Did you know that UVic Libraries’ collection contains several thousand films that you can stream from anywhere at any time – all you need is your Netlink ID and password.
Unwind, make some popcorn, check out the Law Library Team’s recommended films below and enjoy your much deserved break!
Kanopy Streaming Video 
: Kanopy is a video streaming platform offering a “Netflix-like” user experience and a broad selection of over 26,000 feature films and documentaries from well renowned filmmakers.
NFB National Film Board CAMPUS: NFB Campus 
collection contains over 5,200 Canadian documentaries, animated films, interactive productions, and short films in English and French.
Staff Picks:
Lynne’s picks:
Bed and Sofa: “Bed And Sofa is the story of a love triangle between a woman and two men living together in a one-room basement apartment in 1927 Moscow. When Liuda becomes pregnant and no one knows which man is the father, she must determine her own future. With an involving plot, comic invention, pathos, naturalistic performances, and highly-charged use of space and objects, director Abram Room illuminates the lives of the characters but without offering a simplistic resolution.”
The People of the Kattawapiskak River: “Alanis Obomsawin’s documentary The People of the Kattawapiskak River: exposes the housing crisis faced by 1,700 Cree in Northern Ontario, a situation that led Attawapiskat’s band chief, Theresa Spence, to ask the Canadian Red Cross for help. With the Idle No More movement making front page headlines, this film provides background and context for one aspect of the growing crisis.”
David’s picks:
The Railroader: “This short film from director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal) stars Buster Keaton in one of the last films of his long career. As “the railrodder”, Keaton crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to Keaton’s genre, the film is full of sight gags as our protagonist putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the old days of the silent slapsticks.”
M: “A simple, haunting musical phrase whistled offscreen tells us that a young girl will be killed. “Who Is the Murderer?” pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann . . . In his harrowing masterwork M, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller.”
Alex’s picks:
The Great Beauty: The filmmaker that lead to my love of Italian films. One of Paulo Sorrentino’s most recent films, and Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014. The Great Beauty is a visually stunning look at Rome through the eyes of Jep Gambardella, an aging novelist – coasting on the fame of his first (and only) novel – as he takes stock of his life and whether his days have been misspent.
Amarcord: “This carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the fascist period, the most personal film from Federico Fellini, satirizes the director’s youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals, adolescent desires, male fantasies, and political subterfuge, all set to Nina Rota’s classic, nostalgia-tinged score.”
Alisa’s pick:
RIP! A Remix Manifesto: “Join filmmaker Brett Gaylor and mashup artist Girl Talk as they explore copyright and content creation in the digital age. In the process they dissect the media landscape of the 21st century and shatter the wall between users and producers. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil’s Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow also come along for the ride.”
Kim’s picks
I Am Not Your Negro: I saw this on a plane, and I was really glad to have had my headset on that flight. Samuel L Jackson narrates this documentary which takes an unfinished work by James Baldwin as its jumping point. It threads the history of the civil rights and earlier backdrops to present day, to explore and contextualize current racial tensions and institutionalized racism in our southern neighbour.
Café de Flore: Before he directed Big Little Lies or even Dallas Buyers Club, Montreal director Jean-Marc Vallée directed Café de Flore, a gripping and complex but exciting set of parallel tales, set in France in the 60s and Québec in modern day.
