Films & Video Recordings on
AFRICAN-CANADIANS

Last updated July 2001

The films and videorecordings listed below are owned by York University Libraries and available for academic use by the York University community.

Requests for these materials can be made in writing, by telephone, or in person to the

Fall/Winter Hours:                 Summer Hours:

Monday - Thursday  9 am - 9 pm     Monday - Thursday  9 am - 7 pm
Friday             9 am - 8 pm     Friday             9 am - 5 pm
Saturday & Sunday  noon - 5 pm     Closed Weekends

Please note the following abbreviations:

     MP      :   16mm film
     VC      :   VHS videotape
     VC 3/4  :   3/4" videotape

BIG AND THE BLUES
25 min.  1981  MP #6067
National Film Board of Canada
Profiles jazz trombonist Clarence Horatius Miller who lives in
Edmonton.

BLACK BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: BLACK WOMEN'S HAIR
42 min.   1998  VC #5116
National Film board of Canada
Afros, braids or corn-rows, hairstyles have always carried a social message,
of conformity or rebellion, pride and identity. Black women discuss the issues
of hair styles and their own images of beauty and self.

BLACK MOTHER, BLACK DAUGHTER
29 min.  1989  MP #NFB 13F014 and VC #0199
National Film Board of Canada
Recounts the significant role women have played in developing and
preserving a sense of pride and identity among Nova Scotia's
black community.

BREAKING THE ICE: THE MARY ANN SHADD STORY 
30 min.   1997  VC #4702
White Pine Pictures
The American abolitionist and educator spent ten year in Windsor. Her views on  
integrated schools were opposed by Henry Bibb, local black leader and
newspaper editor, who believed in separate institutions. She published her own
paper and set up a school, before returning to the United States in the 1860s'.

BRONWEN & YAFFA: MOVING TOWARDS TOLERANCE
27 min.   1996  VC #4359
National Film Board of Canada
Bronwen, whose father is black and mother white, and Yaffa, whose parents
are Jewish, are organizing concerts to raise money for Eastcoast Against Racism.
Scott, a former Klu Klux Klan member, speaks of his experiences at one of their concerts. 

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
52 min.  1997  VC #5127
Isaac Isitan
Examines two of the currents in contemporary black thinking: afrocentrism and
the "reparations" movement.

CARNIVAL IN CANADA
56 min.  1982  VC #0388
University of Western Ontario
Describes the cultural significance of Caribana:  annual festival
of music and dance for the West Indian community of Toronto.

CHILDREN ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
30 min.  1991  VC #0615
Congress of Black Women
Daycare workers, teachers, and parents describe the impact of
racist behaviour on young children and the need to develop
educational programs that recognize Canada's multicultural
community.

COCONUT/CANE & CUTLAS
30 min.   1994  VC #4524
Michelle Mohabeer
A poetic rumination on exile, displacement and national identity from the
perspective of an Indo-Caribbean lesbian who migrated to Canada twenty years ago. 

CRISIS AT SIR GEORGE
47 min.  1999  VC #5475
Connections Prod.
Reviews events at Sir George Williams University, now Concordia, that led to the 1969 protest by
black students and the occupation and destruction of the university's computer centre.

ESTHER, BABY & ME
2000  21 min.  VC #6008
Louis Taylor
Louis Taylor's autobiographical film about his reaction to hearing his partner is
pregnant, and his experiences during the early stages of fatherhood. Takes on issues
of race, gender and relationships.

FIELDS OF ENDLESS DAY
58 min.  1978  MP #13E013-14/15A012-13 and VC #0646
National Film Board of Canada
Outlines the presence of black people in Canada, from the 17th
century to the first half of the 20th century.

FOLKWAYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY OF MUSIC AND DANCE OF THE AMERICAS
60 min.  1995  VC #3620
JVC/Smithsonian
1.  CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES
Eleven instrumental, vocal and dance performances from French-
speaking communities in Canada.  Seven from native and English-
speaking communities in Canada and a wide representation of rural
and urban traditions performed in African-American communities in
the United States.  

FRESH LOOKS 
A three tape compilation designed as an anti-racist tool for
classroom instruction and cultural education.
FRESH  LOOKS, 1
113 min.  1993  VC #3402
Contents: Out of the Blue; Good Hair, Pretty Hair.

FRESH LOOKS, 2
110 min.  1993  VC #3403
Contents: Cindy, 19 min

FRESH LOOKS, 3
104 min.  1993  VC #3404
Contents: Maigre Dog, 5 min; From Another Time Comes One/Into a
New Time Becomes a Brother, 12 min.

GOOD HAIR PRETTY HAIR CURLY HAIR
27 min.   1991  VC #2641
Andrew Davis 
Black Women talking about their experiences with hair depict the
process of socialization in the black community.

HOME FEELING
57 min.  1983  MP #23C006-7/23D023-24 and VC #0218
National Film Board of Canada 
Describes conditions in the Jane-Finch area of Toronto that
prevent residents from developing a sense of community.

HOME TO BUXTON
29 min.  1987  VC #0324
McTair Prieto
Explores Buxton's role as a major Canadian destination for blacks
fleeing slavery in the American south on the Underground
Railroad.

HYMN TO FREEDOM SERIES:
1. QUEBEC: A CANADIAN STORY, THE PACKWOOD FAMILY
58 min.  1994  VC #3269
Features the history of slavery in Lower Canada.

2. NOVA SCOTIA: AGAINST THE TIDES
58 min.  1994  VC #3270
Shows how the various immigrants contributed to the formation of
the province.

3. ONTARIO: A HISTORY BURIED
58 min.  1994  VC #3271
Represents the lives of many of the people who came to Ontario to
freedom along the Underground Railroad.

4. BRITISH COLUMBIA THE WEST: ON THIS ROCK
58 min.  1994  VC #3272
Examines how blacks influenced British Columbia to join the
Confederation of Canada instead of joining the United States.

IN THE KEY OF OSCAR
94 min.  1992  VC# 2795
National Film Board of Canada
Describes Oscar Peterson's struggle to overcome prejudice in
Canada and in the United States and achieve international
recognition as a virtuoso jazz pianist.

INEQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM
27 min.  1991  VC #0619
Concordia University
Examines sexual/racial biases Canadian women students frequently
encounter in colleges, universities and adult education settings.

JANE FINCH AGAIN
47 min.   1997  VC #4526
Roger McTair
Speaks to residents who were in the 1983 film, HOME FEELING, about the impact
of changes undertaken by community organizations and the police to improve
life in the area.

JENI LEGON: LIVING IN A GREAT BIG WAY
50 min.   1999  VC #5356
National Film Board of Canada
The story of the first black woman dancer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood
studio. Includes interviews with tap dancer Fayard Nicholas and archival footage
of Fayard and Harold Nicholas, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Fats Waller, Paul Robeson
and Cab Calloway.

JOURNEY TO JUSTICE
47 min.  2000  VC #5965
Roger McTair
Pays tribute to a group of Canadians who took racism to court. Focusing on the 1930s to the 1950s,
documents the struggle of six people who refused to accept inequality.

KANDALORE
27 min.  1990  VC #2756
Toronto Board of Education
Follows a group of Toronto area highschool students as they
participate in a week long racial awareness program at Camp
Kandalore.

KING OF THE HILL
57 min. 1974  MP #6063-6064
National Film Board of Canada
A portrait of Ferguson ("Fergie") Jenkins, a native of Chatham
who pitches for the Chicago Cubs National League baseball team. 

LISTEN TO US SERIES
4. ROBYN/NATHAN/VINNIE/ERIC
55 min.  1991  VC #2505
National Film Board of Canada 
Interviews with four teenagers who have experienced severe
problems in the child/parent relationship. Included are problems
of immigration and uprootedness.

LISTENING FOR SOMETHING: ADRIENNE RICH AND DIONNE BRAND IN CONVERSATION
56 min.   1996  VC #2338/4162
National Film Board of Canada
The American feminist poet and Trinidadian-Canadian feminist poet engage in a
dialogue on many subjects: citizenship, racism. exile, feminism, democracy
and poetry. Each reads from her work to illustrate points in their conversation.

MEETING PLACE
52 min.  1990   VC #2148
National Film Board of Canada
The varied experiences of Toronto's ethnic communities point to
the strengths and weaknesses of Canada's multicultural policies.

MIXED MESSAGES
43 min.   1997  VC #4593
For children of mixed marriages, developing a sense of personal cultural identity
is complex. Even within a family, siblings may choose different ethnic identifications,
or construct a "hybrid" culture.

NO TIME TO STOP: STORIES OF IMMIGRANT AND VISIBLE MINORITY WOMEN
29 min.  1990  MP #NFB 21F026 and VC #2268
National Film Board Canada
Personalized accounts of the situation of educated immigrant
women who are forced into low-paying jobs.

NO WAY! NOT ME
30 min.   1987  MP #3990 and VC #5230
National Film Board of Canada
Noted Canadian feminist and educator Rosemary Brown tells an audience of Toronto
high school students about the social and political realities of the feminization of poverty.

NOVA SCOTIA GARBAGE
22 min.   1998  VC #5204
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
An inquiry into the feelings of a black Nova Scotia community over a garbage
landfill for the city of Halifax being placed near their community, which
they feel is environmental racism. 

OLDER, STRONGER, WISER
28 min.  1989  VC #0634
National Film Board of Canada
Focuses on five rural and urban black women who speak of what
life was like for black women in Canada from the 1920's to the
1950's.

OUT OF SYNC: RACIAL BIAS AND THE MEDIA
60 min.   1994  VC #3755
Whynot  Prod.
Looks at how Ontario media reflect racial minorities and shape our views of
them in their employment practices, news coverage and portrayal in programming.

OUT OF THE BLUE
28 min.  1991  VC #2946
Fungus Prod.
Recounts the experience of a black teenager and his family when
he was forcibly removed from a Scarborough church service and
wrongfully charged with robbery by the Metropolitan Toronto
Police.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER: AN ARTIST'S JOURNEY
48 min.   1998   VC 4965
National Film Board of Canada
Michael Chambers has never shied away from the difficult, the uncomfortable,
the controversial. His work comments on the human condition, Black identity,
self-expression, racism, sexual orientation, and AIDS prevention.

THE PLANET OF JUNIOR BROWN
91 min.   1998  VC Feature
Clement Virgo
Home use - no classroom rights
Junior Brown is a musical prodigy who can play concerts in his head - as he must
since his mother cut the strings of his piano. His best friend, street-wise Bobby
Clark, uses his skills to help out. Based on the book by Virginia Hamilton.
 
REMEMBER AFRICAVILLE
35 min.  1991  VC #2418
National Film Board of Canada
Africville, a small black community within the city limits of
Halifax was demolished in the 1960's in the name of urban renewal
and integration.

THE ROAD TAKEN
52 min.   1996  VC #4411
National Film Board of Canada
Documents the discrimination experienced by Blacks who worked as sleeping-car
porters on Canada's railways and their successful legal challenge in 1955 to improve
their working conditions.

ROLAND JEAN
22 min.  1999  VC #5721
Michelle Anne Bess
Portrait of Haitian-born Canadian artist Roland Jean, who speaks of the influence of his
Haitian heritage, the importance of jazz, and the influence of James Baldwin, Mohammad Ali,
Miles Davis and Charlie Parker in his life. Curators comment on his style, and his place
among contemporary black artists.

RUDE
90 min.  1995  VC Feature
Clement Virgo
Portrays the inner©city struggle for survival and respect.

SAAR
28 min.   1994  VC 4810
Selina Williams
Six college-educated black women discuss life, male-female relationships,
cultural diversity and feminism.

SHOW GIRLS: CELEBRATING MONTREAL'S LEGENDARY BLACK JAZZ SCENE
52 min.   1998  VC #5076
National Film Board of Canada
Three women share their memories against the backdrop of the fascinating social
and political history that made Montreal the Eastern seaboard's jazz and 
nightclub centre for decades.

SITTING IN LIMBO
95 min.  1986  VC Feature
National Film Board of Canada
The bittersweet love story of Pat and Fabian, two teenagers with
roots in the Caribbean, who are struggling in the alien urban
environment of Montreal.

SKIN DEEP: THE SCIENCE OF RACE
47 min.   1996  VC #4348 
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Relates how skin colour has been used to discriminate against groups of people and
the roles colonialism, slavery and economics have played in this. Reveals that
genetic variation between individuals is greater that variation between groups
of people, and that 75% of human genes are shared by all people. 

SOUL SURVIVOR
88 min.  1995  VC Feature 
Stephen Williams
Home use - no classroom rights
A beauty salon worker earns extra money by collecting debts for a
money lender who is a successful club owner.

SPEAK IT! FROM THE HEART OF BLACK NOVA SCOTIA
29 min.  1992  MP #NFB 19E019/28F015 and VC #1708
National Film Board of Canada
Follows a group of energetic Black students as they work to
establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for
building pride and self-esteem.

SPEAKERS FOR THE DEAD
49 min.   2000   VC #5913
National Film Board of Canada
The Old Durham Road Pioneer Cemetery in  Priceville, Ontario, burial ground of
the area's original black settlers, lay for many years hidden under a farmer's
potato field. As cemetary restoration work progressed, new evidence, resident's
memories, and a decision to dig in the cemetery to search for grave stones,
divide the community.

TROPIC NORTH
52 min.  1994  VC #4168
Jean-Daniel Lafond/Cinema Libre
Focuses on the issues of ethnicity and racism in Quebec as they
affect individual Black Canadians.

US AND THEM: CANADIAN IDENTITY AND RACE RELATIONS
45 min.   1999  VC #5320
Tabata Productions 
Ten high school students from varied ethnocultural backgrounds discuss
current issues of concern to them about Canadian identity.

WELCOME TO AFRICVILLE
15 min.  1999  VC #5500
Dana Inkster
Four actors portray residents of the community and their concerns, on the
eve of its demolition. Archival footage of Africville and its end is used
as background to the drama.

WHO GETS IN?
52 min.  1989  VC #1975
National Film Board of Canada
Presents the impact of Canada's new immigration laws.

WOMEN AT THE WELL SERIES:
National Film Board of Canada
2. SISTERS IN THE STRUGGLE
52 min.  1991  VC #0366
Features black women active in community, labour and feminist
organizations as well as electoral politics who share their
insights on Canada's legacy of racism and sexism.

3. LONG TIME COMIN'
52 min.  1991  VC# 3047
Documents the experiences of Faith Nolan and Grace Channer, two
African-Canadian lesbian artists whose paintings are concerned
with issues of race, gender, class and sexuality.

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