Silva Basmajian

In the course of history, only a few revolutions have been successful, let alone those without Bloodshed. Nikol Pashinyan, a charismatic former journalist and political prisoner, galvanized support among the youth and women, by using non-violent civil disobedience protests and social media. In a short period of 6 weeks, a corrupt oligarchy was toppled and democracy restored. Deemed short of a miracle, BLOODLESS is a riveting political thriller, capturing the story as events unfold in the spring of 2018 in Armenia.

In the course of history, only a few revolutions have been successful, let alone those without Bloodshed. Nikol Pashinyan, a charismatic former journalist and political prisoner, galvanized support among the youth and women, by using non-violent civil disobedience protests and social media. In a short period of 6 weeks, a corrupt oligarchy was toppled and democracy restored. Deemed short of a miracle, BLOODLESS is a riveting political thriller, capturing the story as events unfold in the spring of 2018 in Armenia.

In the course of history, only a few revolutions have been successful, let alone those without Bloodshed. Nikol Pashinyan, a charismatic former journalist and political prisoner, galvanized support among the youth and women, by using non-violent civil disobedience protests and social media. In a short period of 6 weeks, a corrupt oligarchy was toppled and democracy restored. Deemed short of a miracle, BLOODLESS is a riveting political thriller, capturing the story as events unfold in the spring of 2018 in Armenia.

NCR: Not Criminally Responsible tells the story of a troubled young man who stabbed a complete stranger 6 times in a crowded shopping mall while gripped by psychosis. Twelve years later, his victim, who miraculously survived, is terrified to learn that he's out, living in the community under supervision. He's applying for an absolute discharge, and if he succeeds, he'll no longer be required to take the anti-psychotic drugs that control his mental illness. With unprecedented access to the patient, the victim, and the mental institution, the film looks at both sides of the debate and puts a human face on the complex ethical issues raised.

Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries: the first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible, premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community. The second film, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to profile four patients, two men and two women, as they struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.

Working at the limits of what can easily be expressed, filmmaker Peter Mettler takes on the elusive subject of time, and once again turns his camera to filming the unfilmable. From the particle accelerator in Switzerland, where scientists seek to probe regions of time we cannot see, to lava flows in Hawaii which have overwhelmed all but one home on the south side of Big Island; from the disintegration of inner-city Detroit, to a Hindu funeral rite near the place of Buddha's enlightenment, Mettler explores our perception of time. He dares to dream the movie of the future while also immersing us in the wonder of the everyday. THE END OF TIME, at once personal, rigorous and visionary, Peter Mettler has crafted a film as compelling and magnificent as its subject.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for artist Phil Richards, who’s been commissioned to create Canada’s official portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee. Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Hubert Davis follows Richards over months of painstaking preparations, as he works to capture Her Majesty’s likeness and spirit on canvas.

Canadian actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates certain secrets related to her mother, interviewing a group of family members and friends whose reliability varies depending of their implication in the events, which are remembered in different ways; so a trail of questions remains to be answered, because memory is always changing and the discovery of truth often depends on who is telling the tale.

This animated short chronicles the life cycle of the critically endangered sea turtle. Capturing the beauty of the ecosystems that sea turtles inhabit, the film is ideal for all audiences, and for teaching young and old alike about these fascinating creatures.

This short documentary is a portrait of a tiny town, Lakefield, Ontario, and its independent weekly, the Herald. Across North America, newspapers are dying, but in Lakefield, Terry McQuitty, the town paper’s publisher, carries on a rich, 150-year-old tradition. Set to the pace of small-town life, Unheralded is a testament to the vital role newspapers can still play, and the close bond between reporter and reader.

"A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions," says composer R. Murray Schafer. "When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous." David New's portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers (and listeners) with a singular moment of interactive subjectivity. This film was produced for the 2009 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.

A look at the natural beauty and environmental crisis surrounding the Great Lakes.

Korea is a divided nation. Filmmaker Min Sook Lee sets out on a revelatory, emotion-charged journey into Korea’s broken heart, exploring the rhetoric and realism of reunification through the extraordinary stories of ordinary people.

Portrait of NFB filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin.

Captures the exciting movement of Spiritual Activism that is exploding around the planet, and the powerful personalities who are igniting it.

This documentary from Min Sook Lee follows a poverty-stricken father from Central Mexico, along with several of his countrymen, as they make their annual migration to southern Ontario to pick tomatoes. For 8 months a year, the town's population absorbs 4,000 migrant workers who toil under conditions, and for wages, that no local would accept. Yet despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect.

Meet 10 self-proclaimed ski bums in this adrenaline rush documentary by John Zaritsky. Combining candid interviews with truly smashing ski footage, the film gives us insight into the sometimes sublime, sometimes gritty existence of these free spirits living on the edge of Whistler, BC.

A film about the life and career of the famed Canadian comic book talent.

Home movies and their unique place in popular culture are the subject of My Father's Camera. Director Karen Shopsowitz weaves the history of home movies together with footage shot by her father--amateur filmmaker Israel Shopsowitz. Equipped with her dad's old Super 8 camera, Karen traces the history of home movies from the 1920s through to the amateur explosion of the '30s and '40s and beyond. She interviews a lively line-up of scholars and collectors, such as early members of the Toronto Film Club, a Japanese-American archivist who sees home movies as an expression of cultural diversity and a collector who hosts popular Webcasts that highlight new acquisitions.

This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.

A documentary history of lesbianism in North American and Europe, with historic references, archival material, film clips, interviews with many women - famous and not-famous witnesses and players - who clearly remember a difficult, painful, and often downright dangerous past.

Journeying through cities, suburbs, plains and deserts, Lawn and Order is a fun, hilarious and touching documentary which reveals the zany and obsessive fascination North Americans have with their front yard.

A photographer and his wife travel across Armenia photographing churches for a calendar project. Travelling with them is a local man acting as their driver and guide. As the project nears completion, the distance between husband and wife grows.

Authors, teachers, social activists and feminists explore manifestations of contemporary women's spirituality in the Western world.