Canadian Documentary Watch List
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- StarsJohn DrainieA recreation of how the RCMP investigated a real-life murder case in Saskatchewan, Canada. Included are documentary sequences showing the mounties at work in their crime labs.
- DirectorRonald DickA look at life in MacKenzie District in Canada's Northwest Territories.
- DirectorBernard DevlinStarsFred Davis
- DirectorStanley Jackson
- DirectorDalton MuirStarsMichael Kane
- DirectorColin LowStarsWilliam Shatner
- DirectorDalton MuirStarsMichael KaneThis film records the struggle for life within the Arctic Circle. It reveals flowers of startling beauty, whose entire life cycles last less than thirty days, and strange animals like the shaggy musk-ox, the shy lemming, and migrant water birds that survive in a land of vast deserts and almost perpetual cold.
- DirectorJ.V. Durden
- DirectorJohn Feeney
- DirectorColin LowStarsPete Standing AloneStanley JacksonA Native American young man of the Blood tribe shows us contemporary life of people as he attends a Sun Dance ceremony with the tribe.
- DirectorMichel BraultMarcel CarrièreClaude FournierStarsEdouard CarpentierAl CostelloDominic DeNucciFollows the professional wrestling scene in Montreal and observes the before, during, and after portions of a major show and the spectators who are enthralled by it.
- DirectorDonald WilderStarsWilliam WeintraubAlbert FailleThe legend of a lost gold mine and a river in the Northwest Territories that lures men to their doom. Albert Faille, an aging prospector, has set out time and again to find hidden gold. His route takes him through a wild and awesome land particularly suited to the mood of this Canadian odyssey.
- A scenic tour of Canada's national parks, from the mountains of British Columbia to the sea-swept shores of Newfoundland. Besides the beauty of the unspoiled wilderness (and there is much of that), you see also the farsightedness of those who in the past century, set aside these territories for the enjoyment of future generations.
- DirectorMichel BraultPierre PerraultStarsLéopold TremblayAlexis TremblayAbel HarveyAt the instigation of the filmmakers, the young men of the Ile-aux-Coudres in the middle of the St-Lawrence River try as a memorial to their ancestors to revive the fishing of the belugas interrupted in 1924.
- DirectorJohn SpottonStarsBuster KeatonEleanor KeatonGerald PottertonThis film is a documentary about the filming of one of Buster Keaton's movies: The Railrodder (1965).
- DirectorBeryl FoxStarsBernard FallThai NguyenA documentary on the war in South Vietnam shot entirely on location. There is no narration and no use of archive footage. The participants speak for themselves. The filmmakers spend time with units from many services: army, tanks, marines, ARVN, air cavalry. They accompany an air force napalm and strafing attack on a Viet Cong bunker complex. There are many scenes both of Saigon streets and of peasant village life. Soldiers speak of their experiences and their mission to fight Communism in Vietnam. One American informant says that the Vietnamese peasant is not interested in ideology, but in social justice, a piece of land, fair taxation, and to be left alone. Some interviews are used as voice-over. Participants, American and Vietnamese, are very natural, with little or no posturing for the camera. There are scenes of dead Viet Cong, and one showing a VC suspect being drowned to aid interrogation.
- DirectorDonald ShebibStarsHoward Doyle BerryLorne CampbellBernie GuindonA rare "inside" view of a motorcycle club in Toronto. The names they adopt (Satan's Choice is only one) are as individual as their special ethics and views of life, all freely expressed in this film.
- DirectorDenys ArcandStarsGilles MarsolaisGisèle TrépanierA look back at the small band of missionaries that founded the city of Montréal, Canada.
- DirectorStephen Ford
- DirectorDon OwenStarsDon FrancksA very engaging short documentary of how a native Indian from Quebec works building skyscrapers in New York City, with breathtaking shots of walking on narrow beams 25 stories in the air, as well as a chilling recounting of the death of numerous Indian iron workers building a bridge in Quebec in the early part of the century.
- DirectorDonald BrittainArthur HammondJohn SpottonStarsLord Thomson of FleetA profile of press tycoon and businessman, Lord Thomson.
- DirectorWilliam CanningA look at the 1967 National Hockey League season.
- DirectorArthur Hammond
- DirectorBill BrindA series of attractive images taken at Expo 67 (the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal.) The film captures buildings, visitors, and riding on new forms of transportation, including the monorail and the hovercraft
- DirectorDonald BrittainJohn SpottonStarsBernard LauferEmil BednarekWilhelm BogerA Jewish Holocaust survivor travels through Germany recalling scenes from his memory.
- DirectorRobin SpryStarsMike Duff
- DirectorTanya TreeStarsGertrude BaileyKenneth Bailey
- DirectorPierre PerraultStarsAlexis TremblayMarie TremblayLéopold TremblayFour years after Of Whales, the Moon, and Men (1963), the director 'Pierre Perrault' ask Alexis Tremblay if he agreed to travel with his wife Marie in the country of their ancestors, France. In a montage parallel, we follow them in France and listen to them talking to their friends about it.
- DirectorGeorge Kaczender
- DirectorBill MasonStarsBlake JamesBoth a documentary and a comedy. It features a man on a canoe tour of the Great Lakes while the geological time frame changes around him. He finds himself atop the great glacier, and then suddenly falling from the sky as it is removed. His canoe teeters from a cliff after the shoreline vanishes. He sips pure water from the lake as it suddenly changes to a modern polluted state.
- DirectorDavid BairstowStarsStan MikitaA North American hockey star visits his family in Czechoslovakia where the camera follows him for a day.
- DirectorRonald DickPierre L'AmareStarsJ. Frank WillisAs the United States struggles not to fall apart during the Civil War, Canada struggles to pull itself together and become a Confederation.
- DirectorMichael McKennireyStarsAlexander ScourbyThis documentary captures the endeavors of Canadian wildlife experts to preserve and protect animals that have managed to survive human development in the region. These species include the hooded crane, prairie falcon, bighorn sheep, bison, polar bear, and grizzly bear.
- DirectorBill MasonStarsStanley JacksonBlake JamesDocumentary about the history of wolves in Canada. Describes how legends and misconceptions nearly led to their extinction and the efforts to reverse this trend.
- StarsStanley Jackson
- DirectorWilliam CanningThe natural wonder of the Canadian Rockies and Garibaldi Park in British Columbia.
- DirectorDenys ArcandStarsRobin SpryGisèle TrépanierDenys ArcandA documentary about Maurice Duplessis and the quebec nationalism which to new levels after the death of this Premier of the Province of Quebec. The director used the electoral campaigns of 1936 and 1970 and the Durham report of 1838 to illustrate his subject.
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorBill MasonStarsBill MasonThe startling and intimate behavior of wolves both in the wilderness and in captivity are shown in this film which was years in the making.
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorArthur HammondStarsArthur Hammond
- DirectorMichael RubboStarsStephen Erhart
- DirectorRaoul FoxStrowan RobertsonThis documentary looks at developments in the Canadian forestry industry from the 1970s. Turning a Newfoundland bog into woodland, fostering British Columbia seedlings that withstand mechanical planting, inoculating Ontario elms against the bark beetle, devising ways of controlling fire... these are some of the experiments shown being carried out in laboratories and in the field to protect and conserve the country's vast forests.
- DirectorTony IanzeloBoyce RichardsonStarsBoyce RichardsonSam BlacksmithRonnie JollySince times predating agriculture, Cree First Nations people have gone to the bush of the James Bay and Ungava Bay area to hunt.
- DirectorGraeme FergusonStarsChief Dan GeorgeJames WhitmoreMade for screening at the U.S. Pavilion at the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane Washington, USA, which had a Native-American environmental theme, MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH depicts the history of air, water, and earth pollution, and how environmentalists are trying to solve these problems using various technologies. Outlining the conflict between developmental progress and environmentalism, the final message of how to manage the Earth in the film is "We just have to decide what we want to do". In spite of the film's date, MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH is still one of the most balanced, currently relevant, and thus best films about the environment ever made.
- DirectorMichael RubboStarsFidel CastroErich HoneckerBernabe OrdezDocumentary about a film crew's failed attempt at interviewing Fidel Castro while in Cuba.
- DirectorBill MasonThe wolf's characteristics are observed.
- DirectorArthur Hammond
- DirectorJames de B. Domville
- DirectorAlbert KishStarsDonald BrittainLib SpryKate BaderA film about the Canadians who participated in the Spanish Civil War.
- DirectorPeter RaymontThe documentary delves into pressing challenges confronting the Canadian forestry industry, including deforestation, pest control measures, and the escalating threat of wildfires.
- DirectorMichael Rubbo
- DirectorTom Radford
- DirectorDenys ArcandStarsDenys ArcandJean-Paul BeaudryCarmen BertrandDirector Denys Arcand made an inquiry on textile industry in Quebec, meeting employers and workers of that industry.
- DirectorClaudia OveringStarsSharry Flett
- DirectorRené BonnièreStarsBarry MorsePeople deal with the problems of rural to urban migration.
- DirectorMichael RubboStarsMichael RubboWilliam Weintraub
- DirectorPeter Raymont
- DirectorPeter RaymontStarsPeter RaymontWilliam G. DavisA film crew follows a provincial government cabinet in a behind the scenes look at its political activities.
- DirectorDonald BrittainStarsDonald BrittainPart 1 & 2 Both released in 1978.
- DirectorDonald BrittainStarsDonald BrittainMarc LalondeRené LévesquePart 1 & 2 Both released in 1978.
- DirectorMichel Bouchard
- DirectorRobert A. DuncanStarsBudd KnappOne hour documentary portrait of a working class neighborhood in Montreal, Point St Charles.
- DirectorPeter RaymontStarsPeter Raymont
- DirectorHubert Schuurman
- DirectorHubert Schuurman
- DirectorWilliam PettigrewStarsRichard ThomasAn examination of the biosphere between Canada's MacKenzie River and the Amazon River valleys.
- DirectorJohn KramerStarsMichael KaneEvelyn CherryLeo Choquette
- DirectorDiane BeaudryStarsMichael KaneThe history of the Governor-General post in Canada.
- DirectorNorma BaileyRobert LowerStarsBrian Richardson
- DirectorMichael McKennireyStarsBudd Knapp
- DirectorNicholas KendallStarsDonald BrittainDonald RedfordDr. Donald Redford, Univ. Of Toronto & Penn State, reveals the formative years of Akhenaten via uncovered inscriptions and art.
- DirectorIan ElkinRobert LowerDerek MazurStarsBill NorrieBrian RichardsonRobert SteenWhen Mayor Stephen Juba of Winnipeg unexpectedly resigned after twenty-one years, the race for his office was thrown wide open. The two leading contenders were Bill Norrie and Robert Steen. The film shows Norrie and Steen campaigning; then focuses on the winner, Steen, and his assumption of a position that had been held by one person for two decades. The New Mayor is a study of big-city politics, the function of the mayor in that city, and the personal qualities Steen brought to the job.
- DirectorDonald BrittainStarsDonald BrittainLarry ReynoldsThe film retelling of the Soviet clerk Igor Gouzenko's defection and his revelation of soviet spy activities in North America and its impact.
- DirectorTony IanzeloBoyce Richardson
- DirectorTony IanzeloBoyce RichardsonStarsDonald Sutherland
- DirectorTony IanzeloBoyce RichardsonStarsDonald Sutherland
- DirectorBill Reid
- DirectorAndy ThomsonStarsEarl PenningtonTerrence Labrosse
- DirectorDenys ArcandStarsJean-Pierre RonfardRaymond BarrePierre BrodeurMade shortly after the referendum on Quebec's independence was held, this documentary illustrates what the politicians' promises were and how the population did not really care nor truly understand what was really at stake, even though just about everyone had an opinion on the subject.Comfort and Indifference
- DirectorRobert A. DuncanStarsAlan MaitlandThe story of Canada's struggle to gain control and define its own constitution.
- DirectorBarry GreenwaldStarsCedric SmithA documentary which examines one of the city's most noticeable yet most nameless character: the taxi driver.
- DirectorJohn O'MaraStarsPhillipa KiddJohn O'MaraDanny OsborneExpedition members Danny Osborne, Gerry Wardell and John O'Mara with administrator Phillipa Kidd prepare an expedition. Scenes in offices raising sponsorship from many sponsors. Production of the Irish Arctic expedition 1981 booklet manifesto "Opporunities for Involvement". 18-man-day food ration boxes being filled with donated foods in warehouse. All the members including cameraman, John O'Mara cycling in Dublin to business meetings with various sponsors. Finally departure from Dublin Airport via the customs checking camera case and a two-handed nerve shaking champagne reception. Take-off to airborne-animation of plane across the Atlantic and on wards to Canada with views of RCAF Hercules cockpit instrumentation and icebergs, sea and ice and snow below. A frozen snow-packed airstrip finds a Hercules taking off in front of a low sun leaving behind its load of 7 tonnes ... all the expedition-freight in one place for the first time ... This is Eureka weather-station at Latitude 80 degrees North .... an eerie steamy bitterly cold place so foreign to experience ... weather balloon soars... Profile of ice-coated red-masked head. Set off with two dogs and sledges and skidoos to music across the ice. Discuss the demerits of working in the cold. Bloody tongue. Chopping ice-to make hot water. the diet consists of much including timed butter !... Paddy the husky falls behind and is lost. Arriving at a cairn from Krueger's lost Expedition of 1933. Finding a message left in a bottle reminds us of the history of polar exploration and how weather has such an effect on exploration. Archive images of Amundsen's SouthPole expedition inside their tent ... and Scott's ponies floundering on the ice... while back at the expedition a two-day storm leaves drifts about the camp and Nanook the huskie has frostbite. They dig out the camp and Gerry reassembles the motor from a skidoo whose carburetor has filled with spin-drift from the storm. He tells of the challenge working on small parts with naked fingers at minus 40. John breaks a wrist while laying caches of food for the snow free summer. Danny takes Naomi for a few weeks journey into the interior of the island...
- DirectorBarbara SearsMichael BryansMarrin CanellStarsGwynne DyerThe history of the development of the concept of total war and its growing escalation of scope and destructiveness.
- DirectorSidney GoldsmithStarsPaul HughesA film about the life cycle of stars in their various varieties.
- DirectorAlanis ObomsawinStarsAlanis ObomsawinSteve KowchLucien LessardDocumentary about a 1981 raid by the Quebec Provincial Police on a reserve in Quebec.
- DirectorMichael CollierStarsArt Hives