By Anne Brodie
The National Film Board of Canada – the NFB – dips into its massive library of films about Canadians made by Canadians to celebrate June’s National indigenous History Month and Pride Month. Among its 460 Indigenous-made films, three new releases are streaming free now. Ossie Michelin’s Feather Fall documents the powerful moment in 2013 when Indigenous protesters rallied against fracking on unceded Mi’kmaq territory.
Alanis Obomsawin’s My Friend the Green Horse, in which her animal dreams become the spirit of kindness and a celebration of life, continues this remarkable filmmaker’s legacy.
Christopher Auchter’s The Stand, as the Haida Nation made its voice heard in 1985 they held a dirt road on Lyell Island, demanding the government join them to protect the land.
English Collection Curator Camilo Martín-Flórez’s blog The Forgotten Reels of Nunavut’s Animation Workshop explores 58 films made by 13 Inuit filmmakers at a 1972 workshop in Kinngait, Nunavut which have been restored and digitised. He recommends Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance(1993) also from Obomsawin and nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up(2019) by Tasha Hubbard.
The NFB also celebrates Pride Month with themed channels, blogs and films including Noam Gonick’s doc Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance, which looks at the early days of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ movement.
Serville Poblete’s King’s Court, is an intimate look at two young men in Toronto’s Bleecker Street neighbourhood and seven short films produced by the NFB pay tribute to the 2025 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) laureates.
For more information, please visit www.https://www.nfb.ca
Jane Seymour is back, and boy is she back, with two series now available on Acorn TV. She continues her role as “Harry” in the fourth season finale of Harry Wild, as the private detective who along with her like-minded younger son, the brilliant Fergus (Rohan Nedd) solves crimes police haven’t IDs as crimes. Her eldest son Charlie (Kevin Ryan) is a police detective who warns her not to interfere with police business. Well, it’s tough when she’s hooked on her hobby/calling, as is Fergus. They collaborate on cases like the killer who leaves coins in victims’ mouths; they know only that he is a Roy Orbison fan. The case of the suspicious death of a nun where her longtime friend, former wild child Lola (Rose O’Neill) who dated Iggy Pop, finds the body of the newly appointed head of the Order. Suspicion falls on the handyman and the cook, but its more complicated than meets they eye, obvs.. And then the vampire investigation. Seymour and Nedd make a terrific team with their unique chemistry and the offbeat plotlines are intriguing.
Seymour also hosts the new reality investigation series Relative Secrets, a unique take on family healing using archaeology, sociology, DNA, historical documents and with luck interviews with elders. The aim is to “fix the past to heal the present”. Seymour opens with Donna whose father was a serial killer; she’s carried guilt and shame but at 50 wants out of her emotional shackles and find good people in her family lineage. Seymour and Natasha Billson, an archaeologist, get to work. Their exhaustive search leads to a new shock, a second murderer. A 99-year-old man is haunted by his grandmother’s death – he has no idea where or how she died or where she’s buried. Her story is dramatic as the team discovers, and Willie is haunted by his absence and failure to check in led to her death. And there is a mother who abandoned her children. Why? The show team seeks to find the answers, and the positives because they are everywhere. An unusual, sometimes sordid and interesting premise. Now on Acorn TV.
American Cats: The Good, The Bad, And The Cuddly from Peabody Winner and Emmy Nominee Todd Bieber is a shocking exposé of a common and highly profitable but damaging procedure, the declawing of cats. Folks generally wish to save the furniture, and sometimes an elderly person is at risk of harm if they’re scratched. Declawing, or onychectomy, is illegal in all Canadian provinces except Ontario. A bill toban it is on the table; there’s plenty to prove that the practice is debilitating for cats, physically and emotionally. Their first knuckle is removed along with the claw, a ten-minute procedure that leads to walking on forearms, wrists or claws, a painful prospect, like walking with a permanent pebble in one’s shoe. Lumps form between the remaining toe bones, in short a horrific thing to do to a beloved pet. They are unable to use a litter box and are difficult to rehome, often resulting in euthanasia. But the people who don’t care, who do the procedures, the vets, enjoy the profits. British comedian Amy Hoggart dives deep for information that will curl your toes. Dr. Jennifer Conrad founded the Paw Project to lobby for a ban on declawing calling it “barbaric”. Former vet turned declawing advocate Peter Weinstein admits it’s cruel, life-altering treatment but pushes for bills to allow it … for profit. Declawing rakes in $1Billion a year. Weinstein even admits the procedure isn’t necessary. Sometimes you just want to throw something at the screen. I was expecting something different re: the title but learned a great deal. On TVOD JUNE 17