Blown Away

Discovering Christmas Films

December 2018 •English

Gathering for a Christmas lunch, the film critics and writers of Discovering Film discuss the merits of 20 films from Bill Murray's star turn in Scrooged, the James Stewart classic It's a Wonderful Life, Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander, to Bruce Willis' memorable Die Hard.

Saints And Warriors

February 2025 •English

Throughout the course of the Haida basketball season, leaders of iconic rez ball team the Skidegate Saints compete for two titles - defending their All Native Basketball Championship, while also battling for title to their land and waters with the government that stole it from them with the Indian Act.

Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas

December 2022 •English

Follow Dolly's desire to uplift an exhausted world's spirits by sharing the unique "mountain magic". Throughout the chaos, Dolly finds herself taking a journey guided by the mysterious appearances of her Three Wise Mountain Men.

Perry Como's Irish Christmas

December 1994 •English

Perry Como's last great concert special, filmed in Ireland and screened in 1994. Como appears before an audience of 4,500 in Ireland's celebrated Point Theater, with Irish President Mary Robinson and actress Maureen O'Hara in attendance.

Indian Rights for Indian Women

September 2018 •English

Three intrepid women battle for Indigenous women's treaty rights.

Joyeux Noel

November 2005 •French

France, 1914, during World War I. On Christmas Eve, an extraordinary event takes place in the bloody no man's land that the French and the Scots dispute with the Germans…

Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey

December 2019 •English

Lucy Worsley reveals the surprising stories behind our favourite Christmas carols. From pagan rituals to religious conflicts, French dances and the First World War, carols reflect our history.

The Days Before Christmas

December 1958 •English

This short documentary depicts Christmastime in Montreal. The milling crowds, department store Santas, Brink's messengers, kindergarten angels and boisterous nightclubs all combine to make a vivid portrait of the holidays.

Carol of the Bells

March 2022 •Ukrainian

Immortalised as one of the most scintillating and uplifting Christmas songs, 'Carol of the Bells' adapted from a popular and loved Ukrainian folk melody, came to represent the spirit of brotherhood and unity all over the world. The peaceful and neighbourly existence of three families, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish, sharing a large house, musical evenings and merriment in the city of Stanislaviv in the years preceding and post war, is shattered. First in the Soviet occupation and the persecution of the Polish family, then, by the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and the decimation of the Jewish family. Sacrificing their lives the Ukrainian family manage to save their neighbours' children and their own daughter. Death and loss come to these families, but the healing power and joy , and a promise that the Future Will Not be Cancelled which "Carol of the Bells' evokes will be everlasting.

Vinšujem Vám tieto sviatky

January 1982 •Slovak

Dancing the Nutcracker: Inside the Royal Ballet

January 2016 •English

This Christmas, step into the magical world of The Nutcracker. For the first time in many years, the Royal Ballet has given full access behind the scenes for a landmark 90-minute documentary as they prepare for this season's yuletide production.

Bunk #7

August 2022 •English

Documentary about the production of Bunk #7.

A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley

December 2019 •English

Recreating festivities from Henry VIII's era, Lucy Worsley dresses, eats, drinks, sings and parties like it is 500 years ago - discovering long-lost traditions as well as familiar customs.

The Lion in Winter

August 1968 •English

Henry II and his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, battle over the choice of an heir.

Mary

December 2024 •English

A miraculous conception. A merciless king. A murderous pursuit. Mary's journey to give birth to Jesus unfolds in this biblical coming-of-age epic.

Spencer

November 2021 •English

During her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.

...a na Zemi pokoj ľudu

January 1992 •Slovak

Dobrá novina, šťastná hodina...

January 1990 •Slovak

Women in the Shadows

January 1991 •English

Filmed on location in Saskatchewan from the Qu'Appelle Valley to Hudson Bay, the documentary traces the filmmaker's quest for her Native foremothers in spite of the reluctance to speak about Native roots on the part of her relatives. The film articulates Métis women's experience with racism in both current and historical context, and examines the forces that pushed them into the shadows.

Kainai

January 1973 •English

On the Kainai (Blood) First Nations Reserve, near Cardston, Alberta, a hopeful new development in Indigenous enterprise. Once rulers of the western plains, the Bloods live on a 1 300-square-kilometer reserve. Many have lacked gainful employment and now pin their hopes on a pre-fab factory they have built. Will the production line and work and wages fit into their cultural pattern of life? The film shows how it is working and what the owners themselves say about their venture.