Discordia

Montréal, le 9 septembre 2002 : au moment où s'amorce la session d'automne à l'Université Concordia, l'annonce de la visite prochaine sur le campus de l'ancien premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu, sensé prononcer un discours, attise les passions. Le soir même, «les émeutes de Concordia» défraient la manchette internationale, de CNN à al-Jazeera. Écrite et réalisée par Ben Addelman et Samir Mallal, tous deux diplômés de fraîche date de l'Université Concordia, la production de l'ONF suit trois jeunes activistes du campus pendant l'année la plus formatrice de leur vie. Samer Elatrash, fils éloquent et impulsif de réfugiés palestiniens, croise le fer avec Noah Sarna, coprésident de l'association étudiante juive Hillel, étroitement liée à Israël. Au coeur de la tourmente se trouve Aaron Maté, vice-président du conseil étudiant, qui critique vertement les politiques d'Israël, mais dont les parents ont survécu à l'Holocauste. Ensemble, Addelman et Mallal possèdent un héritage culturel des plus riches--hindouisme, judaïsme, islam--auquel ils allient la vitalité de la jeunesse. Ils sautent dans la mêlée armés de leur seule témérité et d'une caméra. Nourris par les compositions de la vedette hip-hop Buck 65, ils tracent un portrait caustique du milieu étudiant et rappellent l'importance de l'ouverture d'esprit.

Nollywood Babylon is a feature documentary about the explosive popularity of Nigeria's movie industry. The film drops viewers into the chaos of Lagos' Idumota market. Here, among the bustling stalls, films are sold and unlikely stars are born. Unfazed by low budgets, enterprising filmmakers create a brash, inventive and wildly popular form of B-Movie that has Nigerians Nollywood-obsessed. In these films, voodoo and magic infuse urban stories, reflecting the collision of traditional mysticism and modern culture that Nigerians experience every day. Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal, present an electric vision of a modern African metropolis and a revealing look at the powerhouse that is Nigerian cinema.

Professor Norman Cornett - "Since when do we divorce the right answer from an honest answer?" It's the start of a new semester and a fresh crop of undergraduates is filing into Professor Norman Cornett's class. There is a growing sense of curiosity in the room as Cornett distributes the lyrics to Another Brick in the Wall - and then leads the students in a rousing rendition of the counter-culture anthem: "We don't need no thought control..." This is not what they were expecting from Religious Studies. Over the years Professor Cornett has won the respect and loyalty of scores of students with his unconventional approach to teaching. Whether it's a lesson on palliative care, First Nations issues or jazz improvisation, he challenges accepted wisdom while nurturing young people at a pivotal moment in their lives and teaching them to think for themselves. "The class did demand a lot of my time. But, once you got into it, it was so worth it. We did it with great joy."- Student Through "dialogic" sessions Cornett has introduced students to a remarkable assortment of artists and judges, Talmudic scholars and philosophers. Among his guest speakers: the former prime minister Paul Martin, jazzman Oliver Jones, modern dance artist and choreographer Mariko Tanabe and Alanis Obomsawin, Canada's leading Indigenous filmmaker. With her own keen interest in how society educates its young, Obomsawin responds to McGill's controversial 2007 dismissal of Cornett with a tribute to this exceptional professor. Taking the unusual step of turning her camera on a non-Native subject, she draws upon the energy of Cornett's young supporters to reflect upon the virtues of an open mind and generous spirit.