The Little Church That Could (2022)
Genre : Documentary, History
Runtime : 13M
Director : James Newhook
Synopsis
Amidst a mostly Catholic community, a small tiny Anglican church offers more to the community of Placentia than people may think, and holds many connections and history to the rest of the world.
After witnessing the killing of his mate and offspring at the hands of a reckless Irish captain, a vengeful killer whale rampages through the fisherman's Newfoundland harbor. Under pressure from the villagers, the captain, a female marine biologist and an Indigenous tribalist venture after the great beast, who will meet them on its own turf.
An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.
A Newfoundland fishingboat comes to the aid of a wrecked Danish sailing ship and tows it to a small village, but eventually the captain of the fishingboat realises that it's a U-boat supply ship in disguise, loaded with torpedoes. So, together with his crew and a group of villagers he sets about a plan to blow the ship as well as any U-boats that approach it. Based on the novel "The Gaunt Woman" by Edmund Gilligan.
This short documentary features Newfoundland fisherman Billy Crane, who speaks frankly on the state of the inshore fishery and how the lack of government support has contributed to the industry’s downfall. He is being forced to leave home to seek employment in Toronto. This film was made with the Challenge for Change program.
The big whale round-up at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, is brought to the screen with a realism not often found in fish stories. Cameras are on hand to record the annual sea drama as herds of pothead whales are driven inshore by fishing boats and killed in shallow water. There is tense excitement as, their escape cut off, the marine monsters fight for their lives. Reporter Fred Davis is told about the commercial uses of whale meat and whale products, particularly in mink farming.
A creative and driven teenager is desperate to escape his hometown and the haunting memories of his turbulent childhood.
Sharon and her ten year old son Bayo live in Tickle Cove on the shores of Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland like generations of their family have before them. Sharon hates her life there. She dreams of moving to Toronto - where her now deceased mother was from - to eke out a better life for her and Bayo. She even leaves her big black packed trunk in the middle of the foyer as a symbolic gesture that that move will soon be happening. She equally hates her fisher father, Phillip Longlan, for subjecting her and her mother to life there. Phillip, who spends most of his time on a commercial fishing boat, only provides Sharon enough money to survive but not to achieve that dream of leaving. Bayo, however, doesn't want to leave, especially leave his grandfather behind. He wants to live and die by the sea, much like his deceased father, who he never knew.
A conservationst, stranded with his family at a Newfoundland coastal resort, flies in the face of custom and fights an entire community to prevent a trapped whale's slaughter with only the support of his wife and one of the locals.
A young girl, who struggles with her pilot father's death in a plane crash years before, visits her grandmother in Newfoundland. While there, she encounters the ghosts of two pilots, who are condemned to Earth to constantly re-live their own crash that occurred in 1927. The girl decides to help the pair by helping them re-build their airplane and complete their flight so they may be released and, in turn, deal with her own emotional bondage.
A small fishing village must procure a local doctor to secure a lucrative business contract. When unlikely candidate and big city doctor Paul Lewis lands in their lap for a trial residence, the townsfolk rally together to charm him into staying. As the doctor’s time in the village winds to a close, acting mayor Murray French has no choice but to pull out all the stops and begin The Grand Seduction.
A small Canadian town is devasted when a local mine--the town's only source of income--is closed. One man incurs the wrath of the townsmen when he stubbornly refuses the small amount of settlement money offered by the government.
A portrait of Newfoundland that records a way of life that has all but disappeared.
With simple ceremony on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Newfoundlanders are welcomed as fellow-Canadians. Prime Minister St. Laurent starting off the carving of Newfoundland's coat of arms in the tenth and formerly blank shield over the entrance to the Parliament Buildings, writing in stone another chapter of Confederation. So begins this survey of Canada's tenth province, Newfoundland, its resources and how its people live. The film takes us to St. John's, Corner Brook, Bell Island, and includes a visit to Labrador where we see the giant airport at Gander.
Originally called White Thunder, American producer Varick Frissell's 1931 film was inspired by his love for the Canadian Arctic Circle. Set in a beautifully black-and-white filmed Newfoundland, it is the story of a rivalry between two seal hunters that plays out on the ice floes during a hunt. Unsatisfied with the first cut, Frissell arranged for the crew to accompany an actual Newfoundland seal hunt on The SS Viking, on which an explosion of dynamite (carried regularly at the time on Arctic ships to combat ice jams) killed many members of the crew, including Frissell. The film was renamed in honor of the dead.
The story of Ruby, 13, determined to grow up fast after her mother runs away to become a movie star, leaving Ruby with her hopelessly rural father.
This feature-length documentary paints a lively portrait of Father of Confederation and first premier of Newfoundland Joseph Roberts Smallwood, or "Joey," as he is known to most Canadians. Following one of Canada’s most colourful political figures during a two-and-a-half-month period that included a stormy Liberal leadership convention, the film reveals a man misunderstood even by his close associates.
A woman is forcibly placed in Priory, as the filmmakers follow her struggles to adapt.
Maura Mackenzie believes the world is hers to conquer. With her career as a concert pianist gaining momentum, it seems her beauty and talent will be strong enough to mask the demons that threaten to engulf her. But with an absent husband and two young daughters at home, her precarious sanity begins to unravel until one summer day, burning with manic energy, she makes a terrible mistake — a mistake that will change her life forever. The consequences for Maura are catastrophic: her ambitious husband runs for his life, taking the children with him, leaving Maura to lapse into a full-scale breakdown. Life as she knew it is now over. With the help of her father, Ian, Maura works to reclaim her life and waits for a miracle to bring her daughters home. But when the fates align, can the past be forgiven?
For generations, the sound of traditional Inuit drum dancing fell silent in Labrador due to colonization. In the early 21st century, the beat of the drum returned, and with it a renewed sense of pride in Inuit culture. Evan’s Drum tells the story of seven-year-old Evan Winters of Happy Valley-Goose Bay as he learns from his mother, Amy, how to drum dance. Amy hopes that her son will continue this newly reclaimed tradition and help to pass it on to future generations of Inuit. Labrador Inuk filmmaker Ossie Michelin brings us into the home of the Winters-Allen family for an intimate look as the revitalized tradition of drum dancing is once more passed down through the generations. Evan’s Drum provides a window into modern Inuit family life through the story of Evan and his family, who work alongside their community to keep the drumbeat alive.