The National Film Board of Canada

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PIERRES VIVES

Synopsis: Selon les Inuit, chaque pierre que recueille le sculpteur renferme un secret. La sculpture inuit, découverte il y a quelques années, fut une véritable révélation. Elle est l'expression simple et poétique d'un génie bien particulier. Film tourné au Cap Dorset, en Terre de Baffin, parmi les Inuit de Kingait et de Kangiyiak.

Filmmaker: John Feeney

Contact: L'Office national du film du Canada

Producer: Tom Daly

Year of Production: 1958

Distributor Information: L'Office national du film du Canada

Country: Canada

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PIERRES VIVES

VISTAS - LA VISITE

Synopsis: La visite relate l'histoire vécue de l'étrange rencontre que fait une famille crie par une nuit neigeuse et d'une communication qui transcende les mots. Filmmaker: Lisa Jackson Contact: l'Office national du film du Canada et APTN Producer: Selwyn Jacob Year of Production: 2009

YOU ARE ON INDIAN LAND

Synopsis: A film report of the 1969 protest demonstration by Mohawk Indians of the St. Regis Reserve on the international bridge between Canada and the United States near Cornwall, Ontario.

VISTAS - WALK-IN-THE-FOREST/VISTAS - MARCHE-DANS-LA-FORÊT

Synopsis: This whimsical animation, reminiscent of NFB classics, follows medicine man Walk-in-the-forest on a walk in the woods that leads to the discovery of an intriguing secret world.

VISTAS - TRAPPER/VISTAS - TRAPPEUR

Synopsis: Trapper is a beautiful short film capturing the quiet dignity of a day in the life of a Northern trapper. Trappeur est un magnifique court métrage qui saisit la dignité tranquille d'une journée dans la vie d'un trappeur du Nord. Filmmaker: Shannon Letandre Contact: National Film Board of Canada and APTN/L'Office national du film du Canada et APTN

VISTAS - THE VISIT

Synopsis: The Visit tells the true story of a Cree family's strange encounter one winter night, which results in a conversation beyond words. Filmmaker: Lisa Jackson Contact: National Film Board of Canada and APTN Producer: Selwyn Jacob Year of Production: 2009 Distributor Information: National Film Board of Canada and APTN Country: Canada

VISTAS - RED OCHRE/VISTAS - OCRE ROUGE

Synopsis: Combining archival photos with new and found footage, Red Ochre is a personal, impressionistic rendering of what it's like growing up Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland, while living in a culture of denial.

VISTAS - LITTLE THUNDER/VISTAS - PETIT TONNERRE

Synopsis: This animated short, inspired by the Mi'kmaq legend, "The Stone Canoe" explores aboriginal humour. We follow Little Thunder as he reluctantly leaves his family and sets out on a cross-country canoe trip to become a man.

VISTAS - INUKSHOP/VISTAS - INUKSHOP

Synopsis: Inuit filmmaker Jobie Weetaluktuk mixes archival and new footage to make a statement about the appropriation of his culture throughout history. Le cinéaste inuit Jobie Weetaluktuk combine séquences d'archives et nouvelles images pour prendre position sur les différentes formes d'appropriation de sa culture au cours de l'histoire. Filmmaker: Jobie Weetaluktuk

VISTAS - IGNITION/VISTAS - ALLUMAGE

Synopsis: This CG-animated film evokes the experience of driving alone on an unlit rural road at night. Darkness is broken by the beam of headlights, creating dancing shadows, which obfuscate what lies beyond the road.

VISTAS - DANCERS OF THE GRASS/VISTAS - LES DANSEURS DE L'HERBE

Synopsis: A stunning display of a stop motion animation, Dancers of the Grass vividly depicts the majesty of the hoop dance, a tradition symbolizing the unity of all nations. Éblouissante démonstration d'animation image par image, Les danseurs de l'herbe illustre avec éclat la majesté de la danse du cerceau, une tradition symbolisant l'unité de toutes les nations.

VISTAS - CROSSING THE LINE/VISTAS - LA DIVISION

Synopsis: Crossing the Line turns the politics and conflicts of a playground sandbox into an allegory for the way nations treat one another, and the borders seem to do more harm than good.

VISTAS - CARRYING FIRE/VISTAS - FEU PORTANT

Synopsis: Carrying Fire weaves together animation and live action to show how the fire of our spirit is passed from one camp and one generation to the next. Feu portant entrelace animation et réel pour illustrer la façon dont le feu de notre esprit se transmet d'un campement et d'une génération à l'autre. Filmmaker: Marie Burke

THROUGH THESE EYES

Synopsis: This riveting documentary reveals how an educational dream became a bitter political battle over cultural differences.

STARBLANKET

Synopsis: At twenty-six, Noel Starblanket is one of the youngest Indian chiefs in North America--twice elected chief of the Starblanket Reserve, and also elected vice-president of all Saskatchewan Indians. His great-grandfather's advice was to "learn the wit and cunning of the White man." That he did.

RICHARD CARDINAL: CRY FROM A DIARY OF A METIS CHILD

Synopsis: A moving tribute to Richard Cardinal, a Métis adolescent who committed suicide in 1984. He had been taken from his home at the age of four because of family problems, and spent the rest of his seventeen short years moving in and out of twenty-eight foster homes, group homes and shelters in Alberta.

LIVING STONE, THE

Synopsis: This film shows the inspiration, often related to belief in the supernatural, behind Inuit sculpture. The Inuit's approach to the work is to release the image the artist sees imprisoned in the rough stone. The film centres on an old legend about the carving of the image of a sea spirit to bring food to a hungry camp. Filmmaker: John Feeney

LAND OF THE LONG DAY

Synopsis: During the short Arctic summer on Baffin Island, the native Inuit enjoys four months of continuous daylight. But it is no time for relaxation, for provision must be made for the long, cold winter night ahead. In this film Idlouk, an Inuit hunter, tells of his life in this northern land.

INCIDENT AT RESTIGOUCHE

Synopsis: On June 11 and 20, 1981, the Québec Provincial Police (QPP) raided Restigouche Reserve, Québec. This film provides a historical perspective on the issue, and documents, with newsclips, photographs and interviews, the two police raids.

FOSTER CHILD

Synopsis: At age thirty-five, Gil Cardinal searches for his natural family and an understanding of the circumstances that led to his coming into foster care as an infant. Foster Child is a documentary--unstaged and unrehearsed--about the process of that discovery, beginning with his fruitless attempt to see his own file.

ENCOUNTER WITH SAUL ALINSKY - PART 2: RAMA INDIAN RESERVE

Synopsis: A provocative film in which articulate young Indians test their inherent, tolerant philosophy against the more pragmatic ideas of Saul Alinsky. The Indians argue for a revision of the hundred-year-old Indian Act by peaceful persuasion. Alinsky advocates a more direct development of power to bring about the changes they seek.

DANCING AROUND THE TABLE, PART ONE

Synopsis: A film about the three Conferences on the Constitutional Rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada (1983-84-85), focussing on the concept of self-government. Only available in English/Version anglaise seulement. Filmmaker: Maurice Bulbulian Contact: National Film Board of Canada Producer: National Film Board of Canada

CREE HUNTERS OF MISTASSINI

Synopsis: During the winter since times predating agriculture, the Cree of Mistassini have gone to the bush of the James and Ungava Bay area to hunt. Three hunting families agreed to meet an NFB crew, who filmed the building of the winter camp, the hunting, the relationship to the land, and the rhythms of Cree family life.

CIRCLE OF THE SUN

Synopsis: At the 1956 gathering of the Blood Indians of Alberta, the exciting spectacle of the Sun Dance was captured on film for the first time.

CÉSAR'S BARK CANOE/CÉSAR ET SON CANOT DECORCE

Synopsis: Building a canoe solely from the materials that the forest provides may become a lost art, even among the Indians whose traditional craft it is. In this film, César Newashish, a sixty-seven-year-old Attikamek Indian of the Manowan Reserve north of Montreal, builds a canoe in the old way, using only birch bark, cedar splints, spruce roots and gum.

AU PAYS DES JOURS SANS FIN

Synopsis: Sur la terre de Baffin, pendant le court été arctique, les Inuit profitent des quatre mois d'ensoleillement continuel pour faire leurs provisions en vue du long hiver à venir. Dans la région de Pont Inlet dans l'île d'Alukseevee, les Inuit Tununermiut chassent le phoque ainsi que le narval et le béluga. Nous rencontrons la famille d'un chasseur nommé Idlouk au camp.

DREAM MAGIC

Synopsis: Alanis Obomsawin was born during a solar eclipse: an event that foreshadowed her destiny as a storyteller. Katerina Cizek's portrait of this extraordinary artist, layered with animation, music and image, beautifully recalls Alanis Obomsawin's work. Only available in English/Version anglaise seulement. Filmmaker: Katerina Cizek Producer: Gerry Flahive

OTHER SIDE OF THE LEDGER: AN INDIAN VIEW OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY

Synopsis: The Hudson's Bay Company's 300th anniversary celebration was no occasion for joy among the people whose lives were tied to the trading stores. This film, narrated by George Manuel, president of the National Indian brotherhood, presents the view of spokesmen for Canadian Indian and Métis groups.