Week of May 9, 2013
Face 2 Face (2013)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will be celebrating his birthday on May 14. How many Facebook friends do you have? How many do you actually keep in touch with? In this documentary, Katherine Brooks sees that she has 5 000 Facebook friends, and decides to visit the city of the first 50 people who answer her status update. Join Katherine on her journey to connect and re-connect with the faces on her Facebook.
Family Portrait in Black and White (2011)
It’s Mother’s Day this weekend. Being a mother is no easy task– especially a when you’re a mother of 17! In “Family Portrait in Black and White,” we follow Supermom Olga Nenya as she raises 17 foster children in a Ukrainian village on her own.
Pond Hockey (2008)
Toronto’s been buzzing ever since the Maple Leafs have entered the play-offs for the first time in 9 years. No matter which team you’re rooting (or booing!) for, be sure to check out this documentary on the beloved sport, which features interviews with Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby amongst others, that takes a look at how the culture of hockey has and continues to be ever-changing.
Week of May 2, 2013
All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story (1952)
May 5th is International Midwifes’ Day. This training film from the 1950s provides an intimate look at “Miss Mary” Coley, an African-American midwife who assisted with the delivery of over 3,000 babies over the course of her lifetime. Filmmaker George Stoney followed Miss Mary for four months, and also recorded the various living conditions of her patients, as well as African-American families in 1950s Georgia.
Firemen Of The Bronx (2000)
May 4th is International Firefighters’ Day– what better way to pay tribute than to learn more about these brave heroes and what they do? Imagine getting 200 calls a day– that’s 160,000 calls in a year! The firefighters of The Bronx are the most active firefighters in the world. Over the course of two weeks, Patrick Chauvel’s documentary sheds light on common causes behind fires, and how they are combatted by these everyday heroes.
On The Trail of Bin Laden ()
On May 2, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces, putting an end to the pursuit of the FBI’s Most Wanted Man. Mohammed Sifaoui’s documentary focuses on Bin Laden’s methods that led to his escape from the U.S. military through the Tora Bora Mountains and to Pakistan, ten years prior to his capture and death. Features undercover footage from training camps, and evidence that proves that we shouldn’t always believe what we hear on the news.
Week of April 25, 2013
I’m A Stripper (2013)
It’s that time of the year again – as the weather gets nicer everyone tosses of their layers of clothes and get a little more comfortable. But what about the people who make a living undressing all year round? Director Charlie David takes a look inside the lives of three male strippers in three of the sexiest cities in North America — Montreal, Niagara Falls and Las Vegas. The documentary strips away at the taboo topic and takes a hard look at an industry that’s becoming more accepted. Now available on iTunes in the US and Canada, and worldwide on ilovedocs.
Chemerical (2009)
This past Monday was the 43rd annual Earth Day! Originally founded as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day has become a worldwide affair to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The day provides the opportunity for positive actions and results! Filmmaker Andrew Nisker presents an eye-opening doc about the products we use to clean our homes and bodies. It explores the life cycle of everyday household products to prove that we are drowning in sea of toxicity!
Edvard Munch (1976)
The lost star of experimental UK documentary filmmaking, Watkins is better known for his political-horrors predicting the crackdown on protest and counter-culture. In this film about the famous artist, he approaches the themes of suppressed creativity and freedom a new way – using the Trojan horse of an artist biopic to get ideas of transgression through art onto screens. A study of depression and the creative process, this is no boring trudge through talking heads reflecting on The Scream, it’s something much stranger. The Scream is on view at the MoMA in New York until April 29th!
