Program Date: 2012 to 2013
!Led by DOC Toronto and supported by the OMDC's Entertainment and Creative
Cluster Partnerships Fund, the DOCS IN CLASS initiative was a vital and timely
project aimed at identifying and creating curriculum opportunities for Ontario’s wide
array of excellent independent documentary films.
DOCS IN CLASS aimed to: assist filmmakers in evaluating, re-purposing, and
categorizing their existing material so that it was "learner friendly" and effectively
linked to Ontario’s curriculum themes; ensure that Ontario educators can easily
access and use Canadian documentaries to engage their students; support the
development of new, innovative educational resources that would fill gaps in the
current curriculum offerings; connect Ontario’s documentary filmmakers with
curriculum experts, educational distributors, educators and with other Ontario-based
content creators including book publishers and e-learning digital companies all
seeking similar opportunities in the educational market; lead the conversation around
the creation of a first-ever, centralized delivery system designed to ensure that more
Canadian documentaries (and films in general) could reach educators in learner and
teacher friendly forms and formats.
! D OCS IN CLASS Summer School 2013 Participants!
Five films were selected to participate in the DOCS IN CLASS Summer School
Program with Curriculum Services Canada in 2013. The following DOC Toronto
Members worked with the CSC's team of writers and educators in the production
of a study guide for their film.!!
Ralph Brown, Director/Producer, All our Relations (2 x 22 mins., 2012). All
Our Relations celebrates the lives of Aboriginal Canadians who have achieved
international success and recognition. Each half hour features interviews with tribal
elders, historic experts, relatives and famous First Nation’s people from the fields of
sports, politics, architecture, diplomacy, movies and dance. Every story documents
the subject’s ancestral history and acknowledges their pride in First Nations culture,
providing a unique insight into the personal lives of their public persona
Ed Kucerak, Director/Producer, The Secret Lives of Butterflies (51
mins., 2009). Butterflies are unquestionably the most colourful creatures on
earth. Their magic is largely a secret one. The Secret Lives of Butterflies captures
the splendor of these fleeting insects, exploring new realms of biology and ecology,
which have been, until recently, largely undiscovered. The film also examines
society’s cultural and sociological obsession with these winged wonders.
Andrew Moir, Director/Producer, Just As I Remember (17 mins., 2012).
When Andrew Moir was four years old his father was told he had two to five years to
live. His father had ALS, a fatal and incurable illness. Years later and now a
filmmaker, Andrew meets Brad. Brad has ALS and three young children, just like
Andrew’s dad when he was diagnosed. Narrated from the first person, Just As I
Remember confronts the heartbreaking decisions faced by two fathers living with
ALS, exploring it from their children’s perspectives.
Barry Stevens, Director, Bomber Command (44 mins., 2012). After
surviving the German bombing campaign of British cities, RAF Bomber Command
struck back against Germany. Bomber Command: Hitting Back (Part 1) takes the
viewer through a strategic bombing sortie, as experienced by Canadian Allied
personnel on the ground and in the air, German military, and survivors of the
attacks. The devastating consequences of raids, for both for the young men in the
skies and the people on the ground, are vividly portrayed. In Getting Home (Part 2)
Bomber Command personnel and a Luftwaffe pilot take the viewer through the
frightening reality of fighting in the skies as they try to get a damaged bomber
home, providing an intimate, personal, examination of one of the Second World
War’s most protracted and deadly campaigns.
Eileen Thalenberg, Director/Producer, Up Against the Wall (51 mins.,
2009). Up Against the Wall poses the question: Do walls work? Focusing on three
democracies this documentary examines three hot spots: the wall separating Israel
and the West Bank, the ‘Tortilla Wall’ between the United States and Mexico, and
the walls which protect “Fortress Europe”, exploring the themes of borders,
sovereignty, migration and human rights.
DOCS IN CLASS Summer School 2012 Participants
Five films were selected to participate in the DOCS IN CLASS Summer School
Program with Curriculum Services Canada in 2012. The following DOC Toronto
Members worked with CSC's team of writers and educators this Fall in the
production of a study guide for their film.
Andrew Korogyi, Director, Truman's World (9 mins., 2010). Meet Truman
Klaver, an 8 year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Many people don't know much
about Asperger's Syndrome, but through meeting Truman and his family we
discover many of the ups and downs of living with it. What does Truman go through
day to day and what does his future look like? How can we come to understand this
complicated and compelling disorder?
Ayelen Liberona, Director, Keepers of the Water (4 mins., Wandering Eye
Productions, 2010). Keepers of the Water is about a group of Native children in Fort
Chipewyan, directly downstream from the most environmentally toxic industrial
project in the world, the Alberta Tar Sands. Together they protest this environmental
crime and the film tells their story.
Jerry McIntosh, Producer, Phantoms of the French Shore (45 mins.,
McIntosh Media, 2011).The French Shore Tapestry is a 70 meter (227ft)
embroidered narrative work of art, worthy of its inspiration – the legendary 11th
century Bayeux Tapestry. Created in France and northern Newfoundland, the
memorable linen and wool mural tells the history of the region’s French Shore, from
the pre-historic animals that roamed the forests and shoreline to the moment in
2006 when a few talented women in the tiny outport of Conche began their
embroidering odyssey. The documentary Phantoms of the French Shore is the
English language version of a bilingual HD documentary with both French and
English versions. The documentaries take viewers on a journey traveling the length
of the tapestry, and its parade of historic and colourful characters, while telling the
story of a unique partnership whose aim is to keep the French culture alive.
Ryan J. Noth, Producer, Northwords (48 mins., FilmCAN, 2012).
Northwords is a cross-platform documentary project that tells the story of a literary
expedition above the tree line led by award-winning journalist and activist Shelagh
Rogers, who handpicked five of Canada's leading writers to accompany her to a
remote corner of northern Labrador to explore and seek inspiration, and to instigate
new stories and conversation about the north. The film tracks the group as they
navigate the harsh and stunning terrain of Torngat Mountains National Park - the
country's newest national park, and a place steeped in geological and human
history. Along the way, they learn about issues facing the north today, and confront
some of the dark moments in its recent past. Northwords explores the idea of north
and shows what happens when the country’s best writers tackle one of its most
overwhelmingly beautiful places.
Noemi Weis, Writer/Producer, Teaching the Life of Music (47 mins.,
Filmblanc, 2011). Inspired by a man with a vision and utilizing the power of film,
Teaching the Life of Music tells the story of Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu, El Sistema
and the impact that a developing country like Venezuela is having on a developed
country like Canada. We witness El Sistemas ability to transform poverty and
violence into healthy living through the passion and discipline inherent in music
education. Founded by Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu 36 years ago, El Sistema is an
organization that brings music education and instruments to children living in the
most deprived areas of Venezuela. The program is known for rescuing young people
in extremely impoverished circumstances and teaching them the life of music in
place of a life of substance abuse and violence. Today, El Sistema has successfully
reached over 350,000 children. One of their most famous graduates is Gustavo
Dudamel, the celebrated young musical director of the LA Philharmonic Orchestra.
Teaching the Life of Music follows El Sistema's impact outside of Venezela, following
the work of The Leading Note Foundation in Ottawa modeled after El Sistema and
attracting kids from the lowest income levels
DOCS IN CLASS was made possible with the support of the Ontario Media
Development Corporation on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport.!
DOCS IN CLASS partners included: the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP),
Curriculum Services Canada (CSC), Interactive Ontario (IO), Independent Learning
Centre (ILC/CEI), Toronto District School Board – English Literacy (TDSB).