Barry Greenwald

Movies

The Experimental Eskimos
Director
In the early 1960s the Canadian government conducted an experiment in social engineering. Three young Inuit boys were separated from their families in the Arctic and were sent to Ottawa, the nation's capital, to live with white families and to be educated in white schools. The consequences the experiment would have on the boys, their identity and culture was brushed aside. The bureaucrats did not anticipate the outcome. The three grow up to be political activists and leaders - often at odds with the government that brought them south. They establish aboriginal rights in Canada and are instrumental in the creation of Nunavut, the world's largest self-governed aboriginal territory. But it all comes at a tremendous personal cost. Peter Ittinuar, Zebedee Nungak, and Eric Tagoona recount their stories, achievements and challenges in this film about an attempt at assimilation, empowerment, and the triumph of the human spirit.
High Risk Offender
Director
Director Barry Greenwald takes his camera into a place we never thought we'd see so intimately: a high-risk parole office and the people whose lives it touches--prisoners guilty of everything from murder to white-collar crime; officers desperate to keep their clients out of prison and their failures off the files. What you see on-screen is the real thing: raw, revealing and utterly fascinating. Over a 10-month period, we follow six high-risk offenders and the parole officers and therapists whose job is to make sure they stay clean, stay out of trouble and stay out of jail. The offenders put up with urine tests for drugs, random curfew checks and therapy sessions. Most work at it, some feel hopeless, others just go through the motions. Their stories are at turns bizarre, tragic, disturbing and endearing. Frightening and funny, sad and troubling, High Risk Offender is a stunning documentary.
Between Two Worlds
Director
This feature film is a documentary portrait of Joseph Idlout, a man who was once the world's most famous Inuit. Unknown to most Canadians today, Idlout was the subject of many films and books, and one of the Inuit hunters pictured for many years on the back of Canada's $2 bill. In this film Idlout's son, Peter Paniloo, takes us on a journey through his father's life - that of a man caught "between two worlds."
Who Gets In?
Director
This documentary explores the many questions raised by Canada's immigration policy in the face of one of the world's largest immigration movements. Shot in 1988 in Africa, Canada and Hong Kong, the film reveals first-hand what Canadian immigration officials are looking for in potential new Canadians, and the economic, social and political priorities orienting their choices.
Taxi!
Writer
This feature documentary studies one of the city’s most visible yet most anonymous character: the taxi driver. Filmed by day and night, the film offers an entertaining and sometimes comical look at the drivers, fleet operators and dispatchers who are expected to deliver passengers, parcels… and even babies.
Taxi!
Director
This feature documentary studies one of the city’s most visible yet most anonymous character: the taxi driver. Filmed by day and night, the film offers an entertaining and sometimes comical look at the drivers, fleet operators and dispatchers who are expected to deliver passengers, parcels… and even babies.
Hot Wheels
Editor
Two girls turn down two boys for more prosperous, motorized dates. In anger, the two teenage boys steal a car, booze up and accidentally meet up with the girls. The drivers of the two cars challenge each other, and a wild race starts that ends up with a horrifying accident. A fictional film, it dramatizes a situation where pride, alcohol and wheels combine with disastrous results.
Metamorphosis
Director