Au cœur de Mégantic

Storycorps: Eyes on the Stars

August 2012 •English

On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina.

Passages

October 2020 •French

Five women from the North to the South of Quebec embark on a multisport expedition following the Koroc river in Nunavik. Travelling together against adversity, this journey soon becomes one of self-discovery for each participant.

The Champions, Part 1: Unlikely Warriors

January 1978 •English

In Part 1 of this 3-part documentary series, director Donald Brittain chronicles the early years of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and René Lévesque. From their university days in the 1950s to 1967 when Lévesque left the Liberal Party and Trudeau became the federal Minister of Justice, Brittain attempts to get at the heart of what makes these men so fascinating.

The Champions, Part 2: Trappings of Power

January 1978 •English

Part 2 of this 3-part documentary series about Pierre Elliott Trudeau and René Lévesque covers the years between 1967 and 1977, a colourful decade that saw Trudeau win three federal elections, the 1970 October Crisis and the sweeping rise to power of the Parti Québécois.

The Champions, Part 3: The Final Battle

January 1986 •English

The final instalment of this 3-part documentary series about Pierre Elliott Trudeau and René Lévesque spans the decade between 1976 and 1986. The film reveals the turbulent, behind-the-scenes drama during the Quebec referendum and the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. In doing so, it also traces both Trudeau's and Lévesque's fall from power.

Girls in Summer Dresses: Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

August 1988 •Japanese

In 1945, the second- and third-year students of a Hiroshima girls' school are taken away to work in war factories. The remaining 220 girls of the first year try to make the best of their new-found status as the only teenagers in an almost deserted town, even amid the deprivations of wartime. On the seventh of August, an American bomber changes their lives forever. Broadcast on the 43rd anniversary of Hiroshima in memory of "the girls who lost their lives to the atom bomb." (Source: Anime Encyclopedia)

Visit to a Foreign Country

March 1962 •English

They come in high-powered convertibles, with cameras and curiosity, to look at French Canada and French-Canadians. Their usual objective is Québec City, where they can soak up a bit of French culture without a trip to France. With an eye for humour, VISIT TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY shows the people of Québec taking a look at American tourists who have come to Québec to take a look at them.

Les Rose

August 2020 •French

In October 1970, members of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped and murdered Minister Pierre Laporte, part of an unprecedented crisis in Quebec. Fifty years later, Félix Rose tries to understand what could have led his father and uncle to commit such crimes. Thanks to his uncle Jacques, who agrees for the first time to speak on the subject, and to the traces left by his father Paul, he revives the heritage of a Quebec working class family. The fruit of ten years of research, Les Rose allows us to revisit a time and people that we knew through clichés, and gives a glimpse of the experiences of a rebellious youth and the crimes that followed.

The Oka Legacy

January 2015 •English

The Oka Legacy is a POV documentary that explores how the Oka Crisis has influenced Indigenous identity in Canada. In the summer of 1990, all eyes were on the small town of Oka, Quebec. Triggered by plans to expand a golf course on ancestral land, it was a standoff between the Mohawk people of Kanehsatake, the police and eventually the army. The Oka Crisis lasted 78 days and drew worldwide attention. The standoff had a profound impact on Indigenous peoples in Canada setting the tone for Indigenous resistance throughout the ‘90s.

Christmas at Moose Factory

January 1971 •English

A study of life at Christmastime in Moose Factory, an old settlement mainly composed of Cree families on the shore of James Bay, composed entirely of children's crayon drawings and narrated by children.

Tales of Sand and Snow

January 2004 •French

In a quest to rediscover the spiritual values of his own people, an African filmmaker from the Gourmantche tribe of Burkina Faso visits an Aboriginal band, the Atikamekw of northern Quebec. The resulting documentary is a dialogue between those who divine the future in the sand with those who use snow-encased sweat lodges to reconnect with the spiritual world.

Oka, 30 ans après

November 2020 •French

Thirty years after the Oka Crisis, a fragile peace remains in place between the Mohawks of Kanesatake and the other residents of the region. Rappers Biz and Samian do a double take on the history of this longstanding territorial conflict.

Doctors with Heart

January 1993 •French

Tahani Rached’s powerful documentary enters the doors of an AIDS clinic in Montreal. We meet a group of dedicated doctors struggling to provide health care to their patients. This 1994 film explores legal and ethical problems surrounding HIV/AIDS and the struggle against fear, rumours and prejudice. It is still relevant today.

La couleur du temps

October 2008 •French

After the Ballot

January 2008 •French

After the Ballot is a full-length documentary portraying the gruelling everyday life of two Members of Quebec's National Assembly who, although at opposite ends of the political spectrum, share the fact that their sole power lies in their convictions. One is Daniel Turp, the PQ Member for Mercier. The other is Charlotte L'Écuyer, Liberal MNA for Pontiac. The film aptly illustrates that ordinary MNAs have very little authority since the real power is held by ministers who are subject to the ups and downs of a globalized economy. Meanwhile, their fellow citizens keep asking for the impossible…

De la rivière à la mer

October 2019 •French

Brûlez Rome !

January 2005 •French

At the time of Nero, the Empire is at the height of its power, but Rome, where a million inhabitants live, is afraid of its enemies, of foreigners, of barbarians. Rome is afraid of the Tyrant and of its own power. And all these fears seem to crystallize in that of fire, more than anything else feared in this megalopolis that so often catches fire. In 64 A.D. the most terrible fire that the city has ever known broke out. It is said that it was set on the orders of Nero, in order to overwhelm the Christians who were accused of it. The watchmen, Celer and Theseus, intervene at the risk of their lives. This fictional documentary tells the story of the adventures of these two "firemen" in Rome during the Empire. An astonishing journey through time, the story of the life of men: customs, family, lifestyle, politics, education, leisure.

Where the Land Ends

March 2019 •French

A documentary that explores what it means to be a young person in Quebec after the dissolution of the Quebec sovereignty movement.

Kindness Is Contagious

January 2014 •English

Kindness is Contagious profiles bleeding-edge scientists and authors from UC Berkeley, Harvard and everywhere in between as well as real life people whose lives illustrate their incredible discovery: THAT KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS. Learn how a little generosity can help you live a happier, healthier, wealthier, longer and more fulfilling life.

Togulykken på Storebælt

December 2020 •Danish