603-102-MQ: Contemporary Canadian Novel (Khoo): Selected films

DVD-762

Eight children and their community are left behind to piece together the aftermath of suicide and the legacy of 3rd world conditions imposed on Canada's Native people. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (the people of the lake) is a remote Native community bound by reserve laws in the forgotten North of Ontario. This Nation dates back to 7,000 years where bones of their ancestors were discovered on the shores of Big Trout Lake. Today this proud Nation is deeply impoverished in 3rd World conditions bound by Treaty laws signed, by their non-English speaking ancestors. Set in the backdrop of the aftermath of the suicide of three parents, the documentary explores the impact of 3rd world conditions on the children left behind and a community's courage in looking after them. Filmed with the participation of Tikinagan Child & Family Services, and the Nation of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.

DVD-205

In 1914 the Komagata Maru, a vessel with 376 immigrants from British India, became the first ship carrying immigrants to be turned away by Canada. The consequences were felt throughout the British Empire. This is a provocative and multilayered film that combines rare photographs, newsreels, official documents and never-before-seen footage to unravel a little-known story that reverberates to this day.

This feature documentary profiles an Aboriginal community coming to terms with a legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. The film follows the Ditidaht First Nation over a seven-year period, after a respected elder is found guilty of sexual assault. Award-winning filmmaker Maurice Bulbulian records the community's stories, becoming a part of their healing process. With the hope and courage of participants, the powerful interviews in this film play a key role in helping the community overcome the cycle of abuse. The continuing, devastating effects of the residential school system are also revealed; in this system, physical, emotional and sexual abuse were all too often routine.

This short film traces Pete Standing Alone's personal journey from cultural alienation to pride and belonging. As a spiritual elder, teacher and community leader of the Blood Indians of Southern Alberta, Pete works with youth to repair the cultural and spiritual destruction wrought by residential schools. At age 81, he has come full-circle in his dedication to preserving the traditional ways of his people.

The Oka crisis brought Native rights into sharp focus. After the barricades came down, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was created. It travelled to more than 100 communities and heard from more than 1,000 representatives. For two-and-a-half years, teams of Native filmmakers followed the Commission on its journey.

"A disturbing documentary of Canada's first national alien-internment operation. It tells the little-known story of Ukrainian immigrants who found themselves subject to discriminatory and repressive measures during World War I."

This documentary tells the story of the frustration and injustice experienced by Japanese Canadians, who fought long and hard to be accepted as Canadians.

The bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor thrust 9-year-old Minoru Fukushima into a world of racism so malevolent he would be forced to leave Canada, the land of his birth. Like thousands of other Japanese Canadians, Minoru and his family were branded as an enemy of Canada, dispatched to internment camps in British Columbia and finally deported to Japan. Directed by Michael Fukushima, Minoru's son, the film combines classical animation with archival material. The memories of the father are interspersed with the voice of the son, weaving a tale of a birthright lost and recovered.

This feature-length documentary tells the story of the Asahi baseball team. In pre-World War II Vancouver, the team was unbeatable, winning the Pacific Northwest Championship for five straight years. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese descent in Canada were sent to internment camps. The former Asahi members survived by playing ball. Their passion was contagious and soon other players joined in, among them RCMP officials and local townspeople. As a result, the games helped break down racial and cultural barriers. This remarkable story is told with a combination of archival footage, interviews and dramatic re-enactments.

This short film depicts Africville, a small black settlement that lay within the city limits of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the 1960s, the families there were uprooted and their homes demolished in the name of urban renewal and integration. More than 20 years later, the site of the community of Africville is a stark, under-utilized park. Former residents, their descendants and some of the decision-makers speak out and, with the help of archival photographs and films, tell the story of that painful relocation.