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Technology and Society (28)
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Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired WorldAnn Shin 2002 47 minThis documentary presents a few individuals for whom the Internet has become a way to connect with like-minded souls in surprising ways: a cyber punk based on an anti-aircraft rig in the English Channel who operates a rogue Web server, a monk developing "wireless prayer technology," a "gamer" who re-creates himself in an online game, a retired couple living in an Internet-controlled seniors' complex and a divorcée who exchanges vows online with a man she's never met. -
The Age of InventionAlbert Kish 1984 10 minThis short film serves as a poem-on-film about the coming of the machine age on the eve of World War I. Images and sounds combine to recreate a bygone era of scratchy phonograph records, faded photographs, hand-cranked movie cameras, staccato Morse telegraph messages, and rhythmic steam pumps. Machines of every description were shaping peoples' lives and changing them more rapidly than at any other time in history.
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The Bronswik AffairRobert Awad & André Leduc 1978 23 minThis funny yet serious short film demonstrates the effectiveness of advertising and the marketing machine. Its comic appeal lies in the characters and the absurd situations they find themselves in, but it also shines a harsh light on our tendency towards needless consumerism prompted by a steady flow of commercials.
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Bombay CallingBen Addelman & Samir Mallal 2006 1 h 10 minThis feature documentary chronicles the lives of young call-centre workers in Bombay (Mumbai), India. The film profiles several characters who attempt to sell phone services to clients in the UK, showing both sides of globalization’s impact on India – the economic benefits as well as the break with tradition and loss of innocence. A compelling insider’s look at youth culture in India and the growing number of young people who choose to follow the American dream, Indian-style.
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Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our WastesJeff McKay 2003 52 minA hazardous mix of waste is flushed into the sewer every day. The billions of litres of water - combined with unknown quantities of chemicals, solvents, heavy metals, human waste and food - where does it all go? And what does it do to us? Filmed in Italy, India, Sweden, the United States and Canada, this bold documentary questions our fundamental attitudes to waste. Does our need to dispose of waste take precedence over public safety? What are the alternatives?
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The Challenge of ChangeJames Carney 1969 16 min"Today the rate of change and the areas of life molded by it are increasing astronomically ..." states the introduction to this film. Impressions of all that constitutes the environment of modern man are conveyed in the film in a kaleidoscope of movement and sound--a montage of pictures from the urban and industrial scene, reflecting the creativity and inventiveness of which people are capable but which in turn demand adaptation and adjustment if we are to survive.
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A Cow's TaleJohn Tanasiciuk 2006 5 minDoes technology make our lives easier?
Audrey works away at her computer and she encounters a problem. Nothing seems to help: neither a co-worker's advice, nor the user manual, nor the help line. Stuck on hold, Audrey dreams of how simple life must have been before the age of technology.
This animated tale, with a real animal soundtrack, makes for a funny and witty dig at how little we've really evolved. A film without words. -
FluxesArthur Lipsett 1968 23 minThis experimental short conveys avant-garde filmmaker Arthur Lipsett’s view of the human condition and the chaotic planet on which we live. As in his other films (Very Nice, Very Nice; 21-87), the flow of images in Fluxes seems somewhat disjointed and erratic -- yet it all builds up to a devastating indictment of the modern world. The film’s only commentary consists of unrelated snatches of words and sounds.
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Universe Within - New York CityKaterina Cizek 2015 2 minFor 22 years inside a federal prison, Alvin had no access to a computer or the internet. So when he was released last year, he had decades worth of digital learning to catch up on: google, email, facebook and twitter. And now, through facebook, he has found his long lost son.
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Henry Ford's AmericaDonald Brittain 1977 56 minThis feature documentary studies the automobile and its pervasive effect on the history of North America. Focusing on the Ford dynasty, from the original Henry car through to Henry II, the film demonstrates how society has adapted to fit the needs of the automobile.
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The Hasty Man Drinks His Tea with a ForkSylvie Groulx 2003 1 h 23 minA blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.
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My Tribe Is My Life - Heythem, The Reggae ManMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minReggae. Just reggae. Heythem, aka The Reggae Man, organizes at least 40 concerts a year.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Pierre-Luc, The Dark SoulMyriam Verreault 2011 5 minHe's a longtime metal fan who expresses his dark impulses online without worrying about how he offends. As a future language teacher, he's never at a loss for words.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
Monsieur PugJanet Perlman 2014 9 minWho is Monsieur Pug? Why, a dog with bad cholesterol and high blood pressure! And a dog who loves his pie and ice cream. Who relaxes by making origami. In other words, definitely not your ordinary pooch! For he’s also a paranoiac, convinced he’s the target in a vast conspiracy, and pretending to be a pet, the better to hide from his pursuers. Schizoid, perhaps? Hmm… but is Monsieur Pug even a real dog to begin with?
A delirious fable about a particular brand of modern madness—that brought on by the omnipresence of smartphones in our lives—Monsieur Pug is directed with verve by Janet Perlman, whose The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short in 1982.
Monsieur Pug is one strange film about the life of one strange dog! -
My Tribe Is My Life - Laurianne, Goth in the GaspéMyriam Verreault 2011 5 minLaurianne knew she was likely to shock people who live in her neck of the woods with the way she dresses. She also knows that there are idiots everywhere, including among goths.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities.s. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Patrick, The Solitary GothMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minPatrick comes alive at night, when he can interview other vampires.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Janis, The Colourful DJMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minA bank counselor by day, Janis goes for electro music and neon colours by night.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Jimmy, The Abitibi MCMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minWhen he's not fishing for northern pike, Jimmy prepares for his next MC Battle.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Shana, The Emo KidMyriam Verreault 2011 6 minFrom her home on Quebec's North Shore, Shana speaks "emoticon" like a second language.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
My Tribe Is My Life - Sébastien, The Japanese-Inspired Gothic LolitaMyriam Verreault 2011 7 minHe seems to be the only boy in Quebec to flaunt this particular style. And from the comments he gets, he seems to pull it off fabulously.
My Tribe is My Life is an interactive documentary that plunges us into the worlds of 8 music fans and shows how the Internet has helped them forge their identities. -
Simulated LifeMalcolm Sutherland 2017 37 sREALITY IS A CHOICE. An unapologetic poke at the burgeoning age of virtual reality.
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The New AlchemistsDorothy Todd Henaut 1974 28 minThis short documentary profiles a community engaged in developing sustainable living methods, including food production and small-scale solar and wind technology, on a farm in Massachusetts in the 1970s. Well before sustainability was a mainstream concern, these prescient innovators attempted to create a vision of a greener, kinder world. "Think small," say the New Alchemists. "Look what thinking big has done."
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Sext ApesLaurence Vallières 2017 36 sYOUR PHONE IS HAVING MORE SEX THAN YOU. A bleak picture of sex in the digital age.
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RiP! A Remix ManifestoBrett Gaylor 2008 1 h 26 minJoin filmmaker Brett Gaylor and mashup artist Girl Talk as they explore copyright and content creation in the digital age. In the process they dissect the media landscape of the 21st century and shatter the wall between users and producers. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow also come along for the ride.
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Series 4Normand Grégoire 1972 7 minThis experimental short documents the clash, sometimes obsessive, sometimes glorifying, between humans and their mechanized environment. Using photographs, the animator creates varying perspectives through optical manipulation and changing colour, achieving bold and provocative effects.
Warning: This film contains flashing images and stroboscopic sequences -
Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz SchumacherDouglas Kiefer , Barrie Howells , … 1978 29 minThis film is a short documentary portrait of economist, technologist and lecturer Fritz Schumacher. Up to age 45, Schumacher was dedicated to economic growth. Then he came to believe that the modern technological explosion had grown out of all proportion to human need. Author of Small Is Beautiful - A Study of Economics as if People Mattered and founder of the London-based Intermediate Technology Development Group, he championed the cause of "appropriate" technology. The film introduces us to this gentle revolutionary a few months before his death.
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TurbineAlex Boya 2018 8 minA war pilot crash-lands through his apartment window. When his wife returns from work, she discovers that her husband’s face has been replaced by an airplane turbine. He’s also fallen in love with their kitchen ceiling fan. To save their faltering marriage, his wife decides she will no longer let her humanity get in the way of love.
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What on Earth!Les Drew & Kaj Pindal 1966 9 minThis animated short proposes what many earthlings have long feared – that the automobile has inherited the planet. When life on Earth is portrayed as one long, unending conga-line of cars, a crew of extra-terrestrial visitors understandably assume they are the dominant race. While humans, on the other hand, are merely parasites. An Oscar® nominee, this film serves as an entertaining case study.