SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
Whatever the Cost - Hatley Park and the Dunsmuirs
This 35 min. documentary is the story of one of Canada's national historical sites - Hatley Park - just outside Victoria, and the Dunsmuir family - that built it. They were a family whose wealth origininated from mining coal on Vancouver Island and it was a fortune gained and lost in two generations. Produced for Royal Roads University.
Hell: A Survivor's Guide
What does a belief in hell tell us about ourselves? And where is hell anyway? This one hour program takes us on a journey through time and geography to explore the psychology of hell and how different faiths have interpreted it through the ages. Broadcast premiere January, 2016 on Vision TV/Zoomer Media.
The Fantastic Logic of Eternity
What do we mean when we invoke the 'eternal'? This one hour program explores the concept of eternity, as expressed in art and pop culture, and by writers, physicists, religious scholars, and historians. Broadcast premiere March 24, 2014 on VisionTV/Zoomer Media.
Patrick, Pagans, and Party Animals: The Amazing Legacy of St. Patrick of Ireland
Who was St. Patrick anyway? How much are myth and legend? A one hour documentary behind the first green holiday celebrated around the world. Broadcast premiere March 17, 2014 on VisionTV/Zoomer Media.
Apocalypse! When?
A thinking person's guide to the apocalypse (5 x 22 min.). Why do we keep anticipating the end of the world - an end that never materializes? And what happens when nothing happens? This series explores the origins, implications, psychology, theology, and repercussions of Doomsday thinking. Broadcast nationally on VisionTV/Zoomer Media, November, 2012.
"!a new, serious and provocative series about the cultural obsession with the!apocalypse!It's possible to see the connections between these images across cultures and religions!" - John Doyle, Globe and Mail
ReStor(y)ing Life Within Life Threatening Illness
Short audiovisual vignettes of people living with longterm, serious illness. For the School of Nursing, University of Victoria
View online
A Work in Progress
A 42-minute film for the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra's 25th anniversary
Phantom at the Feast
A film about rituals and celebrations of death and the different ways we choose to remember. For VisionTVZoomer Media, 2010.
Community Forestry
For the B.C. Community Forestry Association. A series of short profiles of B.C. communities where community-based forestry is breathing new life into resource-based towns. View the films online
Hijacked Future
It's 7 am - do you know where your toast came from? For 10,000 years farmers planted and saved their seeds. But now control of seeds - and control of our food crops - has shifted into the hands of a few multinational corporations.Who controls the seed, controls the food. Broadcast on Global Television's "Global Currents" series.
"Watch this lucid, terrifying, and hopeful film.." Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun
Ted Grant: The Art of Observation
A one-hour film for television (Bravo!, Knowledge Network and SCN) about the renowned Canadian photojournalist Ted Grant.
Shipsinkers
A one hour television documentary about the creation of artificial reefs from decommissioned naval vessels - and the people whose passion this is. (With Sea of Steel Productions and Dan Mauro and National Geographic International, OLN, ABC Australia, Knowledge Network and SCN)
Water Detectives
An 11 min. film for children and grown-ups about the innovative "water detectives" project in Matamoros, Mexico which is designed to engage children as water activists to help their homes and neighbourhoods conserve water and in the process to create a new "culture of water" which values this precious resource. Produced by Asterisk for the National Film Board's Pacific Region.
More Titles
The Man We Called Juan Carlos
A one-hour film that explores the filmmaker's 25-year relationship with a Guatemalan campesino leader, the life choices he made and we all make, and the price we pay when we commit to political and spiritual ideals. (Vision TV, Knowledge Network, SCN, 2001) More info!
"This sophisticated, troubling film raises important questions about human rights, the personal price of refusing to assent to evil and the responsibility of the 'objective' journalist who bears witness at somebody else's cost!I was surprised and then enthralled by this powerful documentary." Stephen Hume, Vancouver Sun, March 17/01
The Monarch: A Butterfly Beyond Borders
A one-hour film for Discovery Canada exploring the natural history of this astonishing insect, and the threats to its annual migration. Filmed in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. More info!
"This video, superbly done, tells it all in a way that fans the flames of interest and wonder over this marvellous migratory insect, and its plight and the implications of that plight for man." The Toledo Blade
Awards: International Wildlife Film Festival, Gemini nomination, Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival, Bronze Apple, National Educational Media Network, Columbus International Film&Video Festival.
Biomimicry
Two one-hour programs for"The Nature of Things with David Suzuki" based on the book,"Biomimicry"by Janine Benyus.
Nature has ingenious ways of overcoming obstacles of every imaginable sort. What can we humans learn from nature in tackling the problems we've created on this earth - and do so in such a way so as not to create even more environmental problems? Co-produced and co-directed by David Springbett and Paul Lang.
Awards:"Science in Society"Award / Science Writers of Canada.
ReInventing the World
A series of five one-hour documentaries about some of the major issues facing us as a society: food, work and time, sustainable cities, economics. Hosted by writer Des Kennedy, and filmed in Brazil, Canada and the U.S., the series features some of the major thinkers and writers of today who offer insightful ways of approaching problems in order to live more sustainable lives. (Vision TV, SCN, 2001) More info!
"This is thoughtful television, full of talking heads! the heads talk well and the series is important." Silver Donald Cameron, Halifax Herald, April 8/01
GoodWood
This one-hour documentary for the CBC's "The Nature of Things" asks, "Can we have jobs and trees?" Using various examples of sustainable forestry in Honduras, Mexico, British Columbia, and the United States, the film shows how some communities are making it work. More info!
"!how a community can reverse its fortunes, and protect its environment, if willing to discover more value in the surrounding landscape." David Leach, Monday Magazine, Nov. 25, 1998.
"It's an inspiring, heart lifting film about the possibilities that await those who learn to see old things in new ways."Vancouver Sun
Awards: Columbus International Film&Video Festival, Vermont International Film Festival, Equinox Environmental Film Festival
Living Things We Love to Hate - Why Certain Creatures Make Us Squirm and Shudder
A one-hour documentary based on the book of the same name by B.C. author Des Kennedy; for the Discovery Channel Canada.
We are repulsed by the sight of a slug oozing its way across a garden path. We recoil at the sensuous movement of a snake. We shudder at even the sound - let alone sight - of a bat. We fear the seemingly impenetrable darkness of a forest at night. Why? Is it true we fear what we don't understand?
Narrator Kennedy explains the wonders of his corner of the planet on Denman Island, and offers his thoughts on why we react the way we do - with repulsion - to some of the creatures with which we coexist. (Be forewarned: much of the program is shot in extreme closeup, for maximum squirminess.)
Other Work - Still More Titles
Vacations from the Heart
A one-hour documentary exploring volunteer tourism in Costa Rica, Belize, and Peru.Produced with Insight Documentaries, Vancouver for Global Television.
Rain Wolves
A look at the unique coastal wolves of British Columbia, in the Great Bear Rainforest. For Rainshadow Productions and broadcast on Discovery Canada and Knowledge Network.
IdeaLogs
A series of short (1-3 min.) concise expositions of ideas about the world we live in and how it could be made to work better.They are presented by some of the leading thinkers of today:Jane Jacobs, Matthew Fox, Wayne Roberts, Stewart Brand, David Korten, Amory and Hunter Lovins.Designed primarily for both formal and informal educational settings, they are provocative, tasty morsels of thought for educators and their students who are hungry fordiscussion catalysts.24 Logs are packaged on one dvd and fall into the subject areas of economics, ethics, philosophy and sociology.
Finding the Future
13 x ½ hours. Leading edge thinkers, in conversation with Des Kennedy, explore some of the Big Questions and how we might get there from here. For Vision TV and SCN
Ways We Live: Exploring Community
A ten-part half hour television series and companion book (New Society Publishers, 1997), that explore the meaning and expression of community in our lives.
"It is precisely because "Ways We Live" is politically astute without being partisan that it is so compelling. This is the kind of television that asks the viewer to go on a personal voyage of discovery over several weeks, without making any snap judgments or belabouring a single point of view." Alex Strachan, Vancouver Sun, March 3, 1997
Produced in association with_ Vision TV and British Columbia Film and with the participation of The Cable Production Fund, The Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund and Saskatchewan Communications Network and Telefilm Canada. More Info!
VIDEOS FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
A Work in Progress
A 40 min. video for the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, celebrating 25 years of music.
Community Forests
A series of short profiles of B.C. communities where community-based forestry is breathing new life into resource-based towns. For the B.C. Community Forestry Association. View the films online .
Turning on the Tap - Making Services work for the Urban Poor
A short film for the International Development Research Centre about their Focus City project in Moreno, Argentina
Circles of Support and Accountability - A 'how to' Video Resource
A "how to" video about forming circles of support and accountability for ex-offenders, in Canadian communities (for COSA BC).
Fatherhood: Indignenous Men's Journeys
A 34 min. videofor community and educational use which profiles six First Nations fathers talking about their experience of fatherhood. Produced with Dr. Jessica Ball of the University of Victoria as an adjunct to the FIRA (Father Involvement Research Alliance) study on fatherhood.Distribution enquires through Dr. Ball .
Cooking Fun for Families
A short video about a cooking and nutrition project in Vancouver's inner city schools. Produced for the Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver, B.C.
Imagine! A World Without Birds
Two short videos produced for the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, Montreal.
Changing Places
Produced for the United Nations Population Fund, this documentary explores urbanization population, and the role of women by focusing on three exceptional housing projects in Vancouver, Bangkok, and Mexico City. (Screened at the World Urban Forum, Istanbul, 1996.)
The Open Door
A short video about a Victoria drop-in centre that offers a safe haven and a sense of family.
Over the years we have also produced dozens of television public service announcements (PSAs) for NGOs such as: Oxfam Canada, Oxfam America, Save the Children Canada, Mennonite Central Committee, Catholic Relief Services, New York.
Films, 1980 -1990
How Much Is Enough ?* (from the series"How To Save The Earth"with Jonathon Porrit; and companion book)
Population growth in the South, and over-consumption in the North are the two biggest environmental problems facing the world. Co-Production with Channel 4, NRK, TVO, Access, SCN, Knowledge Network and North-South Productions, England. 1993. Award: North American Environmental Film Festival
The Best We Have to Give? (from the series "Stolen Childhood"; with companion book)
This is a 26 min. documentary about the impact international debt and "structural readjustment" programs had on the basic needs of children in one African country: Ghana. Co-produced with North-South Prod., London, CIDA and TV Ontario, to coincide with the United Nations Summit on the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1989.
Awards : Blue Ribbon, American Film&Video Festival, Columbus Film Festival; Certificate of Merit, Chicago International Film Festival
That's Right!
A 15 min. documentary profile of four children (two Canadian, two Ghanaian) aimed at Canadian children on the rights of children and the work of UNICEF. Produced for UNICEF Canada.
Awards : Golden Apple, National Educational Film&Video Festival; Honourable Mention, Columbus Film Festival
Greening Business
This hour long film looks at how business and the environment can both be restored. Produced for The Nature of Things with David Suzuki", 1994.
Awards : Vermont International Film Festival; Bronze, American Film&Video Festival.
No Spare Parts
A short film about the remarkable appropriate technology industry in Suame Magazine, Ghana. Produced with "The Nature of Things with David Suzuki", 1989.
Awards : Blue Ribbon, American Film Festival; Columbus Film Festival
Willing to Learn
A half hour drama about one woman's stuggle to become literate. This film was a collaboration between Asterisk and literacy learners in St. Vincent.
Award : Tam Tam Film&Video Festival, Rome. 1989
Growing Up in the World Next Door
A hour long fim which tracks the lives of three teenagers in three different countries (Nepal, Kenya and St. Vincent) who were previously filmed six years earlier. Produced with CIDA and the NFB, 1987.
Roots of Hunger, Roots of Change
A half hour documentary about poverty, drought and the lingering impact of colonialism in Senegal. Produced for Church World Service, New York, 1985.
A Moveable Feast
A light hearted educational film designed to encourage mothers to breastfeed. Produced with the Canadian Pediatric Society and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.