The White Gold of Greenland

In a dark, ambiguous environment, minuscule particles drift slowly before the lens. The image focuses to reveal spruce trees and tall pines, while Innu voices tell us the story of this territory, this flooded forest. Muffled percussive sounds gradually become louder, suggesting the presence of a hydroelectric dam. The submerged trees gradually transform into firebrands as whispers bring back the stories of this forest.

From both local and global perspectives, this documentary examines the harsh realities behind the mounting water crisis. Learn how politics, pollution and human rights are intertwined in this important issue that affects every being on Earth. With water drying up around the world and the future of human lives at stake, the film urges a call to arms before more of our most precious natural resource evaporates.

Structured as a labyrinth-like game and inspired by Jorge Luis Borges, Aleph is a travelogue of experience, a dreamer's journey through the lives, experiences, stories and musings of protagonists spanning ten countries and five continents.

From a historic genocide trial to the overthrow of a president, the sweeping story of mounting resistance played out in Guatemala’s recent history is told through the actions and perspectives of the majority indigenous Mayan population, who now stand poised to reimagine their society.

Le sable - Enquête sur une disparition

1965, Bob Denard, even early in his career, Battle in Congo. It strives to make its game in the middle of a bloody civil war fueled by rivalry and ambition postcolonial of a newcomer on the African scene: General Mobutu.

The ocean contains the history of all humanity. The sea holds all the voices of the earth and those that come from outer space. Water receives impetus from the stars and transmits it to living creatures. Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor. Chile, with its 2,670 miles of coastline and the largest archipelago in the world, presents a supernatural landscape. In it are volcanoes, mountains and glaciers. In it are the voices of the Patagonian Indigenous people, the first English sailors and also those of its political prisoners. Some say that water has memory. This film shows that it also has a voice.

Greenland

A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.

Puerto Rico, the last relic of colonization in the western hemisphere, has been a dependent territory of the USA since 1917. Los Macheteros and one of its leaders Juan Segarra have been fighting for its full independence for many decades.

How in 1959, during the heat of the Cold War, the government of the United States decided to create a secret military base located in the far north of Greenland: Camp Century, almost a real town with roads and houses, a nuclear plant to provide power and silos to house missiles aimed at the Soviet Union.

The world's largest island has been part of Denmark since 1721, but a significant majority of the 56.000 inhabitants now want independence. They feel their culture and language is threatened and is the main reason for the many suicides among young people. But the Danish speaking Greenlanders feel discriminated and want to keep the ties to Denmark. The film follows four strong young Greenlanders, who each in their own way insist on taking responsibility for the future of their country. The documentary explores the difficult balance between the right to self-determination and xenophobic nationalism. Between traditional culture and globalization.

“Those Who Come, Will Hear” proposes a unique meeting with the speakers of several indigenous and inuit languages of Quebec – all threatened with extinction. The film starts with the discovery of these unsung tongues through listening to the daily life of those who still speak them today. Buttressed by an exploration and creation of archives, the film allows us to better understand the musicality of these languages and reveals the cultural and human importance of these venerable oral traditions by nourishing a collective reflection on the consequences of their disappearance.

The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.

In this searing documentary, Indigenous people share heartbreaking stories that reveal the injustices inflicted by the Canadian child welfare system.

Greenland is the largest island in the world and the landmass closest to the North Pole. 80% of the country is covered by a layer of ice up to 3000 meters thick. Through the eyes of locals we get to know the authentic Greenland.

The conflict over forestry operations on Lyell Island in 1985 was a major milestone in the history of the re-emergence of the Haida Nation. It was a turning point for the Haida and management of their natural resources.

This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank's Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.

The relationship between Greenland and Denmark is full of fantasy and myths. And these are exactly what Danish artist Lasse Lau reflects upon – and in turn documents – in his first feature-length film. But how do you give a form to the Greenlandic experience when you are an outsider yourself? Lau has created a sensitive film about authenticity and recreation by letting both elements become a part of the work, together with his performers. But also by watching and listening intently. The colonial history is entrenched in both Greenland's infinitely beautiful landscapes and in the collective consciousness. But so is the willingness to break with it and look ahead with a new political self-awareness. 'Lykkelænder' is the result of a long-term research project, but talks about its extremely complex topics in a way that grounds the postcolonial perspective in a recognisable life experience. It does so with both a sense of humour and with emphasis.

Atikamekw elder Cézar Néwashish continues to recount the history of the community of Manawan that first began in The History of Manawan: Part One. As Christianity and European customs take deeper root in the community – abetted by residential schools and aggressive assimilationist government policies – seemingly irreversible changes to significant customs begin to unfold. Despite these struggles, the people carry on. This short is part of the Manawan series directed by Alanis Obomsawin.