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Gloriously Free (2004)
Five gay men escape their countries for the safe haven of Canada.
Gloriously Free is the first documentary ever to explore the world of gay immigration and the desperate search of five men to find welcoming arms outside their countries of birth, where persecution and hatred of alternative lifestyles may lead to torture or death.
What they find is Canada, a vast country that now leads the world as the safest haven for persecuted international gays and lesbians. In just three years, the country has issued over 3,000 immigration permits to international gays and lesbians seeking refugee status, more than any other market in the world.
Stunning, powerful and a must-have addition to any factual, current affairs and news program schedule, the one-hour Gloriously Free follows Al-Hussein from Jordan; Julian, blackmailed and blacklisted in his homeland of Mexico and a resident of Canada for three years; Bruno, who immigrated from Brazil and now makes his living as a singer; David, a former U.S. Port Captain with a prominent Texas-based drilling company; and Frantz, a graphic artist from Jamaica.
Their compelling stories have global reach as same sex partnerships fuel international dialogue about why North America - and Canada in particular - have softened their stance on same sex preference and orientation.
Excluded from the opportunity to live freely in their native countries, these five remarkable and resilient young men tell stories of blackmail and torture, of broken legs and facing the end of a gun barrel.
Gloriously Free is documentary film-making at its best and is sure to be a signature program on any gay or mainstream TV service. Included in the documentary is a look at Canada's unique and liberal immigration laws and the procedure by which international gays and lesbians can apply for refugee status in a country that is fast becoming the world's unspoken symbol of sexual freedom.
Lost Innocents: The Children of War (2006)
A Lebanese-Canadian woman's personal journey tells the inspirational story of two child victims of the war in Iraq.
Lost Innocents: The Children of War is the personal journey of a Lebanese Canadian survivor of war intent on discovering what, if anything is being done to aid the countless children still victimized by the most recent war in Iraq.
Her travels take her from Canada to England, and Kuwait City where she meets the doctors, politicians and activists who made the daring decision to airlift a dying twelve year-old boy out of a war-torn Baghdad neighbourhood. That one act of kindness sparked a massive humanitarian movement that eventually involved the rescue of thousands of physically and emotionally damaged children and thrust the life-or-death struggle of little Ali Abbas into the international spotlight.
After losing both of his arms, his parents, and twenty-two family members in a missile attack that supposedly went astray, Ali Abbas is now forging a new life in England under the specialist recovery care of the Limbless Association. He is joined by his best friend Ahmed himself a survivor of an internationally prohibited cluster-bomb attack that claimed the life of his thirteen year-old sister and left him with only one hand and leg. Their painful recollections are the stuff of nightmares and yet, as they enter their mid-teens, it seems they are able to cope with all that has happened to them.
For many Iraqi children, the world has come to their rescue: to sponsor, adopt or raise money for expensive surgical treatments. But many more children have nothing but grief and struggle ahead of them, trapped in a country that is still politically restless and unsafe. For Ali, the media has remained a microscopic lens over his shoulder, trained on his every movement and every word. As he grows into adulthood, what role does he see himself playing in the never-ending dilemma that is the Middle East? But throughout it all, Ali and Ahmed's stories remain unique. Their remarkable resilience in the face of extreme personal tragedy exposes the strength of a child's spirit and the breadth and limitless nature of human compassion.