Skip to Main Content

KDocs Film Festival

KDocsFF Documentaries 2023 - Selected Library Resources

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

  • Cyberhate with Tara Moss - Tara Moss, tours the darkest corners of the web to uncover the cyber violence that's impacting so many people today.
  • The Culture of Complicity - examines how mainstream cultural norms in music, advertisement, publications, gaming, and pornography have created an overtly sexualized and objectified image of women that has impacted social norms and the behavior of men and women.
  • Stalking Amanda Todd : The Man in the Shadows - reveals the never before told story of Amanda Todd's accused online stalker, the global police hunt for him and troubling questions about why the suspect wasn’t stopped before Amanda took her own life.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

  • Honour of the Crown - Featuring interviews with tribal, provincial and federal government representatives, this documentary provides a rare glimpse into one community's success in settling a one-hundred-year-old treaty obligation of the Crown. 
  • Peace River Rising - Helen Knott, a Dane-Zaa/Nehiyaw social worker, poet and activist, explores the connection between violence against Indigenous women and violence against the land.
  • Pipeline Protests : Resource Development Challenges Indigenous Rights in B.C. -  In early 2020, Coastal GasLink started work on a 670-kilometre, multi-billion dollar pipeline project designed to move natural gas from the B.C Interior to the West Coast. That pipeline goes through the traditional territory of the Wet'suwet'en people. The company claimed it had authority from both the province and 20 First Nations band councils, including five Wet'suwet'en Nation band councils. Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, however, say they are the decision makers on natural resources on their lands and were not consulted.

  • The Price of Power -  5-part series; In the 1960s in northern Manitoba, hydroelectric power promised prosperity for all, but in the shadow of the dams, there was another more painful reality: an environmental wasteland, Indigenous rights cast aside, political scandal and multi-billion dollar debt.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Certain Death : A Mexican Journalist Fights Deportation - When Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez Soto fled his home country with his son back in 2008 he thought his ordeal was over. Now, a decade later, he is being threatened with deportation back to Mexico, which he believes would mean certain death.

The Murder and the Money Trail - From one murder in Mexico, the film follows the money trail to secret accounts in Switzerland, and into the underworld of Mexican money laundering.

The World's Most Wanted - Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'el Chapo' Guzman is almost certainly the wealthiest and most powerful criminal in history

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Amazon Rainforest Risks - The Amazon rainforest is reaching the tipping point and with global warming, it could soon be in a deep state of crisis.

Amazon, the Final Frontier - The countdown has begun in the Brazilian rain forest: on one side, the Indians and traditional forest-dwellers who hope they can make their livelihood out of living trees, not dead ones. And, facing them, the people and companies who continue to see the Amazon as a source of endless—but clearly finite—wealth.

The Battle for the Amazon : The Xingu vs. the Belo Monte Dam -  In the face of this danger, the Xingu, the indigenous people of the region and hereditary guardians of the forest, have decided to stand their ground and fight.

The Real Avatar - Under the shadow of the Cordillera del Condor mountains, and near where the mighty Amazon river begins, live the Awajun and Wampis peoples, a proud warrior nation never conquered by the Incas or the Spanish.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

  • Kímmapiiyipitssini : The Meaning of Empathy - an intimate portrait of survival, love and the collective work of healing in the Kainai First Nation in Southern Alberta, a Blackfoot community facing the impacts of substance use and a drug-poisoning epidemic.
  • Saving Rabbit - Saving Rabbit is an intimate journey into the opioid crisis through the eyes of Peter, a.k.a. "Rabbit," a 26-year-old addicted to opioids who is navigating the difficult path toward recovery.
  • Topics : Street Nurses For Change - What happens when advocating for best health-care practices is politically inconvenient?
  • Unstoppable: The Fentanyl Epidemic - A new wave of synthetic drugs is set to flood into Canada, the first version having already killed thousands of Canadians.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Dirty Fuel - Clean Energy : The Choice Is Now - This film is a direct appeal to all officials – to carefully consider the growing evidence proving that hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas is hardly the path to energy independence that many promote.

The Ethics of Fracking - A look at the ethics of the natural gas extraction process known as “fracking.” The film covers political, spiritual, scientific, medical, and professional points of views of hydraulic fracturing. It also takes a look at the deceiving advertising the gas industry heavily relies on.

Gasland -  Filmmaker Josh Fox learned his land was on top of the Marcellus Shale, a giant reservoir of natural gas, and that he would be paid to lease his land for natural gas extraction.What he unearthed was a shocking discovery about a practice that is understudied and inadequately regulated, and raced to find answers about fracking before it was too late.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

  • Defying Putin - In Defying Putin, you’ll meet remarkable characters who are fighting for change. Unprecedented access to the courtrooms and election campaign rooms give you a behind the scenes glimpse of a Russia you’ve never seen before.
  • Enemies of the State : Silencing Dissent in Russia - Russia is in the throes of an old-fashioned crackdown on suspected enemies of the state. The secret police are spying on their own and accusing them of being traitors.
  • Putin's Way -  Offers key players' accounts portraying a Russian leader who began by professing hope and democracy but now is stoking nationalism, conflict, authoritarianism, and a complicated relationship with the West.
  • Should We Isolate Russia? A Debate about imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia after Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Colonization Road - Anishinaabe comedian and activist Ryan McMahon takes us to his hometown of Fort Frances and down its main drag, which is called Colonization Road. Similar streets have similar names in towns and cities across the province, direct reminders of the Public Lands Act of 1853 and its severe impact on First Nations, their treaties and their land in the name of "Canadian settlement."

The Secret Path - This powerful animated film tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Ojibwa boy who died of exposure in 1966 while running away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario.

The Nitinaht Chronicles (3-part series) - This is a candid portrait of an Aboriginal community struggling to come to terms with a searing legacy of sexual abuse, incest and family violence. Through their stories, they also reveal the continuing, devastating effects of the residential school system (which operated until the mid-1970s in BC).

REDx Talks : Truth, Reconciliation and the Future. -  Melina discusses colonization, truth, reconciliation and the future in a contemporary context. She is most familiar with the issue of resource extraction and the continued exploitation of Indigenous lands.

Stolen Children - Stolen Children explores the impact of residential schools on former students and their children and grandchildren.

We Were Children - As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools. The trauma of this experience was made worse by years of untold physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Baguio, Philippines : Cordillera People Seek to Protect Sacred Land - This film joins Maryknoll Sister Ann Marie Braudis as she works with the Philippines' Cordillera people to defend land they regard as sacred against open-pit gold mining operations.

Dirty Gold War: Gold in The Amazon - Illegal and environmentally unsound mining practices in Brazil and Peru create social and environmental conflicts that reach beyond local areas, and we as consumers play a role.

From the Ashes - From the ashes captures Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be under the Trump administration.

Gold Fever - Goldcorp Inc. arrives in a remote village in Guatemala. Soon follows blown up mountains, despoiled water supplies and broken promises over jobs.

The New Conquistadors - Five hundred years later, there are some – particularly in the indigenous communities of Latin America – who are seeing this as new era of economic conquest, one with significant environmental and social consequences. This time, the new "conquerors" are Canadian mining companies.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

The Ocean in Peril - interweaves scientific concepts with firsthand accounts and fieldwork stories to examine the ecological crisis facing the world's oceans-and how we're altering temperature, salinity, acidity, ice cover, and the very life within them.

To the Orcas, with Love -  presents stories of personal connections with orcas and the natural world to inspire responsible action and stewardship of our planet.

Olympic - The Olympic Peninsula's rugged coastline, rainy forests and high summits team with wildlife, making it one of the most diverse parks in North America.

Can We Save The Reef? - This is the epic story of scientists who are racing to understand our greatest natural wonder, and employing bold new science in an attempt to save it.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Not Working : The Pulse of the Great Recession - travels the country from Orange County, California, to New York City to gather stories of people - hourly wage earners, salaried executives, and employees from every tax bracket in between - who have lost their jobs due to the recent economic downturn.

Toxic Labels: The Dark Side of Outsourcing - Western consumers are accustomed to buying low-cost garments, but in global terms there is a larger price to be paid-a price in human health, security, and dignity

Work-Life Balance: Success and Happiness in an Always-Connected World - Not so long ago, people used to go to school or work, then had the rest of the day to enjoy their personal lives. But in today's always-connected world, work life and home life are blending.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Dad and the Dandelions - A filmmaker tries to unlock the mystery behind his father's blood cancer, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Is there a connection to golf's manicured perfection?

David vs. Monsanto : Insights into Genetic Manipulation - Imagine that wind blows Monsanto's genetically manipulated seeds into your garden. Then this multinational corporation sues you for 00,000 for the illegal use of patented seeds. In a David-and-Goliath battle, farmer Percy Schmeiser challenges the firm's right to claim ownership of a living organism.

Eating Our Way to Extinction - Featuring shocking undercover footage and poignant first-hand accounts from indigenous people, this one-of-a-kind documentary will permanently change your perception of food and its connection to the future of our planet.

The Monsanto Papers - This program investigates the secret tactics used by global chemical giant Monsanto to protect its billion-dollar business and its star product, the weed killer, Roundup.

Toxic Chemical : Children In Danger - Is our dependence on pesticides harming the health of our children? Every day, children are exposed to up to 130 chemical pollutants from pesticides. This documentary reveals how some chemical corporations endanger the health of our children.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Coming of Age in the Anthropocene - In what kind of world can a child born in 2020 expect to grow up? When did our slide into planetwide environmental destruction begin? Enter the possible world that awaits a 2020 baby in her twenties?

The Edge of the Wild - a documentary about a 30-year land-use battle over privately owned property that is also home to endangered butterflies. The film takes place on San Bruno Mountain, a remarkably intact wilderness that is completely surrounded by urbanization and is just one mile south of San Francisco.

Murder on the Reef - follows the hotly debated issues surrounding the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef. But is it too late?

No Impact Man - Colin Beavan is a New York City writer and self-proclaimed liberal. He decides on a grand experiment: to live one year with as little impact on the environment as possible. The family embarks on a year of no electricity, television, cars, toilet paper, elevators, or newspapers

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

The Age of Slavery : (1800-1860) - This film illustrates how black lives changed dramatically in the aftermath of the American Revolution.

The Black Atlantic : (1500-1800) - Explores how the transatlantic slave trade became a vast empire connecting three continents.

Meeting David Wilson - This film documents the enduring legacy of slavery in today's young black society.

Traces of the Trade : A Story from the Deep North - Katrina Browne was shocked to discover that her distinguished Rhode Island forebears had been part of the largest slave-trading dynasty in American history.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

Free speech for sale: Bill Moyers special - When it comes to today's important public policy issues, the opportunity to be heard depends on whether you can afford it. What consequences does this control over the flow of information have for our democracy, and how can individuals and public interest organizations counter the growing dominance of big media?

Free Speech Under Attack - Is free speech under fire on Canadian university campuses? Some say it's being stifled in the name of political correctness and reject the idea that speech should be limited to protect people. Others say lines need to be drawn with hate speech.

Policing Is Racially Biased : A Debate - In 2014, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. This incident, along with similar ones in Cleveland, Chicago, and other cities in the months that followed, sparked a wave of protest nationwide targeting racial disparities in criminal justice and accusing the police of using excessive force against African Americans.

Policing the Police - A provocative journey inside one police force that's been ordered to reform by the Department

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

The Boxing Girls of Kabul - reveals a compelling journey of both personal and political transformation, and illustrates the power of fighting for what you believe in.

Individual differences: Gender, training, and physical performance in sport - Why are some able to perform tremendous physical tasks, while others cannot? More specifically, why are males able to perform in ways females cannot?

Veil of dreams: Women's soccer and Islamic tradition in Iran - Exploring a clash between sacred customs and contemporary athletic aspirations, this program follows an Iranian women's soccer team daring to push traditional limits and pursue victories both on and off the field.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos 

China Rises (4-part series) - In 25 years, China has achieved the most rapid economic advance in such a short time of any nation in history. How?

The Man who Defied Beijing - A film about Human rights hero and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo was a key figure of the Tiananmen uprising.

On China : People Power - China, a single-party state run from the very top, yet bubbling up from beneath, grassroots activism is pushing for much needed change.

Voices of dissent: Freedom of speech and human rights in China - Although China's government has pledged to revise its policies toward political dissidents, that promise remains largely unfulfilled. This program reveals egregious cases of political oppression occurring in recent years, countering the picture China painted of itself as it promoted the Beijing Olympics.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos

Breaking the Wall of the Museum : How Anthropology Investigates the Cultural Heritage of the Future - shows why diversity and global perspectives are essential for creating museums for the 21st century, and which artifacts of our times might shape how future generations will think about our present.

Brave Girls. - Filmed over 4 years, Brave Girls explores the urgent questions about the empowerment of women in the developing world from the perspective of the women living those questions and facing the consequences of answering them.

The Untouchables - This is a powerful documentary about one Dalit woman’s crusade against the atrocities to fellow human beings who are entrapped within their own caste.

TEDTalks, Deepa Narayan-7 Beliefs That Can Silence Women - In India (and many other countries), girls and women still find themselves silenced by traditional rules of politeness and restraint, says social scientist Deepa Narayan. In this frank talk, she identifies seven deeply entrenched norms that reinforce inequality -- and calls on men to help usher in change.

For additional items try the following searches in the Library Catalogue

Streaming Videos

645 Wellington - A stone's throw from downtown Montreal, quirky artists, blue-collar workers and unconventional families are being forced to leave their old neighbourhood as high-tech firms move inches Like in so many other cities, the tech companies arrive with the promise of a rosy future--but it's one built on demolitions, evictions and the conversion of low-rent property to high-priced condos.

Class Divide - Acclaimed filmmaker Marc Levin explores the effects of hyper-gentrification and rising economic disparity in the NYC neighborhood of West Chelsea

Remember Africville - Africville, a small black settlement, lay within the city limits of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the 1960s, the families who lived there were uprooted and their homes demolished in the name of urban renewal and integration.

The Vanishing City - As cities become more interconnected, and less dependent on localized economic models, domestic issues of increased class inequality and sustainability have emerged as central components to city planning debates.