Watch Absolutely Canadian independent documentaries from Quebec
Locally produced films available on CBC Gem and CBC Television
Absolutely Canadian is a national weekly series showcasing documentaries and performance programs that tell unique stories from communities across Canada. This year's edition premiered July 10 on CBC Television and runs until October 2nd.
Exploring an array of topics from being Black in Montreal to exploring the power of music during a pandemic, to two Quebec artists of Icelandic descent travelling to their ancestral home, our Absolutely Canadian series includes programs reflecting Quebec for all audiences.
Here is the list of the 2021 features as well as their air dates. Episodes will be uploaded to CBC Gem the day before. You can see all previous seasons of the Absolutely Canadian series here.
Sisters: Dream and Variations
This award-winning animated documentary follows Tyr and Jasa, two Montreal artists of Icelandic descent to their ancestral home along a journey of creation and self-discovery.
Sisters: Dream and Variations aired on CBC Television on July 10. Watch it on CBC Gem here.
The Relay: Revisiting History
Filmmaker Kimberly Surin unpacks the hurdles her father Bruny faced with his Relay 4x100M teammates ahead of their Olympic Gold win in Atlanta 25 years ago.
Watch it on CBC Gem here.
Being Black in Montreal
This is a series of 5 short films Created through the Fabienne Colas Foundation's Being Black in Canada Incubator Program. Film descriptions below.
Being Black in Montreal aired on CBC Television on Sept. 10. Watch it on CBC Gem here.
Because of You:
We follow Boris as he does a lot of the daily things he loves doing, homework, helping his family and, most importantly, playing football. His family speaks about his journey to success.
Fight of the Century:
An exploration of a black boxer's life in a tumultuous year, as he reflects on his career to reveal how he feels about the current state of racial violence and how he intends to handle the challenge ahead.
Patri A:
Dee is a 2nd generation Haitian-Canadian living in Montreal. For the past four years, she's been able to connect with her
mother back home through the Haitian food and festivals sprinkled around the city. Her involvement with Montreal's Haitian community, however, has been superficial for the most part. In an effort to understand her place within the city and what's kept her from connecting with her community, she tries to find answers in the story of her mother's immigration to Quebec in the spring of 1983.
Sense of Space:
Theo Abellard and Modibo Keita are musicians from Montreal who have formed their own concert series and music venue. Their personal experiences in the music scene and within music institutions has led them to forming musical spaces for those of their community, taking the future of Montreal's music scene in their hands.
Wounded:
Wounded focuses on the subject of hyper-sexualization, which is under the umbrella of adultification bias. Where children of minority groups, such as black girls are treated as being more mature than they actually are by the social standard of development. The film explores the past and present stories of three young black women as they tackle the erasure of their childhoods.
Qanuilirpitaa? How Are We Now?
Filmed aboard the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen, which has been converted into a floating clinic as part of the largest health survey ever conducted on Nunavik Inuit. We follow Lydia Audlaluk, a young Montreal resident from Ivujivik in Nunavik's Northwest cape, the main interviewer and intake specialist for the survey. As she greets her extended family and neighbouring communities, we feel the tension between the appeal of traditional life in the North and her return to Montreal where she is building a professional life.
Although the health survey expedition is at the behest of Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, encounters between the ship's 40 crew members and the 2000 Inuit participants are fraught. Health data collection in the region is key to improving programs and services, the dearth of which have resulted in an epidemic crisis, which Lydia comes to learn has tragically reached into her own family.
Qanuilirpitaa? How Are We Now? aired on CBC Television on September 18. Watch it on CBC Gem here.
Just as I am
This film follows the Montreal Shira Choir, an inclusive group of singers with developmental disabilities dedicated to celebrating the power of music. We follow Cantor Benlolo, whose ultimate goal is to unite people of all ages and abilities, as he maneuvers ways to achieve this despite the pandemic.
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This touching documentary shows how singing gives community to people with intellectual disabilities
Just as I am aired on CBC Television on Sept. 25. Watch it on CBC Gem here.
October 2 at 7 p.m. - Beyond Bollywood
Montreal-based Filmmaker Rahila Bootwala left India as a young woman, wanting to work in film but feeling disconnected from an industry dominated by men and beholden to their fantasies. In Beyond Bollywood, Rahila goes back to confront her past and to meet with the women who are reshaping the industry and challenging its stereotypes.