Abortion: Stories from North and South

Magic in the air, Bantry House Music

A behind-the-scenes look at the 1998 West Cork Chamber Music Festival

Le Baron et l'Empereur : Japon, la voie de la guerre

Stories of A

French documentary campaigning for the liberalization of abortion and contraception, directed by Charles Belmont and Marielle Issartel in 1973.

Jane: An Abortion Service

This fascinating political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane", the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, Jane: An Abortion Service showcases the importance of preserving women's knowledge in the face of revisionist history. JANE: AN ABORTION SERVICE was funded by the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A Healthy Baby Girl

Filmmaker Judith Helfand turns the camera on herself to document her battle with cancer caused by DES, a drug prescribed to her mother during pregnancy. Refusing to confine the tears, rage, laughter and hope to dinner table conversations, Helfand invites us to witness her personal journey from radical hysterectomy patient to vocal opponent of toxic exposure. From her suburban home to the halls of Congress, the intensely private becomes widely public, and an American family is transformed and strengthened.

Japan's War in Colour

Using never-before-seen footage, Japan's War In Colour tells a previously untold story. It recounts the history of the Second World War from a Japanese perspective, combining original colour film with letters and diaries written by Japanese people. It tells the story of a nation at war from the diverse perspectives of those who lived through it: the leaders and the ordinary people, the oppressors and the victims, the guilty and the innocent. Until recently, it was believed that no colour film of Japan existed prior to 1945. But specialist research has now unearthed a remarkable colour record from as early as the 1930s. For eight years the Japanese fought what they believed was a Holy War that became a fight to the death. Japan's War In Colour shows how militarism took hold of the Japanese people; describes why Japan felt compelled to attack the West; explains what drove the Japanese to resist the Allies for so long; and, finally, reveals how they dealt with the shame of defeat.

Tangled Roots

An intimate look into Demers family's experience raising children while dealing with the societal stigmas around disabilities and the consequences of Alberta's forgotten experiment in eugenics.

Gorgona: Snake Prison Island

Gorgona, a remote Colombian island, has a dark secret. It’s a natural fortress, surrounded by shark-infested seas, blanketed in impenetrable jungle and teaming with deadly snakes. For that reason it was chosen by the Colombian government as the site of a high security prison, Colombia’s own Alcatraz.

Bowling for Columbine

This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. Bowling for Columbine is a journey through the US, through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.

Falsos Positivos

The "Falsos Positivos" scandal that exploded on October 2008 revealed how and why ranks of the Colombian Army started to kill innocent people. Lured by money prizes given by the President Uribe's policy called "Seguridad Democratica", the Colombian Army dressed the bodies in military fatigues to claim the rewards for the fight against the FARC guerrilla. "Falsos Positivos" follows the trip of two families to retrieve the rests of their beloved, along with shocking interviews to activists, a former General, political analysts and witnesses of this huge scandal.

Home Front

This short documentary is part of the Canada Carries On series of morale-boosting wartime propaganda films. In Home Front, the various WWII-era social contributions of women are highlighted. From medicine to industrial labour to hospitality, education and domesticity, the service these women provided to their country is lauded.

Canada: Surviving the Wild North

Canada is a vast country, with the largest intact forest on the planet, more than two million lakes and rivers, and the longest coastline on Earth. This wild and rugged outpost is home to some of the world’s most astonishing wildlife such as polar bears, arctic foxes, coastal wolves, Canada lynx, great grey owls, and caribou. Journey from the high arctic and tundra to the boreal forests to discover how life manages to survive in the Wild North, where getting the timing right and seizing seasonal opportunities can make the difference between life and death.

No curtains

The documentary Sin Telón celebrates the national artistic values of Teatro La Candelaria, recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading Latin American experimental theater groups. The film highlights the extensive career of Santiago García while also portraying the everyday life and unique working methods of this dedicated ensemble of artists from Teatro La Candelaria.

Global Sushi : demain nos enfants mangeront des méduses

Grandma's Eternal Forest

A 49 minutes documentary on the footsteps of 87 years old "Grandma" Kuniko Shiiba, perpetuating a 4000 years traditional and sustainable form of agriculture. Shohei SHIBATA followed her a whole year through the forest and its medicinal plants, fire spirits and mountains.

Writing the Land

In this short documentary, a Musqueam elder rediscovers his Native language and traditions in the city of Vancouver, in the vicinity of which the Musqueam people have lived for thousands of years. Writing the Land captures the ever-changing nature of a modern city - the glass and steel towers cut against the sky, grass, trees and a sudden flash of birds in flight and the enduring power of language to shape perception and create memory.

L'empire du sushi

Uncharted Amazon

Deep in the jungles of Peru, a silky anteater is fighting to stay awake and a mother humming bird is struggling to raise her chick. Through millions of years of evolution they have developed bizarre relationships and unexpected strategies to overcome them changing conditions, but for all their ingenuity, they were never prepared for the arrival of a new species on the scene.

Tokyo Freeters

In Japan, more than four million young people survive by taking on precarious jobs. They are called “freeters”. The film gives voice to these “discard-after-use” workers, who regard their situation with both lucidity and desperation, as well as to ex-freeters who have become activists in the fight against exclusions.

Freedom for the Wolf

The Real Story of Fake Democracy. Filmed over three years in five countries, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF is an epic investigation into the new regime of illiberal democracy. From the young students of Hong Kong, to a rapper in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and the viral comedians of Bollywood, we discover how people from every corner of the globe are fighting the same struggle. They are fighting against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities, and their political opponents.