Films with: Martin, Kent

Buried at sea

"Hundreds of thousands of tones of highly toxic materials lie scattered on ocean floors - in barrels that are rusting away and releasing their lethal contents. The results could make Chernobyl look like a child's chemistry experiment gone awry. While we worry about weapons of mass destruction in the hands of rogue states, the West's legacy may prove far more dangerous. During the Second World War, Canada produced more chemical weapons than any other of the Allies. After the war, and during the Cold War era, massive weapons stockpiles were simply dumped into the ocean by the United States, Britain, Canada, the Soviet Union and Germany. They were considered buried and done with. Problem solved - forever. In many cases, nobody ever bothered to mark their locations. Information about known dumps was either mishandled or suppressed. This documentary takes us on a journey to discover some of the most dangerous dump sites. The oceans are vast and unknown; it took almost 90 years to find the wreck of the Titanic. Finding weapons lying underwater will prove infinitely harder - and far more urgent, since the health of marine species and coastal communities is at risk. Buried at Sea takes us on that search." -- website,

DVD 5169

Flooding Job's garden

The James Bay Cree of northern Quebec were promised that they would benefit from the large hydro projects on their land, but they face loosing their economic independence and lifestyle.

DVD 8347

Reading Alistair MacLeod

"Alistair MacLeod is the unassuming subject of this documentary. Long admired for the brilliant craft of his short stories, MacLeod was suddenly catapulted into the international pantheon of modern writers with the publication in 1999 of his novel, No Great Mischief, winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. As this film makes clear, although No Great Mischief made MacLeod famous and brought his formidable talent to the world, the man himself has remained remarkably unchanged. Grounding his life and fuelling the themes of his work is the stunningly dramatic landscape of Cape Breton Island and the close community of his extended family. Whether surrounded by his beloved books in his university office, talking with his publisher, sporting a kilt, or reminiscing with his wife, MacLeod is fully at home in the world. This is especially obvious when he retreats to the little house along the coastal headland of Cape Breton where he writes his fiction. It is easy to see where his words come from after witnessing his deep attachment to people and place. In particular, MacLeod's roots in the history of Scottish struggle and in the rich Celtic legacy of Cape Breton inform his writings, as well as his wry humour. The filmmakers visit several famous writers who admire MacLeod's work, including Margaret Atwood, David Adams Richards, Russell Banks, Colm Toibin and Wayne Johnston. All praise him highly and have their own amusing stories." NFB website.

DVD 5754

Strangest dream

"The Strangest Dream tells the story of Joseph Rotblat, the history of nuclear weapons, and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs--an international movement Rotblat co-founded--to halt nuclear proliferation. The story takes us from the site of the first nuclear test, in New Mexico, to Cairo, where contemporary Pugwash scientists meet under the cloud of nuclear proliferation, and to Hiroshima, to meet survivors of the first atomic attack."--Container.

DVD 6621

White thunder [the story of Varick Frissell and the Viking disaster] /

With backing from Hollywood's Paramount Pictures, New York filmmaker Varick Frissell set out to make the early sound feature The Viking, a record of Newfoundland's perilous seal hunt. This film tells the story, integrating footage from The Viking as well as Frissell's earlier documentaries.

DVD 4306