Jennifer Abbott
Exposes how companies are desperately rebranding as socially responsible — and how that threatens democratic freedoms.
Filmmaker Jennifer Abbott explores the emotional and psychological dimensions of the climate crisis and the relationship between grief and hope in times of personal and planetary change.
17 of the largest ships emit more sulfur than all the cars on the planet. How is this possible?
A collection of films from an eclectic array of contributors commissioned to raise funds for the Bristol independent cinema The Cube.
I AM is an utterly engaging and entertaining non-fiction film that poses two practical and provocative questions: what’s wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better? The filmmaker behind the inquiry is Tom Shadyac, one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners and the creative force behind such blockbusters as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” “The Nutty Professor,” and “Bruce Almighty.” However, in I AM, Shadyac steps in front of the camera to recount what happened to him after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged with a new sense of purpose, determined to share his own awakening to his prior life of excess and greed, and to investigate how he as an individual, and we as a race, could improve the way we live and walk in the world.
On the eve of the long-awaited Khmer Rouge trial, an American survivor of the genocide returns to Cambodia hoping to unlock the mystery of her father's disappearance in 1975. Thida Buth Mam's quest intersects with many silent voices: widows, survivors from remote villages, monks and even former perpetrators. Her search for the truth stirs up the fractured pieces of one family's nightmare, unearths an unimaginable heartbreak and ultimately shines light on a people's broken silence.
Once in a while a person comes along and flat changes it all. For the world of snowboarding, Craig Kelly was that guy. Craig Kelly led the charge, and led it with more class, skill and energy than anyone else would have or could have. Craig Kelly was snowboarding's original captain, and remained on top until his tragic death by avalanche in 2003.
Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.
When Linda, an outspoken lesbian psychotherapist, decided that George, a bulldozer-driving transsexual, was the woman for her, Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian Marriage was born. Directed and produced by Vancouver-based Mark Achbar, the video was shot over a two-year period by the subjects and covers what the media touted as the first lesbian marriage in Canadian history, a graphic sex change operation, and the daily lives and most intimate moments of a relationship generally hidden behind the iron curtain of societal taboo.
A Cow at My Table explores Western attitudes towards farm animals and meat, and the intense battle between animal advocates and the meat industry to influence the consumer's mind. Five years in production took Director Jennifer Abbott across Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand to meet with the leaders of the animal rights movement, animal welfare advocates as well as spokespeople from livestock industries. A Cow at My Table inter-cuts these diverse perspectives with archival films, images from modern-day agribusiness and footage of farm animals shot from uncharacteristic vantage points.
The myths of the priapic Black stud and the White woman beauty ideal collide in this rhythmically constructed work about identity and desire. Skinned explores the specific historic, psychological and social implications of relationships between Black men and White women. Using their bodies as a point of juncture, the artists blatantly situate the viewer as voyeur while identifying this physical realm as the arena within which cultural communities and individuals oppose interracial relationships. Ultimately, the multiplicity of images and voices calls into question the validity of definitive truths and the authoritative voice.
