Recent videos of interest

Sexuality & Gender Issues

• 100% woman: world of sports will never be the same
  A post-operative transsexual, Canadian Michelle Dumares has provoked outrage by entering the sport of women's mountain bike racing.... Explores complex issues of gender identity. Might work well with CBC's Too Fast To Be a Woman: https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2011/toofast/
• 533 statements
  A road trip documentary about queer Canadian women. During the summer of 2004, Tori Foster took her camera across the country to talk to 20 lesbian women about what it's like to be queer where they live. The documentary follows her journey through all ten provinces.
• Against a trans narrative
  “Trans filmmaker Jules Rosskam's provocative and personal experimental documentary investigating dominant constructions of trans-masculine identity, gender, and the nature of community.”
• BDSM: It's Not What You Think!
  Confronts stigma and stereotype surrounding kink and fetish play through leading voices within the BDSM community. With intimate interviews and playful vignettes this film targets progressive outsiders and guides them through the minefield of misconceptions and prejudice that kinksters must routinely face.
• Beauty before age
  “Explores the power of youth and beauty in the gay community through interviews with gay men from ages 19 to 77.”
• Buying Sex
  "... Buying Sex carefully guides the viewer through a wide spectrum of disagreement, exploring the many points of view in this age-old yet contemporary debate. Articulate and impassioned formerly prostituted women and sex workers make their claims for and against the proposed changes, while policy-makers, lawyers and even male consumers also offer insight and commentary on this vexing issue. Respecting the differences of ideology and opinion as Canada works its way toward an uneasy consensus, the film challenges ...
• Call Me Salma | Appelez-moi Salma
  A documentary film about love and loss. In the crowded back alleys of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Salma enters the mysterious and rich world of transexuality.
• Conceiving family
  Following the [Canadian] filmmaker's recent journey into parenthood, the film takes us inside the lives of five gay and lesbian couples who... break through the legal systems, societal prejudices, and personal fears inherent in starting a family through adoption.
• Cover girl culture
  Former Elite International fashion model, Nicole Clark, calls for a necessary change, integrity and responsible media for our youth. This is an examination of how advertising and the cult of celebrity have deeply and negatively impacted teens and young women. The film juxtaposes ads and interviews with editors from top fashion magazines with revealing interviews of parents, teachers, psychologists, body image experts, and the girls themselves.
• Covered [Snakegirl Productions]
  Explores the world of heavily tattooed women and female tattoo artists in the United States. Takes a larger, sociological perspective on what it means to be a heavily tattooed woman in today's society -- from the perspectives of the women themselves. Features dozens of tattoo artists.
• Cruel and unusual: transgender women in prison
  A documentary about transgender women convicted and incarcerated in men's prisons in the United States. Interviews with lawyers and prison custodians reveal the level of violence these women have to face from the inmates, as well as from the authorities which do not recognize their condition as a medical disorder.Special features: 'Sexual violence in prison for transgender women' (5 min.); 'Protective custody' (3 min.); 'Hormone therapy' (5 min.); 'Family issues' (4 min.); 'Legal cases: Ophelia' (5 min); 'Legal ...
• Daddy and papa
  Explores the personal, cultural, and political impact of gay men who are making a decision that is at once traditional and revolutionary: to raise children themselves. Taking us inside four gay male families, this documentary traces the critical issues that inevitably intersect their private lives, the ambiguous place of interracial families in America.
• Dangerous living: coming out in the developing world
  “Explores the lives of gay and lesbian people in non-Western cultures, where most occurrences of oppression receive no media coverage at all”
• Diagnosing difference
  “...featuring thirteen transgender and genderqueer scholars, artists, and activists discussing the impact and implications of the Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis on their lives and communities”
• Dish: Women waitressing and the art of service
  Dish delves into Toronto's diners, Montreal's “sexy restos”, Paris haute eateries, and Tokyo's fantasy “maid bars” in an insider's look at gender, power, and the art of service.
• End of Men
  2011 DocZone: 'In the past 100 years, the ideals of masculinity have been largely unchanged. Men are rugged individuals, resilient, brave and loyal. Running like a spine through these archetypes is one defining theme: a man is the provider and protector of his family. In the not too distant past, most men had a sense of certainty that they could fulfill those roles.... But for many men the economic crisis that began in 2008 meant that fulfilling those masculine roles was suddenly a lot harder... Men are facing ...
• Ferron: girl on a road
  Before the Indigo Girls and before Ani DiFranco, there was Ferron, whose plaintive and poetic songs provided the soundtrack for an entire generation of lesbians. Part performance film, part biopic, [this film] traces the life, the songs, the loves, the heartbreaks, and the pioneering path carved by a true Canadian folk legend.
• Flesh
  “Several women with different points of view including a cattle rancher, a vegetarian, a meat-lover, and a Hooter's waitress are interviewed in this discussion of how women and animals are treated by popular culture in a society obsessed with flesh.”
• Flesh and blood
  What's the Ukrainian word for sex? Filmmaker Marusya Bociurkiw explores this question in the humorous and provocative Flesh and Blood. A queer bar in Kyiv reveals drag queens in traditional Ukrainian costume; a trip to the suburbs introduces us to transsexual Lena and bisexual Oksana, who live with Oksana's two husbands and her grandmother in what they call a poly-family.
• Girl and a gun
  Presents a female perspective on an object whose history is deeply bound up with men and masculinity. Filmed throughout the US, this documentary delves into the psyche of the American gun world to investigate how women relate to guns and gun culture. Reaching far beyond Hollywood's hypersexualized femme fatales, the film candidly explores the modern American woman through intimate portraits encompassing issues of protection, power, feminism, and violence.
• Girls Rock!
  At RocknRoll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that 'it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are'.
• Hermaphrodites speak
  Covers the first retreat weekend of the Intersex Society of North America in 1997. Seven participants, two assigned as men and four as women, and one individual who identifies as neither male or female but as a third gender, tell their stories of growing up intersexed and their feelings of social isolation. They express resentment towards the medical establishment and the current standard medical treatment for hermaphroditic children.
• How to survive a plague
  The story of the brave young men and women who successfully reversed the tide of an epidemic, demanded the attention of a fearful nation, and stopped AIDS from becoming a death sentence. This improbable group of activists bucked oppression and infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, helping to identify promising new medication and treatments and move them through trials and into drugstores in record time.
• Juggling gender: politics, sex and identity - Still juggling
  Contains the original 1992 documentary which features Jennifer Miller, juggler and director of Circus Amok. Miller discusses her life and struggle as a lesbian woman who happens to have a moustache and beard. Scenes show a gay rights parade and Miller interacting with friends, family, and strangers. Pt. 2 -Still juggling, still bearded features Miller 15 years after the original documentary, discussing changes in her life and in society. Pt. 3 - Sideshow by the seashore includes scenes of Circus Amok performances.
• Ladies of the gridiron
  When most think of American Football, they imagine raw, unbridled demonstrations of athletic might pushed to the max, but rarely do those images involve women. The Quake is a professional women's tackle football team out to break the glass ceiling of this traditionally all-male sport. These women embody the same dogged determination as their male counterparts, but without the money or fame. And beyond that, they must deal with a societal prejudice that keeps them on the periphery of professional sports, having ...
• Lesbian National Parks and Services Presents: Endangered Species
  That formidable force of conservation officials, Lesbian National Parks and Services, presents three portraits of lesbian species in crisis. These public service announcements point to the perils of habitat loss and poaching. The Marxist Feminist, the Lesbian Separatist and the Bull-Dykus Americanus are featured in this parody of nature education. In full uniform as Lesbian Rangers, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan patrol parklands, challenging the general publics ideas of tourism, recreation, and the 'natural' ...
• Lesbiana - a parallel revolution
  A parallel revolution was born out of the feminist movement of the 1970's, coming to an end around 1995. Filmmaker Myriam Fougère takes us on a journey to meet the lesbian writers, philosophers and activists who were key players in creating a revolutionary sisterhood. From Montréal to Texas, by way of New York, Myriam encounters lesbians who chose to live only among women.
• Miss HIV
  Explores the international collision of HIV/AIDS policies while following the journey of two HIV-positive women who entered the annual Miss HIV Stigma-Free pageant in Botswana. Filmed across Africa and at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto this explosive EthnoGraphic film shares both sides of an ideology struggle.
• Out in the Silence
  The announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson's wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy and a quest for change in the small Pennsylvania hometown he left long ago. Drawn back by a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school, Wilson takes viewers on an exhilarating journey through love, hate, and understanding in rural America.
• Rape for who I am
  'Interweaves the experiences of four [South African lesbian] women, victims of rape, as they prepare for an annual Gay Pride celebration. With courage and a remarkable resilience, they describe the immense prejudices they have had to endure in their townships.'
• Rex vs. Singh: four versions
  DVD only. "Between 1909 and 1929, an inordinate number of men tried for sodomy in Vancouver were Sikhs. In 1915, two Sikh mill-workers, Dalip Singh and Naina Singh, were entrapped by undercover police in Vancouver and accused of sodomy. This experimental video stages scenes from the trial, told four times: first as a period drama, second as a documentary investigation of the case, third as a musical agit-prop, and fourth, as a deconstruction of the actual court transcript."
• Scarlet road
  "Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton specializes in a long overlooked clientele— people with disabilities. ..Rachel’s philosophy is that human touch and sexual intimacy can be the most therapeutic aspects to our existence." Also available as a DVD: https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/783787692 [for a film with a different lens on a similar topic, see also Want: https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/706443158]
• Sex positive
  Looks at the life of Richard Berkowitz, an AIDS activist who was at the forefront of the safe sex movement. With Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, a virologist and AIDS doctor, and Michael Callen, a musician and activist, Berkowitz helped the gay community recognize the importance of safe sex practices.
• Sex Slaves
  Explores the multi-billion dollar world of sex trafficking. Goes to the villages of Ukraine and Moldova, where girls are lured and then sold and forced into prostitution in brothels and discotheques all over Europe. Follows Viorel, a Ukrainian man, on a mission to find his pregnant, trafficked wife in Turkey. The film explores the global trafficking problem through personal stories and unfettered access to traffickers and the people used as human chattel.
• She's a boy I knew
  'Vancouver filmmaker Gwen Haworth documents her male-to-female gender transition partially through the voices of her family, best friend, and wife.'
• Songs of freedom : compelling stories of courage and hope by Jamaican gays and lesbians
  Takes us inside the world of Jamaican gays and lesbians and tells... stories of individuals courageously carving out meaningful lives, despite the taboo against their sexual identity.
• Still around
  A feature-length compilation of 15 short films about surviving and thriving with HIV/AIDS as we mark the 30th anniversary of one of the world's most substantial health pandemics.
• Subjectified: nine young women talk about sex
  Through nine in-depth interviews about sex and sexuality, this documentary lets women do the talking, trading easy answers and stereotypes for brutal honesty. The stories may sound familiar: young moms, abstinent Christians, lesbians, survivors of assaults and STDs. But outside the world of reality TV and sound bites, women approach their lives in complex and unexpected ways: sometimes hilarious, sometimes sobering, and always heartfelt.
• The Aggressives
  “Intimate interviews with transgendered lesbians (5 African American, 1 Asian) living in New York City who define themselves as ‘aggressives.’ They exhibit masculine appearances and behaviors, but do not aspire to be men. Shows their daily lives and their participation in the underground lesbian ‘ball scene.”
• The body beautiful
  DVD only. Originally produced in 1991. This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah's brave excursion into her mother's scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy.
• The evolution of Dad
  We are told by American culture that fatherhood is important, but the real, underlying message is: 'Back to work, dads!' How did this happen? What can be done about it? And why are the dads who are extra-involved with their families typically castigated as not being manly enough or sufficiently committed to their work? [The film] explores these questions and many more, cutting to the core of one of the most invisible, yet important, issues of our time: fatherhood.
• The Men's Story Project: building strength, creating peace
  Shows the powerful debut presentation of the Men's Story Project - a new performance/dialogue project exploring social ideas about masculinity for the purpose of health and justice.The stories address platonic love between men; struggles with Islam, Christianity, homophobia and HIV/AIDS; disability and sexuality; testicular cancer and personal wholeness; images of African American masculinity; a journey from perpetrating domestic violence to becoming an anti-violence activist; men's public restroom rituals; ...
• The origins of AIDS: did scientists inadvertently cause the AIDS epidemic?
  An exploration of a theory of how AIDS was introduced to the human population. Illustrates the thesis presented in Edward Hooper's book The river : journey to the source of HIV and AIDS, and expands on it with new reporting. Many believe the answer lies in the research undertaken by scientist Hilary Koprowski, who between 1957 and 1960, injected his experimental polio vaccine into almost one million people in the former Belgian Congo. The film interviews scientists and journalists, as well as Africans who worked ...
• The price of sex
  This inquiry into a dark side of immigration reveals the experiences of Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad. Mimi Chakarova traveled from post-communist Eastern Europe to Turkey, Greece, and Dubai to uncover the harrowing personal accounts of women trafficked into modern-day sexual slavery.
• The Regretters
  Regretters gives heartfelt voice to two transgendered people who underwent sex change surgery to become women. Now, years later, they would like to return to their original, masculine selves. Through their experiences we learn how very complicated gender identity is; morphing from one gender to another is not accomplished solely by sexual reassignment surgery.
• The world before her
  In the lobby of a modest Bombay hotel, 20 young women from across India arrive for an intense, month-long beauty boot camp. They are the hand-picked contestants for the Miss India pageant, the ultimate glamour event in a country that has gone mad for beauty contests. Winning the coveted title means instant stardom, a lucrative career path and, for some girls, freedom from the constraints of a patriarchal society. But as the popularity of pageants has exploded, so have the controversies surrounding them.
• Toilet training: law and order (in the bathroom)
  Addresses the persistent discrimination, harassment, and violence that people who transgress gender norms face in gender segregated bathrooms. Using the stories of people who have been harassed, arrested or beaten for trying to use bathrooms, this groundbreaking film focuses on bathroom access in public space, in schools, and at work.
• Two spirits
  Fred Martinez was a [young] nádleehí, or a male-bodied person with a feminine essence, who was murdered in a hate crime at the age of sixteen. Discusses the traditional Native American perspective on gender and sexuality and the need for a balanced interrelationship between the feminine and masculine.
• United in anger: a history of ACT UP
  Feature-length documentary that [explores] ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective--how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other's lives. The film takes the viewer through the planning and execution of a half dozen exhilarating major actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church, and Day of Desperation, with a timeline of many of the other zaps and actions that forced the U.S. government and ...
• Want - a femmegimp production
  Loree Erickson's short film Want explores issues surrounding sex, sexuality and disability, as well as the difficulties in navigating the world at large... Want opens with explicit scenes of Erickson and her partners, but the film also includes more mundane activities like navigating supermarkets and public transit. Shows sexuality as another aspect of being able to live a full life, not something that should be relegated to a minor concern (if it is included within a full understanding of disabled people's ...
• We were here
  'A deep and reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of this unimaginable crisis'--IMDb. Concordia Copy accompanied by two folders: We Were Here Learning Guide and The HIV Timeline: 1980-2010.
• Webcam girls
  “This Canadian documentary examines women that live in front of their web-cameras. Some of the pioneers and outlaws of the femcam frontier are Ducky, sexologist and burlesque queen; Dionne, ethical porn producer; Ana Voog, the first art/life webcam; and Terri, internet cultural critic.”
• Where the water meets the sky
  A group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia learn how to make a film, as a way to speak out about their lives and to challenge the local traditions which have, until now, kept them silent... [Their film] involves an issue that is traumatic for them all, and rarely spoken about: the plight of young women orphaned by AIDS.
• Where we were not. Part one : feeling reserved, Alexus' story
  Alexus' Story is the first part of a four part animated documentary about criminalization in Canada. Where We Were Not is being made in collaboration with a group of women Jessica has worked with, and formed friendships with while creating art projects in prisons and centres for marginalized people. Narrated by an abolitionist activist, a First Nations transgendered woman, and two women serving life sentences, this project gives a first hand account of the Canadian injustice system.