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VUCAVU works on a video-on-demand (VOD) basis. To rent a film or video, browse the catalogue, view details for individual films and videos, and click RENT when you find something to watch.
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You can create a customized list of films and videos to watch later. To add to your list, browse the catalogue and select the +MY LIST button.
Fanny meets her high school friends for the annual Switch & Bitch Party.
This is video compilation is part of the educational guide produced as part of Archive/Counter-Archive’s (A/CA) Case Study, Through Feminist Lenses: Video Works at Groupe Intervention Vidéo with Groupe Intervention Vidéo.
A young songwriter seeks out her folk idol in a sleepy lakeside village, only to become enmeshed in a secretive society whose rituals safeguard the threshold between worlds.
This playful, poignant & memorable short shadow play, where humans take from forests whatever they desire - leaving nothing. A collaborative film by a Canadian filmmaker and a Japanese visual artist.
A look at the community response to the murder of Nirmal Singh Gill, a caretaker at the Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Surrey BC by 5 white supremacist skinheads in 1998.
A presentation for filmmakers and artists with VUCAVU.com’s Digital Programming Intern, Stephanie Poruchnyk-Butler.
VHS video documentation of The images, such as they are, do have an effect on us: PORN Dossier. The envelope and folders are opened and the contents examined.
Spirit Bear's friends teach him about residential schools and how he can help with reconciliation!
Chilean refugee Daniela (Carmen Aguirre) wants to travel back to Chile to learn more about her family as her father is reluctant to talk about his past. But she is about find out much more than she expected.
Digital video documentation of The images, such as they are, do have an effect on us: PORN Dossier. The envelope and folders are opened and the contents examined.
Two sisters attempt to find common understanding amidst bickering.
A young loner struggles to make connection at a haunted summer camp.
Clash of cultures, care of the elderly and four women trying to make sense of their unravelling family, this is Mum Singh.
While narrating letters written to her ex, a woman attempts to cast away the lingering shadows of the relationship and overcome feelings of rejection and failure.
A shortened version of the synopsis that must be less than 500 characters in length. This teaser appears in a pop up when a user hovers their cursor on a title image in our search or other pages.
Filmed sporadically and intuitively during the summer months of 2020 and 2021, Homunculi is a recontextualization of a personal archive of hand processed 16mm “home movies” and various cinematographic experiments.
Did you know that many First Nations schools get less money than provincial schools? Shannen Koostachin, a young leader from Attawapiskat First Nation, knew this was wrong, and so does Spirit Bear.
A female firefighter takes her daughter along for a day on the job.
"C'est à qui, cette ville?" is a response to the 1984 film, “Ville, Quelle Ville?” This original super 8 film documented various places in Toronto’s east end and reflected upon a young woman’s life in the city.
We are thrilled to announce that Axelle Demus has been hired as VUCAVU’s Educational Sector Outreach Consultant. Axelle is a FOCAS (Faculty Organizing for Community Archives Support) postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s School of Information Studies (archivalfocas.org)....
Cette troisième partie d'une série de cinq relate spécifiquement la lutte pour l'avortement des années 1971 à 1980 au Québec.
This film is available in French only.
Peril! charts the dangerous territory of women's everyday lives. The tightrope walker vacuums across Niagara Falls while pondering employment; the bearded lady waits by the phone while holding up the world; the human cannonball hurtles through space, unsure if she will ever land, but making the best of things. Using video imagery from Dempsey and Millan's performance, " The Headless Woman" (The Western Front, January 1998), this video features acts of daredeviltry by Sharon Bajer, Lorri Millan
The intermittently heard voice-over talks about a woman's self-awareness - being unable to know if she has really changed or not. The images are esoteric and hard to interpret: young women in black in various urban settings, something moving rhythmically. A personal, yet intriguing film.
Follow Jackie through the 1960s Toronto Yonge Street music scene, the tabloid rumours and scandals, to the mysterious disappearance. What ever happened to Jackie Shane? You have to watch to find out.
The camera mounted on a dolly moves through Mater, an installation of mother and child figures by Elvira Finnigan.
A pornographic parody, that advocates the use of feminism as lesbian foreplay.
In Layers, Tracy Peters overlaps video and sound recordings of threatened barn swallows that occupy a farm shed slated for demolition.
aprax-ia \(‘)a-’prak-se- \n [NL, fr. Gk, inaction, fr. a-+ praxis action, fr. prassein to do -- more at PRACTICAL] : loss or impairment of the ability to execute complex coordinated movements - aprac-tic \-’prak-tik\ or apraxic \-’prak-sik\ adj.
Experiment in Landscape, No.2 was made by filming a view of Bow Lake through the ground glass of an 8”x10” large format camera. The element of humour and awkwardness within my actions were intended to disrupt the master narrative of the long tradition of large-format photography capturing the apparent ‘untouched’ beauty of the North American West, while the moment of equilibrium within the headstand speaks to my desire to be consonant with this environment.
This video traces the steps undertaken by the main character, The Woman, to find love. Playing with the form of an intimate diary, Uncertainties boasts a structure that is like a game of tag between....
Treaty X features an audio track and a layering of composited video footage with themes of connection/disconnection to land and waters, treaty rights, and the way capitalism monetizes nature. The Treaty #3 territory comprises 55,000 hectares of land, and annuity payments of $5 have never been adjusted for inflation.
A one take super 8 film, that explores the nature of the cowboys and Indian myth perpetuated by wide screen Hollywood movies.
Spirit Bear tells a tragic story of Jordan River Anderson, and unfairness towards Indigenous Kids.
Dedicated to the artist’s father, this experimental tape begins sorting through identities contaminated by the generalized racism of white society and its degrading commercial exploitation of Native culture, i.e., “Indian” drums and doll souvenirs. Five young natives search for reconnection to their families, their stories, traditions and their role within community.
"The Law Is in the Seed" is a video of a poem by the same name written by Alex Jacobs, a Mohawk Indian poet from Akwesasne (New York State).
Filmmaker Jesse Green travels to his home community of Shoal Lake 40 interviewing people about the impacts of the City of Winnipeg aqueduct in the 100+ years since it was built
A portrait of visual artist Rebecca Belmore.
This collaborative work was made by Jaylene and Winona along with their mentor Jackie Traverse as an experimentation for their first film.
An experimental documentary that explores the complicated process of decolonization and reveals how our memory and history are ingrained in our sense of identification.
This video is seen how you see it. The things you hear is how you hear it. I'm not going to tell you how to feel when you watch my video. You see what you want to see.
Grand Mother Tongue pairs poetry, spoken in Plains Cree, and breath with the intimate imagery of strawberries being consumed bite-by-bite, and finger lick for finger lick.
Video collage, documenting a week spent in Chicago.
Short visits a large furry convention and shoots some amazing creatures. Short is fascinated by the identity politics and history surround this community which are very similar to the transgender community.
Be seduced by the sistas of the House of Venus as they take on the roles of all kinds of female beauties.
A team of beleaguered hockey players and a hybrid prizzly bear interact one bitterly cold night in the depths of winter in a desolate northern settlement.
Pierre is a Montreal born belly dancer of Syrian origin. Belly dance is an art that is mainly performed by women, but men also have a role in the history of this dance. This short documentary presents Pierre’s story as well as...
A displaced young girl, her overwhelmed older sister and the superhero that brings them together.
This video, comprised solely of one edit, is a quick peek into the reality of two video makers; video production, sex and poverty. The chatter of these lovers is the day-to-day experience of love, love as sustainable companionship. This is an average moment, perhaps one of the forgettable conversations that comprise and define our lives. Here is a man and a woman sitting on the front step on a summer evening. The Front Step is a collaboration between Brenna George and Rick Fisher.
In this Maxi-Mexi-Melancolour short, the widow Paramo attempts to prevent further familial tragedy.
Other Half Dating Service, the artist references dating videos from the 1980’s where individuals would discuss the type of partner that they were looking for.
An ode to my daily environment.
Olivia, a young tap-dancer and her uncle, Amir, an actor, struggle with what it means to be Middle-Eastern-American and artists in today's racially divided world.
Toronto, July 27, 2013, shortly after midnight.
A reflection on distance, grief and memory, through the landscapes...
Since the launch of the VUCAVU platform in 2016, we have collaborated with artists, educators, and arts organizations across the country to present a wide variety of independent Canadian films and video art online. Artists are always compensated for the dissemination of their works, and the artworks can often be rented individually for VOD viewing after the programming free period has expired. Programs are always accompanied by bilingual curatorial texts exploring the themes addressed in the selection, and many of them also include recordings of roundtable discussions and conversations with the artists!
We're delighted to launch A/CA's Educational Guide series; a project and research network dedicated to the activation and preservation of audiovisual archives created by Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Métis, Inuit), Black communities and people of color, women, LGBT2Q+ and immigrant communities.