Michael Allder

Documentary about the lifelong project of Troy Hurtubise, a man who has been obsessed with researching the Canadian grizzly bear up close, ever since surviving an early encounter with such a bear. The film documents Hurtubise's diligent work to improve his homemade "grizzly-proof" suit of armour, his efforts to test its resilience, and his forays into the Rockies to track down the grizzlies he dreams of meeting. The film manages to capture the humor of the project as well as its sincerity.

From behind the closed doors of women's washrooms, The Powder Room reveals women sharing intimacies in the privacy of each other's company. Originating from the director's observation that women trade secrets with friends and strangers in public washrooms, this innovative and candid documentary takes us to high school bathrooms, seniors centres' powder roooms, Newfoundland dance halls, New York nightclubs, a sauna in Copenhagen, a Casablanca hamman and country-and-western bars in Texas. In each location, as women are filmed in verité sequences, they confess their joys, their frustrations and their pain about love, sex, relationships with men and friendships with each other.

This riveting music documentary traces the history of Jazz piano legend Oscar Peterson, from his early days as Montreal's teenage Boogie-Woogie sensation through his meteoric rise to international celebrity with Norman Granz and the ground-breaking Jazz at the Philharmonic and beyond. In this award-winning autobiographical portrait, legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson narrates his story, from his beginnings in smoke-filled Montreal clubs to hallmark performances with jazz greats. Concert footage includes an unforgettable combo -- Nat King Cole with Jazz at the Philharmonic and the Oscar Peterson Trio Wall reunion. Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie are interviewed, among others. - Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Ella Fitzgerald

A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.

Awkward, shy and delightfully funny, Polly Vandersma is an "organizationally impaired" temporary assistant who finally gets her first permanent job at the age of 31. While she works for the curator of an art gallery, Polly narrates her own story, sharing the comical and bittersweet pretensions of the art world. At the same time, she reveals a special part of her own private world, taking the viewer to enchanted places in this quiet assault on the notion of authority everywhere.