Las Peregrinas is a powerful, human and moving film experience. What is lacking spiritually, emotionally, and physically from the apparently secure and comfortable lives of modern North American women that compels them to voluntarily choose to suffer both the joys and anguish of walking hundreds of kilometers on a medieval pilgrimage route?  This documentary is about 5 women who walk for 12 days on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. Each on their own inner journey of self-discovery, we are privy to their personal challenges and rewards.

This film follows the creative process of sculptor Monika Kaden, as she creates a life-size bronze sculpture of Pope John XXIII at the Shidoni Foundry in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Monika escaped from behind the iron curtain in Germany in 1988 to seek artistic freedom.

Girl finds a way to give freely to the world via a green bike and some rusty old keys.

Jazz Funeral for Democracy: A Wake for Peace took place January 20, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Thousands of concerned citizens, war veterans and persons of peace from all walks of life joined hands, protesting the inauguration of George W. Bush.

This documentary records a traditional New Orleans Jazz Funeral, mourning the death of America…

Made possible with support from VisionTV

Mississippi Forgotten is a moody and awakening piece dealing with the issues and emotions that Mississippi Gulf Coast residents are still struggling with many months after Hurricane Katrina, which finally gives the citizens of Mississippi a chance to speak their concerns and needs that many will never get to express.

“We still haven’t seen FEMA” and “All we heard on the news was New Orleans, New Orleans, New Orleans…” these are the voices that have been ignored and forgotten until now.

Made possible with support from VisionTV

Long Haul Big Hearts
Canadian Premiere
Dir. Doug Raby
Short or Long Form Documentary Category
Ajax, ON, Canada

A Canadian trucker and his blind dog set out in an 18-wheeler on a relief mission to the Katrina-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast, to do what the government says 'can't be done'.

In addition to getting one determined truck driver's views on life, it's a story about everyday people trying to make a difference in the aftermath of the humbling force of Hurricane Katrina.

*Codes Pro Media ReelHeART Nominee*

Long Haul Big Hearts is Sponsored by VisionTV

'Pursuit of Honor' chronicles the evolution of the real George Washington into the man capable of successfully leading the revolution that produced the United States.  It examines his quest for honor, his personal relationships, and the internal struggle to accept a most difficult destiny at the risk of his home, family, and life.

Set in rural America, a father discovers his young daughter dead of fever and makes the decision to bury her secretly, without informing his wife...

A narrative depiction of the Singer/Songwriter drowned by her own fervour for life

Based on a true story,this account of the grim and ironic death by freezing of a man trapped inside a refrigerated meat wagon, told using a combination of archival and imagined material to speculate on the man's final hours.
 

This is the story of a few hundred people who took arrangements to have their bodies frozen after death. The process is scientifically called “cryonic suspension”. Their dead bodies will be preserved, until the magic science of the future is able to bring them back to life. The last crazy idea of some eccentric multimillionaire? Not really, since the majority of the people we are talking about are teachers, computer programmers, workers and old-age pensioners.

*Codes Pro Media ReelHeART Nominee*

Make It Funky!
Special Invite
Canadian Premiere
Dir. Michael Murphy
Dance or Music Related Category
Los Angeles, CA, U S A

MakeIt Funky! is the story of New Orleans, and the people who composed songs that changed the world of music and influenced the course of Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll.

Father and son short (collaborative) experimental video work.

Marvin Zigglebaum wakes one morning to find that he is being evicted from his house.  In his destitute state, the old man decides to risk what little he has left at the local racetrack and on a horse with whom he shares a cosmic connection.  Accompanied by his only living friend, Marvin sets out in hopes of a quick fix and finds that things are not always what they seem to be.

AFTER THE FALL documents two American journalists’ trip to (and subsequent expulsion from) Vietnam for the 30th Anniversary of the fall of Saigon.  Sharing a common interest in the country that profoundly impacted their families, Tom Bissell—the son of a US Marines Captain who fought in the war—and Morgan Meis—the son of a draft dodger who moved to Canada during the war— return to Vietnam to explore the cultural, political and personal implications of the war and its aftermath.

This film is supported by Cinema Obscura DVD

"Amy Trentham dreams of one thing; her young husband returning home from the war. When that happens, everything will be perfect."

In Times of War
Canadian Premiere
Dir. Mark C. Bonn
Dir. Christine Bonn
Hermosa Beach, CA, USA

Shot down behind enemy lines during World War II, Ray Parker survived the parachute fall only to be captured by the enemy and taken to a prison camp deep in German territory. He spent the next 14 months secretly editing the underground newspaper for the 9,000 allied prisoners interned there. Using information received via a hidden radio, his paper spread hope through reports of the D-Day invasion and the Allies march on Germany until he was caught by his captors only one month before the war ended.

*Codes Pro Media ReelHeART Nominee*

Chin Music
Canadian Premiere
Dir. Mark Hood
Short or Long Form Documentary Category
Cincinnati, OH, U S A

Hans Dam is a relentless hunter for the spectacular. He demonstrates that life does not have to slow down with age.