John Walker Productions is pleased to make these films available for free in celebration of John Walker’s Hot Docs Festival retrospective.
Orphans of Manchuria
51 MINS, 1994
Shot in China and Japan this film deals with the plight of Japanese children left in China at the end of WWII. Like the Jews of Europe they had to hide their true identity in Mao’s China. Returning to Japan they face a new challenge as they try to adapt to a culture that is now foreign to them. Produced by October Films, Channel 4 broadcast.
ACCT Gemini nomination – Donald Brittain Award – Best social/political documentary
Hidden Children
49 MINS, 1994
Shot in Poland, Israel and Canada the film reveals the deeply held childhood memories of those who were forced to hide their Jewish identity during WWII. Produced by October Films, Channel 4 broadcast.
Chicago Film Festival – Golden Plaque Award
Invited to the New York, San Francisco and Toronto Jewish Film Festivals
ACCT Gemini nomination – Donald Brittain Award – Best social/political documentary
The Hand of Stalin Episode 1
58 MINS, 1990
Leningradskaya – A village in Southern Russia and Leningrad – the opening two films of a trilogy use first person accounts by both victims and perpetrators to reveal the devastation of the famine in a village in Southern Russia, and the political persecution by secret police of those deemed “enemies of the people” in Leningrad under Stalin’s regime. October Films, PTV Productions, BBC broadcast.
The Hand of Stalin Episode 2
58 MINS, 1990
First-person accounts revealing the tragic details of the political persecution suffered under Stalin’s regime in the 1930s. October Films, PTV Productions, BBC broadcast.
UTSHIMASSITS: Place of the Boss
1996
In the 60’s, the Mushuau Innu were forced by the Canadian government to abandon their 6,000 year nomadic culture and settle in Davis Inlet. Their relocation resulted in cultural collapse and widespread despair that they now work to overcome.
Distress Signals
1991
Inspired by the ideas of visionary thinker Harold Innis, the film looks at the predominance of American television programming around the world at the expense of regional cultural voices.
Tough Assignment
89 MINS, 1996
A verité portrait of a year in the life of an urban high school and the teachers who transform lives. Teachers not as institutional child caretakers, but teachers in a larger, more profound sense, mentors of the soul who opened up new worlds for their students.