Documentary

Films

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Short Films

Short-Form Series

The immersive series follows Karen Kain and a diverse group of dancers from rehearsals to the backstage chaos of the highest-stakes opening night in the National Ballet of Canada's 70-year history.

Documentary | 4 parts

Swan Song

A powerful moving documentary on the short but electrifying life of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, featuring previously unseen archival footage and unheard tracks.

Biography | 128 min

Life on the space station is a proving ground for humanity’s next step toward the stars.

Education | 44 min

Space Explorers: Moonrise on the ISS

This documentary chronicles how the French president, surrounded by his staff of advisers and government officials, has dealt with the war in Ukraine.

News | 115 min

A President, Europe, and War

On a remote Caribbean island, under the shadow of an active volcano, the world's biggest recording artists made music and myth that defined an era.

Documentary | 1 episode

Under the Volcano

Visually arresting and breathtakingly intimate, Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas combines elements of cinema verite with high-octane dance sequences to reveal the singular vision of world-renowned choreographer Crystal Pite. Culminating in a cinematically immersive live performance of her acclaimed ballet Angels’ Atlas, the film follows Pite and a group of dancers at the National Ballet of Canada, as they remount the ambitious ballet after a two-year shutdown due to COVID-19.

Documentary | 52 min

Crystal Pite: Angels' Atlas

As the inaugural women’s flyweight champion and the sport’s first Native American champion, Nicco Montaño was a rising star in the UFC. In her quest to defend her title, Montano realizes she’ll face her biggest challenge before she ever steps foot in the ring. In this look behind the veil of combat sports, Warrior Spirit questions the controversial practice of intense weight loss and its damaging effect on even the fittest of athletes.

Warrior Spirit

It’s a new school year at an elite basketball prep school in a small rural town outside of Toronto, Canada. Orangeville Prep is welcoming back its players.

Reality | 1 season

Anyone's Game

The chamber opera CHAAKAPESH, THE TRICKSTER'S QUEST is brought to the Inuit and Indigenous communities with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal under the great direction of Kent Nagano.

Documentary | 87 min

Chaakapesh

In a city known for nightlife and haute cuisine, Dish Pigs tells the untold stories of dishwashers in Montreal. Through intimate first-person accounts and gritty visual storytelling, the film unearths the deeper truths about the working-class economy that lie just beyond the doors of your favourite restaurant kitchens. Our story focuses on the lives of three eccentric dishwashers, each navigating their own day-to-day struggles while working nights in the dish pit. 34-year-old Shawn began working at Montreal restaurant Le Bremner after a family tragedy left his life in ruins in 2016. Under the guidance of Chef Danny Smiles, Shawn is finally putting his life back together. We meet 61-year-old Claude, a veteran dishwasher - he’s been working in the restaurant industry for 40 years. Claude spends his free time acting as his neighborhood’s unofficial handyman and helping people in his community with their daily tasks. Then there’s 26-year-old Ali, a Texas native who came to Montreal to broaden her horizons and introduce Montrealers to a whole style of dancing. Ali has a newfound philosophy on life, thanks to her work in the dish pit. Performing the tasks no one else wants to do - cleaning nasty messes, scraping remnants of people’s meals into growing garbage, ensuring chefs have what they need to turn ordinary food into extraordinary meals  - one has to wonder: who are these restaurant industry underdogs who choose to clean up our mess? And what makes them tick? Dish Pigs takes viewers past the cultured atmosphere of fine dining into the dish pit, where the wild antics of dishwashers, sous-chefs and chefs are unleashed as life moves to a different rhythm: rinse, wash, repeat.

Documentary | 23 min

Dish Pigs

Fit to be Tied chronicles the journey of Canada’s best balloon twisting artists as they take the stage at the 2018 World Balloon Convention in San Diego - the most prestigious event in the international balloon twisting community. Teams from across the globe are pitted against each other in epic battles of creativity and technique, from short individual twisting competitions to the large sculpture competition - an intense event that sees teams create balloon sculptures as large as a room. Canada’s Twisted Team is made up of balloon twisters from across the country. Despite huge geographical distances between them, they’re a close-knit team that uses extensive research and meticulous planning to prepare for their competitions. Their biggest challenge at the convention: twisting their way through 21,500 balloons in 27 hours on a quest to become the world large sculpture champions. This competition challenges teams to create enormous, whimsical creations that push the boundaries of balloons, built from carefully-executed plans in a race against time (where most competitors eschew sleep for more time on the convention floor). Twisted Team member Derek Wong also competes in the individual 12-minute event. The former high school IT manager goes head-to-head with his longtime hero, Japan’s Takehero Kai. In this single-person competition, twisters create one individual sculpture that’s judged for individual style. Derek must battle fatigue and rely on his well-honed skills, acquired through years of practice, if he is to have any chance at displacing  Kai, known as “the god of twisting.” Fit to be Tied is a story about an unconventional art form, but it’s also a story about belonging - a look at how an unusual skill has brought together a wonderful group of passionate people who have found a home in the balloon twisting community.

Documentary | 13 min

Fit to be Tied: A Story of Twisted Genius

What happens when a Deaf amateur theatre director and his hearing girlfriend unite a group of thrity Deaf and hearing people to mount a unique adaptation of The Little Mermaid? Turns out: a whole lot of drama, onstage and off. That's the story we're telling in Seen & Heard.

Documentary | 1 season

Seen & Heard

Finding the Secret Path documents the last year of Gord Downie's life and his effort to bring the story of Chanie Wenjack to the national stage, raising awareness of the dark legacy of Canada's residential school system. Wenjack, a 12-year-old Anishnaabe boy, died while trying to escape a residential school in northern Ontario in 1966.

Biography | 43 min

Finding The Secret Path

A memorial tribute to Leonard Cohen, filmed in his hometown and featuring performances by Sting, Elvis Costello, k.d. Lang, Feist, Lana del Rey, his son Adam Cohen, and many more.

Concerts and performances | 91 min

Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen

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