What Lies Upstream

Tar Creek

August 2009 •English

Tar Creek is an environmentally devastated area in northeastern Oklahoma with acidic creeks, stratospheric lead poisoning and enormous sinkholes. Nearly 30 years after being designated as a Superfund cleanup program, residents are still struggling.

Anticosti: La chasse au pétrole extrême

May 2014 •French

Dounreay: The Atomic Dream

May 2006 •English

Documentary telling the story of the rise and fall of a daring experiment into atomic energy as the history of the Dounreay fast reactor is charted by the pioneers involved.

Is the Crown at war with us?

September 2003 •English

In the summer of 2000, federal fishery officers appeared to wage war on the Mi'gmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Why would officials of the Canadian government attack citizens for exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court in the land? Alanis Obomsawin casts her nets into history to provide a context for the events on Miramichi Bay.

Watershed: Exploring a New Water Ethic for the New West

March 2012 •English

As the most dammed, dibbed, and diverted river in the world struggles to support thirty million people and the peace-keeping agreement known as the Colorado River Pact reaches its limits, WATERSHED introduces hope. Can we meet the needs of a growing population in the face of rising temperatures and lower rainfall in an already arid land? Can we find harmony amongst the competing interests of cities, agriculture, industry, recreation, wildlife, and indigenous communities with rights to the water? Sweeping through seven U.S. and two Mexican states, the Colorado River is a lifeline to expanding populations and booming urban centers that demand water for drinking, sanitation and energy generation. And with 70% of the rivers’ water supporting agriculture, the river already runs dry before it reaches its natural end at the Gulf of California. Unless action is taken, the river will continue its retreat – a potentially catastrophic scenario for the millions who depend on it.

SEED: The Untold Story

September 2016 •English

A film about the importance of heirloom seeds to the agriculture of the world, focusing on seed keepers and activists from around the world.

Amazonia, an Encounter with the Guardians of the Rainforest

April 2024 •French

With a hybrid style blending political essay and road movie, this documentary by Santiago Bertolino takes us into the heart of the Amazonian reality. Following Marie-Josée Béliveau, an ecologist and ethnogeographer, they journey together along the 4000 km from the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil to one of its sources in Ecuador where they meet with the guardians of the forest. As a result, we witness powerful and spontaneous testimonies from local communities who are doing everything to preserve what remains of their lands, which are disappearing due to the inexorable advance of Western modernity.

Orphaned

October 2021 •English

Through the eyes of ex-engineer, now filmmaker Gillian McKercher, Orphaned explores the huge task of cleaning up thousands of idle oil and gas wells in the prairies before it's too late.

Son of Torum

February 1989 •Estonian

In the same vein as Meri's other documentations, this one takes advantage of the glasnost policy to discuss the social and ecologic impact of the Russian oil industry on the natives and the lands they inhabit.

Of Fish and Foe

April 2018 •English

The Pullars are the last family using traditional methods to fish for wild Atlantic salmon off the coast of Scotland. When these include killing seals, the salmon’s natural predators, conflict erupts. Animal activist groups Sea Shepherd and Hunt Saboteurs oppose the Pullars at every turn, despite the legality of the fishermen’s actions and the consequences to their livelihood. Challenging preconceptions, this ambiguous doc puts modern environmentalism under the microscope.

The Great Fog of 1952

March 2023 •English

In the 1950s, a devastating fog descended on London and enveloped the capital for several days, leaving Londoners lost in their own streets in one of the UK's biggest peacetime catastrophes.

Specters of Watch Oak

April 2023 •English

Mariners Marsh, Bloomfield, Watchogue, Old Place. History, mythology, nature, anthropogenic industry, and digitally-demarcated landscape collide in the salt meadows and brownfield beaches of northwestern Staten Island. A human-haunted nature film. All stories are ghost stories. Narration drawn from the writings of Staten Island's preeminent historian, naturalist, and mythographer William T. Davis (1862 - 1945).

Koyaanisqatsi

April 1983 •English

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

Asbestos

April 2024 •French

A cinematic and introspective look at the residents of a Quebec town—once the site of the world's largest asbestos mine—as they grapple with their community's industrial past. Striving to honour their heritage while reconciling with their history and forging a new path forward, the miners delve into the intricacies of progress and healing.

Eating Up Easter

August 2019 •English

The Rapanui community on Easter Island fights to prevent an environmental collapse due to overwhelming tourism and industrial progress, and and to preserve their cultural traditions.

The Family of the Forest

Invalid date •French

In the heart of the Boreal forest lives a family renowned as much for their gourmet forest pickings as for their life of self-sufficiency.

The Life and Legend of Jane Goodall

January 1990 •English

Born in London in 1934, Jane Goodall spent decades in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park, studying the social and family structures of chimpanzees and helping to bring their ecological vulnerability into the public consciousness. She also founded and remains integral to the Jane Goodall Institute, which encourages environmental activism and stewardship among young people. In this program, the famous scientist reflects on her many years spent observing and learning about our primate cousins.

Forgotten Tragedy: The Story of the St. Francis Dam

November 2018 •English

The largest man-made disaster of the 20th century, now largely lost to history. A journey through the early history of Los Angeles and the city's water needs. Ever-growing demand led to larger and larger projects, and eventually to tragedy. The history of the tragedy, the role of William Mulholland in the disaster and the city's water development, and how the lessons of the tragedy reflect on our current infrastructure needs today.

Chernobyl's Café

September 2016 •English

Three decades on from the disaster, Chernobyl shows signs of life again.

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

January 2004 •English

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge...