Lori Heath

Swallowed is a fictional story that spans the life of Mike Seaward, a fisherman in outport Newfoundland, Canada. An unemployed fisherman, he reflects back to his younger days when he loved and respected the sea. We follow Mike from his days as a young man in a community thriving on the ocean and it's great resources, to the current day, where most of the community has left due to the decline in fishing stocks, in search of a better more stable life. Mike is struggling with the thought that there is no future for him, not only in the virtually deserted community, but anywhere else. He must make a decision either to follow the rest of the community and accept government offers of relocation and re-education, or to follow his own family and be at peace with himself.

After marrying a settler, Mary Two-Axe Earley lost her legal status as a First Nations woman. Dedicating her life to activism, she campaigned to have First Nations women's rights restored and coordinated a movement that continues to this day. Kahnawake filmmaker Courtney Montour honours this inspiring leader while drawing attention to contemporary injustices that remain in this era of truth and reconciliation.

In this layered short film, filmmaker Janine Windolph takes her young sons fishing with their kokum (grandmother), a residential school survivor who retains a deep knowledge and memory of the land. The act of reconnecting with their homeland is a cultural and familial healing journey for the boys, who are growing up in the city. It’s also a powerful form of resistance for the women.

Adopted Montreal filmmaker Adrian Wills discovers, on camera and in real time, the startling truths of his complex beginnings in Newfoundland. Shocking details drive Wills to the core of his birth mother’s resilience, and ultimately his own. In this moving feature documentary that combines 16mm footage and contemporary images with deeply personal conversations, Wills’ voyage transforms from an urgent search for identity into a quest to give a quiet girl her voice.

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.

Cree director Alexandra Lazarowich riffs off classic verité cinema to craft a contemporary portrait of Métis women net fishing in Northern Alberta.