Mon oncle Antoine is a coming-of-age drama set in a small town in Quebec during the 1940s. The story follows a young boy who navigates the challenges of loss, family relationships, and the hardships of growing up. The film explores themes of grief, infidelity, and the impact of a close-knit community. It revolves around the daily life of the boy, his relationship with his uncle who works as an undertaker, and the winter events that shape his perspective on life.
Kamouraska is a historical drama set in 19th-century Quebec. It follows the story of a love triangle and a murder, with themes of adultery, consummation of marriage, and the consequences of defloration. Based on a novel, the film explores the complex relationships and conflicts that arise. Set against the backdrop of Quebec's history, Kamouraska is a gripping tale of passion, betrayal, and the pursuit of justice.
A Chairy Tale is a charming and surreal animated short film from 1957. It tells the story of a man who becomes fascinated with a chair and begins to imagine various scenarios and interactions with it. Through stop-motion animation and pixelation techniques, the film takes the audience on a whimsical journey filled with rhythm, comedy, and fantasy. With a surprise ending, A Chairy Tale showcases the power of imagination and the joy of storytelling.
An efficiency expert is called in to downsize a trucking company and the employees fight to establish a union to save their jobs.
Made for the landmark anthology series, For the Record, Seer Was Here is an example of the bold dramatic programming made at the CBC in the mid-70s, while theatre director John Hirsch was serving as the head of the drama department. Saul Rubinek plays an inmate of a cruel Vancouver prison who brings humour, warmth, a little joy and self-understanding to the fellow prisoners of his cell block. An irreverent satire also featuring Eric Peterson and Martin Short. “Absolutely great, It’s also funny. Very Funny. Very Warm. Very touching… in some ways, a Canadian One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (Calgary Herald, 1978)
In this French Canadian film, the lives of teenagers are examined in fantasy sequences and through the use of documentary interviews. Prompted by the filmmaker, nine teenagers individually act out their secret dreams and, between times, talk about their world as they see it. The fantasy sequences make creative use of animation, unusual film-development techniques, and stills. Babette conceives of herself as an abbess defending her fortress, a convent; Michelle is transported in a dream of love where all time ceases; Philippe is the revolutionary, defeating all the institutions that plague him, and so on, through all their fantasies. All the actual preoccupations of youth are raised: authority, drugs, social conflict, sex. Jutra's style in "Wow" exhibits his innovative approach to storytelling and filmmaking, showcasing his talents as a director during that period. With English subtitles.
Short film about the underground part, both geographical and social, of the city of Montreal, through the obsession of a business magnate for a young woman.
An experimental short film shot in slow motion and set to Ottokar Nováček's violin composition Perpetuum mobile, the film depicts a love triangle between two men and a woman.
A struggling writer, desperate to make a name for himself, discovers a forgotten manuscript and presents it as his own. As his fame and success grow, he is haunted by the guilt of his deceit and must confront the consequences of his actions.
A young singer-songwriter abandons his life in his hometown and moves to the city to make it big. He achieves fame, but it comes at a price.
An acerbic and surreal comedy about marriage and married life.
Following her father's puzzling disappearance, Kate and her city-bred companions brave the untamed backwoods in a desperate search for him. However, the harsh environment becomes a dangerous catalyst for their explosive mix of personalities, propelling them into a world of raw emotion and unbridled passion.
A compilation of seven shorts made for the National Film Board of Canada. Features the NFBC shorts, "Nahanni," "Le Merle," "A Chairy Tale," "The Cars in Your Life," "Corral," "Wrestling," and "Neighbors."
This feature documentary about education explores the mid-century state of learning in the classrooms of North America. New approaches to learning and the emerging technologies that facilitate them are explored, including the new roles of the computer, tape recorder and television. Directed by Quebec cinema giant Claude Jutra (Mon Oncle Antoine), the film was produced with the collaboration of researchers studying all forms of education, from infancy to adulthood.
This short 1966 documentary dedicated "to all victims of intolerance” depicts the dawn of skateboarding in Montreal. A new activity frowned upon by police and adults, skateboarding gave youngsters a thrilling sensation of speed and freedom. This film - the first Canadian documentary ever made about the sport - captures the exuberance of boys and girls having the time of their lives in free-wheeling downhill locomotion. Jutra's 1966 mockumentary film The Devil's Toy (Rouli-roulant), is a faux-anti-skateboarding propaganda film.
An experimental movie based on a poem of the French writer and director Jean Cocteau about a servant who fantasises about killing the lady of the house.
In Quebec 40s, orphans or abandoned children are placed in a gigantic psychiatric hospital where children were locked. Were they sick? No, they simply had no family. To escape this oppressive universe, they created a parallel world: the institution's basement where, in a maze of tunnels, they founded an independent company, with its rituals, spells. A young girl, Agnes, reigns over this underground world that adults seem to tolerate.
A student with a crush on his teacher becomes even more frustrated when his widowed father begins going out with the woman.