Planet in Focus Movies
Are you already through the Quentin Quarantino marathon? Tired of the toilet paper memes? If you’re like us and on week three of social distancing, then you’re likely in need of stimulating content. The staff at Planet in Focus have researched some of our favourite Official Selections that are now available online to help you get through self-isolation.
All jokes aside, we hope that you and your families are safe and healthy during this anxious time. It can be emotionally draining, but art always has a way of getting us through. Stay creative, informed, and remember to wash your hands!
Planet in Focus closed the 2019 film festival with Eco-Hero and Academy Award Winner Louis Psihoyos’ The Game Changers, available on Netflix. In an uncommon approach, Psihoyos avoids ethical and environmental arguments for adopting a plant-based diet. Instead, Game Changers focuses on an elite cadre of mostly male athletes to explode the myth that animal protein is required for maximum physical strength, performance and, ahem, sexual prowess. Scientists and experts join Olympians, UFC fighters, weightlifters and ultra-marathoners whose switch to vegetarian and vegan diets has achieved dramatically positive results.
WATCH THE FILM
For a limited time, Les Films du 3 Mars have made award winning film, Zagros, available for free online. In an effort to memorialize these methods before they're lost to history, Iranian-Canadian filmmakers Ariane Lorrain and Shahab Mihandoust travelled to the Zagros region to produce this documentary. Intently observing some of the world's foremost carpet makers, weaving naturally dyed yarns into vibrant, astoundingly intricate designs. As their subjects weave the threads into breathtaking creations, their film is a poetic portrait of a hardy people and the art form that gives them purpose.
WATCH THE FILM
Almost every year, the western world is introduced to a new superfood that boasts extraordinary nutritional benefits. In The Superfood Chain, filmmaker Ann Shin explores the stories behind foods such as quinoa, teff, coconuts, and wild salmon, revealing the superfood industry's effect on the lives of farm families in Bolivia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Haida Gwaii. The documentary examines its unintended effects on food security, health, sustainable farming, and fair-trade food practices.
WATCH THE FILM
Directly on their YouTube channel, Patagonia Films presents an eye-opening documentary about people, rivers, and the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them. Artifishal explores wild salmon’s slide toward extinction, threats posed by fish hatcheries and fish farms, and our continued loss of faith in nature. Urgent and richly informative, this documentary reveals how efforts have backfired, and how consumers can play a role in reversing the consequences.
WATCH THE FILM
Now on CRAVE is Sharkwater: Extinction. Late filmmaker, conservationist and Planet in Focus Eco-Hero Rob Stewart’s last documentary is a thrilling exposé on the illegal shark-fin industry. An inspiring, action packed journey that follows Rob as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it — a conspiracy that is leading to the extinction of sharks. Stewart dedicated his life to conservation, saying: “Conservation is the preservation of human life. And, that, above all else is worth fighting for.”
WATCH THE FILM
Available for rent or purchase on iTunes, Eco-Hero Anne Innis Dagg stars in The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. By retracing her original steps, and with letters and stunning, original 16mm film footage, Anne offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a first hand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. The world’s first ‘giraffologist’, whose research findings ultimately became the foundation for many scientists following in her footsteps, and the species she loves, have experienced triumphs as well as nasty battle scars.
WATCH THE FILM
Available for rent or purchase on iTunes, Anthropocene is a four years in the making feature documentary film from the multiple-award winning team of Planet in Focus Eco-Heroes: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky. A cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, third in a trilogy that includes Manufactured Landscapes (2006) and Watermark (2013).
WATCH THE FILM
From one of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin's Trick or Treaty? is available for free through the National Film Board of Canada. To the Canadian government, Treaty No.9 represents a surrendering of Indigenous sovereignty, while the descendants of the Cree signatories contend its original purpose to share the land and its resources has been misunderstood and not upheld. An enlightening documentary that succinctly and powerfully portrays one community’s attempts to enforce their treaty rights and protect their lands, while also revealing the complexities of contemporary treaty agreements.
WATCH THE FILM
Download the free CBC Gem app to watch Modified, a personal and poignant investigative journey to find out why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not identified on food product labels in Canada, despite being on labels in 64 countries around the world. The film explores Aube Giroux’s relationship with her mom, a gardener and food activist who battled cancer during the film’s production. Their mother-daughter quest for answers, fuelled by a shared love of food, reveals the extent to which the agribusiness industry controls our food policies, and makes a strong case for a more transparent and sustainable food system.
WATCH THE FILM
All jokes aside, we hope that you and your families are safe and healthy during this anxious time. It can be emotionally draining, but art always has a way of getting us through. Stay creative, informed, and remember to wash your hands!
Planet in Focus closed the 2019 film festival with Eco-Hero and Academy Award Winner Louis Psihoyos’ The Game Changers, available on Netflix. In an uncommon approach, Psihoyos avoids ethical and environmental arguments for adopting a plant-based diet. Instead, Game Changers focuses on an elite cadre of mostly male athletes to explode the myth that animal protein is required for maximum physical strength, performance and, ahem, sexual prowess. Scientists and experts join Olympians, UFC fighters, weightlifters and ultra-marathoners whose switch to vegetarian and vegan diets has achieved dramatically positive results.
WATCH THE FILM
For a limited time, Les Films du 3 Mars have made award winning film, Zagros, available for free online. In an effort to memorialize these methods before they're lost to history, Iranian-Canadian filmmakers Ariane Lorrain and Shahab Mihandoust travelled to the Zagros region to produce this documentary. Intently observing some of the world's foremost carpet makers, weaving naturally dyed yarns into vibrant, astoundingly intricate designs. As their subjects weave the threads into breathtaking creations, their film is a poetic portrait of a hardy people and the art form that gives them purpose.
WATCH THE FILM
Almost every year, the western world is introduced to a new superfood that boasts extraordinary nutritional benefits. In The Superfood Chain, filmmaker Ann Shin explores the stories behind foods such as quinoa, teff, coconuts, and wild salmon, revealing the superfood industry's effect on the lives of farm families in Bolivia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, and Haida Gwaii. The documentary examines its unintended effects on food security, health, sustainable farming, and fair-trade food practices.
WATCH THE FILM
Directly on their YouTube channel, Patagonia Films presents an eye-opening documentary about people, rivers, and the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them. Artifishal explores wild salmon’s slide toward extinction, threats posed by fish hatcheries and fish farms, and our continued loss of faith in nature. Urgent and richly informative, this documentary reveals how efforts have backfired, and how consumers can play a role in reversing the consequences.
WATCH THE FILM
Now on CRAVE is Sharkwater: Extinction. Late filmmaker, conservationist and Planet in Focus Eco-Hero Rob Stewart’s last documentary is a thrilling exposé on the illegal shark-fin industry. An inspiring, action packed journey that follows Rob as he exposes the massive illegal shark fin industry and the political corruption behind it — a conspiracy that is leading to the extinction of sharks. Stewart dedicated his life to conservation, saying: “Conservation is the preservation of human life. And, that, above all else is worth fighting for.”
WATCH THE FILM
Available for rent or purchase on iTunes, Eco-Hero Anne Innis Dagg stars in The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. By retracing her original steps, and with letters and stunning, original 16mm film footage, Anne offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a first hand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. The world’s first ‘giraffologist’, whose research findings ultimately became the foundation for many scientists following in her footsteps, and the species she loves, have experienced triumphs as well as nasty battle scars.
WATCH THE FILM
Available for rent or purchase on iTunes, Anthropocene is a four years in the making feature documentary film from the multiple-award winning team of Planet in Focus Eco-Heroes: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky. A cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, third in a trilogy that includes Manufactured Landscapes (2006) and Watermark (2013).
WATCH THE FILM
From one of the most acclaimed Indigenous directors in the world, Alanis Obomsawin's Trick or Treaty? is available for free through the National Film Board of Canada. To the Canadian government, Treaty No.9 represents a surrendering of Indigenous sovereignty, while the descendants of the Cree signatories contend its original purpose to share the land and its resources has been misunderstood and not upheld. An enlightening documentary that succinctly and powerfully portrays one community’s attempts to enforce their treaty rights and protect their lands, while also revealing the complexities of contemporary treaty agreements.
WATCH THE FILM
Download the free CBC Gem app to watch Modified, a personal and poignant investigative journey to find out why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not identified on food product labels in Canada, despite being on labels in 64 countries around the world. The film explores Aube Giroux’s relationship with her mom, a gardener and food activist who battled cancer during the film’s production. Their mother-daughter quest for answers, fuelled by a shared love of food, reveals the extent to which the agribusiness industry controls our food policies, and makes a strong case for a more transparent and sustainable food system.
WATCH THE FILM