Tag: Documentary

The NFB at Vancouver Film Festival 2023. Premiering Four Special Works

Now that this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival is in full swing, we offer a list of what The NFB is presenting.

The NFB LogoThe NFB has four special works now playing at the 2023 Vancouver International Film Festival. 

First up is the feature-length documentary WaaPaKe: Tomorrow, directed by Vancouver-based filmmaker Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin. This work is important because of what was discovered years ago, bodies of children in unmarked graves by a normal school. The public outcry was huge, and to find answers, viewers will have to watch this.

From the Press Release: 

For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, affecting Indigenous families and communities. Children, parents, and grandparents have contended with the unspoken trauma, manifested in the lingering effects of colonialism: addiction, emotional abuse, and broken relationships.

In her efforts to help the children of Survivors, including herself and her family, Koostachin makes the hard decision to step in front of the camera and take part in the circle of truth. She is joined in this courageous act of solidarity by members of her immediate household, as well as an array of voices from Indigenous communities across Turtle Island. Moving beyond burying intergenerational trauma, WaaPaKe is an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power.

Special to this year is an installation art piece of Meneath. It’ll be part of the VIFF Signals program and is based on Métis creator Terril Calder’s Meneath: The Mirrors of Ethics, a winner of the New Voices Award at New York’s Tribeca Festival. For our review of this work, please visit this link.

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Chronicling American: An Odyssey to 1947 and its Influence Upon the World

Not only are a few key figures well represented during this era, but also we see how certain historical moments rose during American: An Odyssey to 1947.

American An Odyssey to 1947 PosterNow Playing on VOD
Gravitas Ventures

The late 40’s is well represented in Danny Wu‘s American: An Odyssey to 1947. Not only is the socio-political climate expertly explored but also we see who the movers and shakers were for the time. That also includes how they affected each other. From the entertainment scene to the White House, the influence feels like something I would watch in a high school Social Studies class.

The reason I was drawn to this work is that I’m a huge fan of Orson Welles. His early life is well accounted for, and while I’m not expecting a complete biography, what’s told covers all the basics and perhaps a little bit more!

David Walsh, writing for the World Socialist Web Site, best sums up the entire film in the press release: “In a short period of time, [Wu] has developed an important understanding of some of the most vexing problems of the mid-20th century.” He also added that this film is evidence that “a new generation of artists, free from the cynicism and many of the prejudices of the past several decades, is emerging.”

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Who Can Rest Beyond the Grave, When the Living is Calling For You?

Death should not be feared. Instead, it should be regarded as a transition point from one state to another, and Beyond the Grave is decent at exploring the various possibilities on what that may be….

Beyond the Grave Movie PosterAvailable on Digital Streaming Platforms Beginning Sept 5, 2023

Serena DC’s Beyond the Grave is a fascinating documentary that dares to tackle the topic of what happens when the mortal body is ready to shut down and if the spirit persists afterwards. Although this is not really a subject to discuss in the middle of Ghost Month, I’m sure some Asians are wondering if their loved ones are doing okay.

This filmmaker is better known for Contact – The CE-5 Experience, and although that work is about encountering aliens from outer space, maybe that’s what we become when entering the aether, and have to deal with a new incorporeal reality. As for whether paranormal investigators and ghost hunters can find evidence for this continued existence, that’s still debatable.

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On the Trail of Bigfoot: Land of the Missing and More Alaskan Mysteries

Some say Alaska is the Last Frontier, and in On the Trail of Bigfoot: Land of the Missing, perhaps that saying is taken for granted in the lastest look at Small Town Monsters.

On the Trail of Bigfoot Promotional Poster1091 Pictures

Seth Breedlove is back with another episode of Small Town Monsters! This time, both he and his team of cameramen are ready to search the Great Alaskan frontier for people willing to talk about the Sasquatch. Like previous instalments, On the Trail of Bigfoot: Land of the Missing, the focus is on conversing with folks with firsthand experiences.

This latest is no different in style. This episode has this filmmaker right in the action, but this time he’s rented a cabin in the woods for his team to get an authentic experience. Afterwards, they have gone searching for the elusive creature, and found people we haven’t seen before to give their stories. As the title implies, Missing persons is the primary focus here. Continue reading “On the Trail of Bigfoot: Land of the Missing and More Alaskan Mysteries”

Celebrating 100 Years Of Warner Bros. and Defying the Odds. Broadcast Guide and Filling in the Gaps

There’s a lot of information packed into 100 Years of Warner Bros. documentary, and ultimately, one might want the book to read afterwards.

100 Years Of Warner Bros.Warner Bros. is celebrating a huge milestone, and in the documentary 100 Years of Warner Bros., everything we want to know about their early days is covered! The first episode is the best of the four-part series and the host of this trip through memory lane is Morgan Freeman. After it’s run on HBO Max, it’s now more widely available. In Canada, we can view the series on HOLLYWOOD SUITE as each episode is released each weekend this month!

Not only do we learn about this studio’s humble beginnings through the eyes of many performers and filmmakers, but also discover what brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack’s goals were. Not all of them had a true love for cinema versus wanting to be the king in a place formerly known as Hollywood Hills. To set up shop there meant knowing what America likes to see at the Nickelodeons and having access to talents who will no doubt put them in the public eye, like Errol Flynn.

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