The Back-breaking Leaf

Jan 2, 1959

0h 29m

★ 10.0

Overview

Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario. At the end of July, transient field workers move in for a brief bonanza when the plant is ripe. The tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf."

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

ONF | NFB

The Back-breaking Leaf Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Commentary

Stanley Jackson

“Where the North Begins” was one of the 4 original regional portrait films commissioned for the first season of Ontario Place (the others being "North of Superior" (IMAX), "Seasons in the Mind" (70mm), and "Home By The Waters" (35mm anamorphic). The film was directed by David MacKay who was the producer for "A Place to Stand" and then directed "Ontario-oh!". Although "Where The North Begins" was commissioned by the Ontario government, Dave's subversive and wicked sense of irony does come shining through, as does his heartfelt beliefs.

7.5

Black Ice

Jul 14, 2023

This incisive, urgent documentary examines the history of anti-Black racism in hockey, from the segregated leagues of the 19th century to today’s NHL, where Black athletes continue to struggle against bigotry.

0.0

Attila

Oct 10, 2023

Filmmaker Stephen Hosier takes a journey with Richard Csanyi, his childhood friend, as he investigates the life and death of his twin brother Attila, who was found dead on a rooftop in 2020.

8.3

North of Superior

May 22, 1971

The second IMAX film made, commissioned by the Ontario Government, and produced by MultiScreen Corporation, later to become IMAX corporation. North of Superior is a Northern Ontario travelogue, and was the first short feature to be shown at the newly created Ontario government theme park, Ontario Place, in it's state of the art cinema, Cinesphere, the first permanent IMAX installation.

7.6

The Gleaners and I

Jul 7, 2000

Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Her investigation leads from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism.

6.6

Fellini of the Spirits

Aug 31, 2020

2020 marks 100 years since the birth of Federico Fellini, the most prominent Italian director and one of the symbols of the insuperable cinematic heyday of mid-20th century. Fellini had always been a mysterious director, not only in his cryptic symbolism but also in his idiosyncratic, excessive mixture of psychoanalysis, Catholicism and faith in the mysterious. In this documentary, his relationship with the paranormal, luck and fate, alongside the coexistence of organized discourse and transcendence to the imaginary, is examined via friends, collaborators and distinguished fans (Friedkin, Gilliam, Chazelle). A great testimony to why rationalists and ideologists have a hard time with his work, ‘Fellini and the Spirits’ is an appropriate yet unexpected tribute.

8.1

Picture a Scientist

Nov 11, 2020

A documentary that looks at systemic sexism faced by women scientists in STEM fields.

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5.0

Het is een schone dag geweest

Nov 4, 1993

Documentary about the last four seasons on the farm run by the director's parents. The film starts on 1 January 1992, at 6 am and ends in a misty landscape at the end of that year. Het is een schone dag geweest (It's been a beautiful day) shows the end of a farm venture for which no successor has been found, but also the disappearance of a traditional way of life. Modern agriculture is ruled by new regulations, largely made in Brussels. Lonely work on a noisy machine replaces hard but communal work on the land. In a disciplined style, the film shows the disappearance of a traditional lifestyle in part of Holland. Het is een schone dag geweest was ïn 2007 admitted to the "Canon van de Nederlandse Film", a list of the most important Dutch films. (filmcommission.nl)

No Image Available

0.0

Migrant Dreams

May 1, 2016

When Umi and Dwipa left Indonesia to work in an Ontario greenhouse as part of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program, they hoped the jobs would provide the opportunity and income for a better life. They didn't expect that fixers and false promises would lead to deception and exploitation. Sadly, their story is not uncommon. Min Sook Lee continues to speak truth to power with her commitment to providing a voice to the silenced, fulfilling documentary's capacity as a powerful tool for social change.

8.0

Christmas at Moose Factory

Jan 1, 1971

A study of life at Christmastime in Moose Factory, an old settlement mainly composed of Cree families on the shore of James Bay, composed entirely of children's crayon drawings and narrated by children.

6.2

What Jennifer Did

Apr 9, 2024

When Jennifer Pan calls 911 to report that her parents have been shot, she becomes the primary focus of a captivating criminal case.

0.0

CircleSpeak

Jan 1, 2005

Shot in Southern England over the course of six weeks by a crew of three American filmmakers, CircleSpeak offers a nuanced look at the passions and beliefs of the people immersed in the crop circle phenomenon during the season of 2001. This feature-length documentary presents interviews with serious “researchers”, self-proclaimed “hoaxers”, local farmers and villagers who are all, in one way or another, involved in this strange and compelling summer spectacle taking place year after year.

6.0

Earth to Mouth

Apr 29, 2003

Filmed at the Wing Fong Farm in Ontario, this documentary follows the tilling, planting and harvesting of Asian vegetables destined for Chinese markets and restaurants. On 80 acres of land, Lau King-Fai, her son and a half-dozen migrant Mexican workers care for the plants. For Yeung Kwan, her son, the farm represents personal and financial independence. For his mother, it is an oasis of peace. For the Mexican workers, it provides jobs that help support their children back home.

0.0

Glimpses of Ontario

Dec 5, 1942

This Traveltalk series short visits Ontario, the second largest province of Canada. Toronto is the province's largest city, sitting on the shores of Lake Ontario. After the War of 1812, the Rideau Canal was built connecting the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario. The canal figures prominently in the geography and history of the City of Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

0.0

Wine Cliffs

Oct 18, 2009

Ermanno Olmi has returned to documentary filmmaking and makes a journey through valleys, living rocks and the culture of the Valtellina hillsides.

7.1

The Hart of London

Nov 30, 1970

"The Hart of London" is an endlessly layered tour de force. It explores life and death, the sense of place and personal displacement, and the intricate aesthetics of representation. It is a personal and spiritual film, marked inevitably by Chambers’s knowledge that he had leukemia. The late American avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage said of Hart, "If I named the five greatest films [ever made], this has got to be one of them." Even this high praise falls short of hyperbole. The Hart of London is at the centre of Chambers’s extraordinary achievement.

6.7

The Silent Enemy

Aug 2, 1930

In the Canadian Northwest, the Chippewa tribe struggles to find food before the onset of winter.

9.3

You Don't Know Nicotine

Nov 20, 2020

Amidst radical changes in nicotine use globally, one filmmaker's journey through the confusion & fear leads to a startling discovery about Earth's most hated stimulant. Society may be changed forever.

6.6

The Manor

May 10, 2013

An intimate portrayal of a peculiar Jewish family running a small town strip club, while attempting to nurse their relationships and themselves back to health.

The Back-breaking Leaf

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Back-breaking Leaf Trailers