Practical & Applied Arts

In this film inspired by an Algonquin legend, fire is kept from humankind by Inon, the God of Thunder. The animals set off to capture the god's fire and bring it back to their human counterparts. The story is set at a time when humans and animals understood each other and lived in harmony with...

In this 8th Fire Dispatch, Anishinaabe activist, scholar and mother Leanne Simpson explains the "8th Fire" prophecy and what needs to happen in the relationship between Indigenous people and Canada before it can be lit. Simpson is the author of Lighting the 8th Fire: The Liberation, Resu...

Join the host of the 8th Fire series, Wab Kinew, as he takes a walk through the history of the troubled relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.

It's Time! challenges Canadians with this reality: if we don't improve our relationship with Aboriginal people, we will cripple our economy. Both the footage and the argument come in high definition and make the case that Canada is changing beneath our feet. In a dynamic two-minute...

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature's extraordinary nature, the species' cruel treatment in...

The spectacular annual powwow at Manawan. Gilles Moar once saw a bear dancing, and this inspired him to pass his culture on to his daughter and the young in his community. Since 2004, the travelling studios of Wapikoni Mobile have enabled Quebec First Nations youth to express themselves through ...

La procréation et la famille, indispensables à la survie de l'humanité, constituent la base de toute société. C'est pourquoi l'union des hommes et des femmes, qui est à l'origine de la famille (ou du moins qui l'était jusqu'à tout récemment), a toujours été codifiée. La particularité des trois re...

Directed by John Kastner, this feature documentary about violence, mental illness, and the rights of victims 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 surv...

A documentary about the Conferences on the Constitutional Rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada (1983-85), focusing on the concept of self-government.

Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at ...

This short film tells the story of Mohammed Alsaleh, a young Syrian refugee granted asylum in Canada after fleeing torture and imprisonment by the Assad regime. While rebuilding his life in Vancouver, he assists newly-arrived Syrian refugee families to resettle, finding new homes and new beginnings.

In The Mountain of SGaana, Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter spins a magical tale of a young man who is stolen away to the spirit world, and the young woman who rescues him. The film brilliantly combines traditional animation with formal elements of Haida art, and is based on a story inspired b...

This feature documentary tells the remarkable story of a group of 13 Chinese-Canadian civilians who were trained by the British Secret Service for Operation Oblivion—a covert "suicide" mission that would parachute them into the jungles of the Pacific to fight the Japenese during World War II. Thr...

Doc Zone investigates how our love affair with technology taxes our brains, leaving us chronically distracted, less productive and possibly a lot less happy. Are We Digital Dummies? takes a hard look at the risks associated with using so much tech gear, whether we're in the ...

Episode 9: 1867 to 1873 CE.Confederation is barely accomplished when the new dominion must face an enormous challenge: extending its reach into the vast prairies and beyond, to the Pacific Ocean. But Canada blunders catastrophically in seeking to take over the west without the consent of...