutral but more fully aware, accepting life without bias, a condition he feels we are all coming to.
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The Danish PoetTorill Kove 2006 14 minThis short animation follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer Sigrid Undset. Kasper attempts to answer some pretty big questions: can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? Is our existence just coincidence? Do little things matter? As Kasper's quest for inspiration unfolds, it appears that a spell of bad weather, an angry dog, slippery barn planks, a careless postman, hungry goats and other seemingly unrelated factors might play important roles in the big scheme of things after all.
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In My Own Time - Diary of a Cancer PatientJoseph Viszmeg 1995 45 minThis documentary tells the story of Joseph Viszmeg, an Edmonton filmmaker who was diagnosed with a rare form of adrenal cancer in 1991. Doctors gave him a year to live, but 4 years later Viszmeg is very much alive. This is his personal account of living with this disease.
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My Healing Journey: Seven Years with CancerJoseph Viszmeg 1999 46 minThis documentary is about Edmonton filmmaker Joe Viszmeg and his battle with cancer. In 1991, Viszmeg was diagnosed with adrenal cancer and told he wouldn’t live through the year. Four years later, he made In My Own Time—Diary of a Cancer Patient. In My Healing Journey: Seven Years with Cancer, he tells the story of how he survived the roller coaster of a deadly disease. He died in 1999.
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Reflections on SufferingMalca Gillson 1982 20 minIn a moving conversation with Dr. Balfour M. Mount, friend, colleague and treating physician, cancer victim Jean Cameron, a one-time volunteer social worker in the Palliative Care Unit of Montréal's Royal Victoria hospital, discusses how she has come to terms with her own illness and the perspective it has given her on the meaning of life. What she has to say is relevant to all. The depth of her insight and the grace of her being leave viewers moved and open to thinking more carefully about the meaning of their own lives.
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Tragic Story with Happy EndingRegina Pessoa 2005 7 minA little girl finds acceptance in embracing her own difference. This lyrical animated film has the timeless charm of an old fable - one whose subject is difference and self-affirmation. Through images evoking the rich texture of a woodblock print, the filmmaker has created a world of contrasts complemented by a lively soundtrack with a rhythmic beat. Technique: photocopies with images scratched into India ink on glossy paper. Lesson plan: www.nfb.ca/guides
