A Place

With somatic knowledge, Naima Ramos-Chapman sculpts a kinetic monument on the same rooftop in the name of healing and freedom-- where they were arrested at gunpoint as a teen in 2005. Filmed during the pandemic and in the midst of the BLM movement, they intend to liberate their own body through the process of rupturing memory with collective recall and dreaming in response to the state violence and the only virus that has truly plagued their family for generations: white supremacy. May this be a balm.

A Place Like This is a biographical short film about a man, his garden and the experiences that define us. On the 20th of February 1945, RAAF pilot Alex Jenkins and his Lancaster bomber crew of six set out on a night raid over the German city of Dortmund. 67 years later and framed by the garden paradise that he has created, Alex recalls the events of that fateful night and shares a truly extraordinary story of luck and survival.

A photographer tries to harmoniously combine a small child with symbols of state violence in one photo.

In a time when community is harder and harder to find, Sierra makes meaningful connections to the earth and with the people around her.

A Chicago couple pushes through the trials and tribulations of opening a business in the middle of a pandemic in a portrait of a Filipino restaurant finding its roots during a turbulent time.

A film about how the local population of Tanzania has been evicted to make way for the creation of the world’s most famous nature reserves. Set in the famous Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater, the film explores how the parks came to be and how western perceptions about nature radically altered both the East African landscape and society. The film focuses on the people who "shouldn't be there", not only because their voices are rarely heard but also because they are still being antagonised and excluded, while the tourist industry is rapidly depleting the area's natural resources.

An essay film by Alex Denison

Local, organic, and sustainable are words we associate with food production today, but 40 years ago, when Fran and Tony McQuail started farming in Southwestern Ontario, they were barely spoken. Since 1973, the McQuails have been helping to build the organic farming community and support the next generation of organic farmers. This is a documentary about the McQuails that explores the very real ways their farm has contributed to the long term ecological viability of agriculture in Ontario. It is a call to action for all those who believe there is a better way to take care of our planet and feed the world.

Setting up her typewriter on streets across the country, 21-year-old Abi Mott taps out poetry that captures people’s lives with stunning clarity. In “A Place of Truth,” director Barrett Rudich creates an intriguing portrait of a millennial woman bringing her charm, intuition and courage to the daunting task of being a busking poet.

From director Bill Brown (who also narrates) comes four short documentary time capsules -- Confederation Park, Buffalo Common, Mountain State and Roswell -- that capture the subtle shifts taking place across the North American continent. Traversing Canada, North Dakota, West Virginia and New Mexico, Brown's experimental films take audiences on road trips spanning the back roads of forgotten locales.

On 22 July 2011, a bomb attack in the centre of Oslo and a shooting spree on the island Utoya took the lives of 77 people. It was the senseless, brutal act of one man: Anders Breivik. WRONG TIME WRONG PLACE tells the story of 5 individuals who were present then and shows the role of coincidence in this tragedy. A sequence of small, trivial happenings marks the thin line between life and death. Two minutes earlier or later can be of decisive importance. WRONG TIME WRONG PLACE is a film about the bargain with fate. However much one tries to influence fate, in the end coincidence calls the shots.

Henry, an accomplished film director loses sight of what's essential in life and decides to revisit his humble roots.

Mel and Mac are looking for an asteroid to show as a science project. It's hard to do science when they are fighting all the time as (younger) brother and (older) sister. When they are walking through the woods, they see something, but it doesn't turn out to be a rock or meteor. Mel sees footprints and pretty soon, they are taken to a strange and socially awkward grown man. Mel and Mac must work together to do the difficult task of keeping Moses away from trouble, as they try and get Moses to where he came from - something that is more difficult than they thought as he turns out to be from far, far away.

Inner city squalor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the subject of this documentary, which focuses on a child returning from school to his home, a cramped and squalid apartment in a rat-infested slum neighborhood.

An angry young professional discovers she is dying, and sets out on a journey of self-discovery. Tough, ill-tempered hard-working type Momo Cadenza believes in work, money and what is proven by her eyes. When Momo discovers she is dying, her simple, obstinate world is shattered. She drunkenly laments her desperate situation, stumbling into the Drinking Man who offers a chance at survival via the ‘Grace of God.’

With a photojournalist's eye, director Craig Chivers focuses his lens on the day-to-day struggles encountered by Kay Rice, her partner Karl and six children, whose goal is to break the generational cycle of poverty. Shot in an intimate, cinéma vérité style, No Place Called Home follows the family as they move from town to town in search of affordable housing. "I know we're poor, but it's what we are, not who we are," says Kay, as she tries to make a fresh start by fixing up a rundown rental home. Unable to find steady work, the Rices rely on food banks and help from a local charity to make ends meet. When things turn sour with the landlord, Kay fears his veiled threats may mean losing her children and decides to take him to court. In capturing the stark realism of a life with few options, No Place Called Home puts a modern face on what it means to be poor in Canada.

The award-winning 1973 documentary looks at the situation in Northern Ireland as it affects the Catholic community of Ardoyne. Includes interviews with leading figures in the community including social workers, released internees, a parish priest and a Provisional IRA Battalion Commander.

A work of timely urgency, director Michelle Grace Steinberg’s “A Place to Breathe” toggles between immigrant and refugee communities in two cities — Lowell, Mass., and Oakland, Calif. — to illustrate their varied struggles to assimilate, preserve cultural identity, and, most prominently, heal from the traumas that sent them to the U.S., all assisted by determined healthcare and social workers.

Various shots taken inside and outside a house.