La Maestra: Alondra de la Parra

“Symphonic Sketches” tells the story of one classical music concert performed by the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra. Musicians from diverse racial backgrounds connect to the repertoire in unique ways and stage an unforgettable performance.

Leonard Bernstein’s protégée Marin Alsop reveals how she smashed the glass ceiling to become an internationally renowned conductor.

Simone Young AM has earned many accolades across her dazzling 30-year music career. All have been hard won. Knowing the Score gets up-close and personal with Simone in an engaging, luscious music documentary revealing two key themes; the long struggle for gender parity in the high art of classical music and the heart breaking struggle for artists to be valued in times of crisis, or sometimes even at all. Though one of the world’s great contemporary conductors, Simone’s work continues to be viewed through a gender lens. Simone is the first woman to be appointed Chief Conductor of The Sydney Symphony Orchestra in all its 90-year history, a post she takes up in 2022.

Today there are over 100 Aboriginal Friendship Centers across Canada. They provide essential services and a home away from home for many. A Place to Belong celebrates Christmas at the very first Friendship Center, located in East Vancouver, and reveals the story behind the Friendship Center movement.

The holy grail of TV AKB documentaries. Today, AKB48 is a cultural phenomenon and is known to almost every Japanese person in one way or another. They’ve held concerts in Japan’s largest domes, won the most prestigious music awards, and have broken many records in their time with a truly dedicated fanbase. However, reaching such heights was filled with much more struggle than one would expect. This 2-hour documentary shows the story of AKB48 from their turbulent foundations in 2005 to their truly miraculous rise to fame.

We’re back for round two! Much like “AKB48+1”, this documentary goes through the English alphabet talking about a different aspect of the group for each letter. While still featuring tons of behind the scenes footage, it focuses more on member relations and the events of the past year (2012). Again, this documentary is a brilliant look into the diversity of the AKB48 experience. There’s so much about this group to learn, and the two bonus “AKB48+1” and “AKB48+1+10” documentaries provide a detailed look in a fun way.

19th century somewhere in Europe. A child has to climb up a chimney, a bird sails down into it and builds a nest, there is no going back for both.

12 Canadian seaside views, combined into one imagined ocean in a way, that only cinema can do.

Animated documentary film about the fate of the writer - Yuri Olesha. About how he was strangled by the grip of the era that fell to him, and in such an embrace he was forced to live not his life. Created on the basis of the writer's diaries, the film tells about the inner throwing of a talented man who died in literature thirty years before his physical death.