In this CBC Original point-of-view documentary series, Amanda Parris leaves the wars raging on social media to create space for urgent and provocative conversations that centre Blackness and Black folks around the world. But this isn’t your typical host in a studio conversation. Amanda is going on the road to where the stories are.

Traveling to the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, Amanda takes conversations that usually happen in local or national arenas and instead crosses borders and connects Black communities. She visits people where they are most comfortable – in their homes, at their farms, or on the ball court and asks the difficult but important questions of our time. In Season 2, she talks with cultural leaders, activists, scholars and everyday people, on topics such as Black men’s mental health, the cost of chasing elusive hoop dreams, imagining beyond the police, food insecurity in Black communities and more. Through in-depth and intimate conversations with Black folks from across the Diaspora, Amanda is able to take conversations from the group chat to the real world.

“I love a good whiskey sour… but is it killing me?”

In Proof: The New Science of Alcohol, Anthony Morgan tackles the latest research and the mixed messages around drinking. A lifelong moderate drinker, Anthony isn’t out to judge those who enjoy a drink or two, but to understand how even a small amount of alcohol impacts us.

From observing his own brainwaves while drinking 100-proof alcohol cocktails, to going completely sober for three months, Anthony explores labs, bars, and living rooms to find out what effect alcohol has on our bodies, our brains, and our relationships with others.

What can leading research tell us about one of the most powerful and chaotic mental states known to our species?  

Love Hurts: The Science of Heartbreak takes the pulse of broken hearts and finds out if science can ease the human feelings of loss, rejection, and betrayal. 

Directed by Alison Duke, MICHELLE ROSS: UNKNOWN ICON explores the layered legacy of the trailblazing Jamaican-Canadian drag performer Michelle Ross whose sudden death in 2021 revealed a life lived in fragments, across identities, communities, and silences.

Born Earl Barrington Shaw, Michelle lived many lives. To her family, she was Earl or Barry— quiet, private, and reserved. To Toronto’s queer community, she was Michelle Ross: magnetic, iconic, and larger than life. For over 45 years, Michelle defined the Black queer drag scene in Toronto and beyond, carving out space where none existed—long before drag became mainstream.

Told through intimate interviews, archival footage, and the symbolic recreation of Michelle’s house as a miniature, the film explores the emotional architecture of a person who lived between worlds.

THE BIG SEX TALK (6 x 30min) places its finger firmly on the pulse of the new landscape of sexual and gender diversity. Narrated by certified sex educator, Shan Boodram — with help from experts, culture vultures, and personal stories from everyday people — the 6-part explainer series unpacks our notions of sexuality, spells out the new sex lingo, and debunks all the myths surrounding sex.
From sex robots to gender fluidity, polyamory to good ol’ fashioned monogamy and beyond, this original series isn’t afraid to put a human and often funny face on the things that get us all hot and bothered.

emmy_retinaCITIES Under Pressure – ARTISTS Fighting Back
Art As Agent of Change

Interrupt This Program taps into the zeitgeist of dissent in a world in turmoil, with artists coming to the rescue, putting themselves at the forefront of this recent wave of resistance.

The series which garnered 8 Canadian Screen Awards nominations and an International Emmy award nod follows the unique struggle of political artists in cities under pressure: disrupting prevailing attitudes toward violence against women, expanding the space for free expression, using art to fight race and class inequalities, and challenging commonplace definitions of artistic expression. 

ANIMALS THAT HEAL

Zoothérapie invites you into the magical world of certified animal therapist Audrey Desrosiers. At Ferme Dadado, she and her team harness the power of an army of oh-so-special animals to help uplift and heal children and adults alike in a totally immersive experience.

QUIET TIME is an anthology of film dispatches created by five Canadian filmmakers contending with Covid in different places on the planet. Driven by personal experiences and framed in a global narrative, QUIET TIME offers a unique perspective on one of the strangest times in recent history.

Instead of being a film about Covid per se, QUIET TIME is a study of human resolve in the face of a deadly, invisible threat. The characters and experiences documented on camera may seem disparate at first glance, but as the film progresses and tension builds, their tenacity shines through, woven together by a dying woman’s reflections on love, life, and death.

10 Canadian Artists From Different Nations
Changing the Face of Canadian Art

Art Is My Country profiles 10 Canadian artists from different cultural backgrounds, exploring their identity through dance, music, poetry, visual and performance art. The 10-part digital series shows how these artists are re-defining and re-shaping Canadian art.

Told through poetic visuals, personal testimony, and an intimate journey into the creative mind of an artist, the 10-part digital series unlocks a world that exists at the intersection of identity and belonging.

emmy_retina

5 CITIES, 20 ARTISTS/activists
ART AS An agent of CHANGE

Interrupt this Program ( AKA Resilient Cities) is a five-part, 30-minute series that uncovers the underground arts scene in chaotic cities recovering from major traumas: war, political unrest, natural disasters or economic meltdown. Each episode profiles three or four young, determined local artists (plus one Canadian with an outsider’s perspective) who are using art to impact their city: this is art as a form of protest, as an agent of change and as a display of courage.