Karibuni shows that the immigrants from French speaking black Africa can integrate harmoniously into the French speaking communities in western Canada. The documentary also shows the French speaking minorities in the west in urban and rural settings and the daily struggle that they have in order to survive as a culture within the English speaking majority. The French communities realize that they have to find ways to integrate the French speaking Africans as they have in the pass with other cultures in order to ensure survival of the language and their identity. The production also shows at the ground level difficulties and contradictions encountered by the French speaking immigrants from Africa and their dilemma in choosing to live in French or in English in western Canada.

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DVD Filumena

Disc 1 Filumena (original) / 1 hour 50 minutes
Disc 2 Filumena (original) with French Subtitles 1 heure 50 minutes
Bonus Disc The Making Of Filumena / The Crowsnest Pass

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Music for a New World a documentary journey into an intercultural musical work that is a reflection of the new kind of urban society found in Vancouver today. Twelve composers from the Vancouver World Music Collective challenge themselves to create a piece of music that combines cultures and musical styles from Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East and Canada and then play that piece of music in front of a live audience at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. At Bowen Island, a quiet out of the way place overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we meet the composers and begin to appreciate their cultural diversity. Each demonstrates a taste for adventure and the courage to examine and adapt their traditions to a new reality…but at what cost? Our documentary journey follows the composers as they combine musical styles, backgrounds and personalities to achieve a musical middle ground and we learn what it is about the Pacific coast city of Vancouver that inspires them.

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Hats Off! demonstrates that La Girandole is more than just the colourful costumes and swirling dance which delight its audiences, it is attitude. This energetic Franco-Albertan dance company has found a way of combining cultural heritage with cultural inclusiveness, creating three-dimensional multiculturalism while preserving French-Canadian language, music, dance, historical attire and traditions. Current members continue the celebration of our French heritage in western Canada, a region that is now predominantly English speaking. We follow Artistic Director Anita Rudichuk who comes from a dual background, French Canadian and Ukrainian. This young woman is passionately committed to maintaining the French culture in the West.

Sharing Visions traces Stewart Grant’s musical journey as he searches for, and finds, the aural equivalent of Sam Black’s visual art. The documentary culminates in a full orchestral performance of The Sam Black Sketches for an audience of young people in the superb acoustics of the Francis Winspear Centre for Music in Edmonton, Alberta. David Hoyt conducts the Edmonton Symphony in a feast for the senses as the art of Sam Black and the magic of television combine in an aural and visual homage to a prominent Canadian.

Music and the Mind This documentary shows us the universe of the opera singer Bernard Turgeon. Cancer survivor, this internationally renowned baritone has developed a high creativity and sensitivity level that goes right into the public’s heart. The audience feels completely integrated into the show. We find him on stage at the Chan Center where he portrays a key figure in Canadian history: Louis Riel. As a Métis, Bernard Turgeon transcends this character and brings him to life. For Bernard, Louis Riel is not only a script and lyrics; it is a human being that must be recreated in body and soul on stage. In parallel with his musical career, Bernard Turgeon has also established a program for elementary school teachers who do not necessarily come from the arts field. It’s a possibility for them to learn a new strategy that will bring them to teach their students a love of music and, who knows, perhaps these young students will become real performers.