Film Library

Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African-American funerals are brought to life.

Nearly all Indian nations sit on land threatened by ruinous environmental hazards – toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling, and nuclear contamination. Homeland is the first film to take a hard look at these realities.

After being taken away from her parents as a baby by the state and given up for adoption, singer-songwriter “Cami” Jenni Alpert went searching for her birth father. She finally finds him: homeless, toothless, addicted. And a musician, just like her.

The danger is palpable as intrepid young filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan (a.k.a Hooligan Sparrow) and her band of colleagues to Hainan Province in southern China, to protest the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. Marked as enemies of the state, the activists are under constant government surveillance and face interrogation, harassment, and imprisonment. Sparrow, who gained notoriety with her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights, continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights and arms herself with the power and reach of social media.

Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman put it on one of his Top Ten lists. More than 15 years later, the McDonald’s coffee case continues to be cited as a prime example of how citizens use “frivolous” lawsuits to take unfair advantage of America’s legal system. But is that an accurate portrayal of the facts? First-time filmmaker and former public interest lawyer Susan Saladoff uses the infamous legal battle that began with a spilled cup of coffee to investigate what’s behind America’s zeal for tort reform. By following four people whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, this thought-provoking documentary challenges the assumptions Americans hold about “jackpot justice.”

HOW I GOT OVER follows 15 formerly homeless women as they create an original play based on their harrowing true-life stories for a one-night-only performance at The Kennedy Center. These women have never performed on stage. Yet, finding the courage within, they take a leap of faith and tell their stories.

A visual journey in the age of xenophobia.

A moving documentary portrait of artist and mother Susie Dureau, who uses painting as a way of processing significant events in her life.

Isolation can be daunting and overwhelming, especially when it extends over long periods of time or when it’s imposed upon us. While we all process loneliness differently, this is currently a collective experience shared across the world. With the hope that their moving work might help you cope with isolation, we want to present a unique and inspiring perspective from two Canadian artists who not only accept but embrace solitude.