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Tënk Canada - Documentary cinema online

Tënk is a subscription-based streaming platform dedicated entirely to auteur documentary cinema.

Tënk Canada is a solidarity cooperative based in Tiohtiá:ke / Montreal dedicated to the promotion of creative documentary cinema. Through curation and cultural mediation, Tënk's mandate is to make this film genre more accessible and to encourage the discovery of socially important documentaries that sometimes struggle to reach their audience. The celebration of the importance of indigenous culture

s is part of the values we try to put forward at Tënk. That’s why we would like to acknowledge that Tënk is located on unceded Indigenous lands. The Kanien’kehá:ka Nation is recognized as the custodians of the lands and waters on which we gather today. Tiohtià:ke/Montréal is historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations. Today, it is home to a diverse population of Indigenous and other peoples. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within the Montreal community.

06/26/2025

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰) - 𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸

High angle, low angle.��
Shadows is one of those films that inspires a deep sense of harmony—at least in form. Animation has this power to draw attention to its own strings and mechanisms, without that gesture ever becoming distracting. Here, the director knows very well this reality and puts it to good use. The form of her most recent short film—colorful and radiant, not unlike the childlike gaze of its protagonist—manages to illuminate Ahlam’s words and elevate her story to the level of great tragedies, all while shining in its own right. One never overshadows the other. Their union is perfect.��
There’s no need to hide the pencil strokes or to tone down the color palette. With Rand Beiruty, the drawing itself is a vehicle of meaning. In this regard, the choice of perspective strikes by its uniqueness. The many high and low angles we get to see—sometimes extreme, distorting legs, heads, and arms of the characters swirling around the protagonist—always leads us back to the same thought: here is a child lost in an adult world. Adults too big for her. Adults too old, disconnected, distracted. Too far away. These people are up there, their heads in the clouds almost, out of reach, out of touch. Almost no one lowers their gaze or extends a hand. (…)

Jason Todd, programmer and filmmaker �
(Full text on Tenk.ca)

06/23/2025

🎆This week on Tënk 🦜

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗲
This summer, Kim is considering leaving the world of funfairs to pursue his true passion: searching for precious stones.

𝗘𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
The residents of the q***r community of Parthenais are searching for a new place to settle, amid Montreal's housing crisis.

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀
The true story of Ahlam, a teenage mother who fled Iraq, driven by a desire for freedom.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
A fable-like meditation in which an endangered parrot reflects on humanity's search for life in the cosmos.

Which ones are you watching this week?

06/19/2025

𝗧𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲́ 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗚𝗢 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟳) - 𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸

A grainy black and white image and the shrill cry of weeping violins carry this documentary — terribly harsh, yet necessary — about addiction and its far-reaching, hard-to-measure repercussions, much like the crushing powerlessness felt by the loved ones of a ju**ie. An infinite sadness runs through Tu as crié LET ME GO, the sadness of its director Anne Claire Poirier of course, who calls on her considerable filmmaking skills to reflect on the tragic loss of her daughter Yanne, to make peace with that loss, but also to try to understand how it happened, how people like Yanne — addicts like her — live and die because of their affliction, how we might help them, or come to terms with the fact that it may be impossible to do so. And to accept that the answers are not always clear, and may not even exist at all.

Claire Valade, Critic and programmer�
(Full description on Tenk.ca)

06/17/2025

🏔️This week on Tënk 🏡

𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗲̀𝗿𝗲
A few cabins clinging to the hillside — a refuge on the margins, collective and feminist, without men. There, the filmmaker questions her place in society, her relationship, her body, and her freedom.

𝗧𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿
Through the story of Oscar Niemeyer's unfinished fairground in Tripoli, this film examines how abandoned architecture exposes the political and cultural forces shaping a fractured nation.

𝗧𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲́ 𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗚𝗢
In this intimate and heartrending documentary, filmmaker Anne Claire Poirier embarks on a personal investigation into the tragic death of her daughter Yanne, who was murdered at the age of 26.

𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯 (𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯)
This film explores how well-conceived spaces can contribute to healing, blending architecture, therapy, and compassionate care.

Which ones are you watching this week?

06/12/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟱𝟰 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀: 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭) - 𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸

The process is relentless. Avi Mograbi, armed with his Brief Manual of Military Occupation, guides us in an especially didactic manner through the colonization of Palestinian territories. Supported in his work by the direct testimonies of those involved—IDF reservists, administrators—we are meticulously introduced to the methods of physical and psychological violence used to break down the social fabric.��
The appropriation of land, the domination of individual and collective bodies, is not a simplistic process. It requires a command structure that defines a strategic doctrine, as well as the availability of on-the-ground operatives who have a degree of autonomy.��
Before us unfolds a fresco of brutalities—both ordinary and premeditated—where two peoples face each other, generations of men, women, and children shaped by the experience of war, a fertile ground for massacres yet to come.�

Florian Cordier�
Communications Assistant at Tënk France

06/09/2025

🏞️This week on Tënk🦊

𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲
An immersion into the rich ecosystem of Sable Island and the life of Zoe Lucas, a naturalist and environmentalist who has lived there for over 40 years.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁
Struck by an arrow, a moose escapes its pursuers to go die deep in the forest, offering itself as a feast to its fellow creatures.

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 (𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻)
A portrait of contemporary wildlife conservation becomes a visceral, sensory meditation on what it means to live in a broken world.

𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀
Without false modesty, a direct and honest look at a young woman fighting breast cancer.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟱𝟰 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀: 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Through the testimonies of soldiers who carried it out, Avi Mograbi reveals the mechanisms of a colonialist occupation.

Which ones are you watching this week?

06/06/2025

Jekyllum (1974) - A word from Tënk

A clever blend of humor, experimental aesthetics and technological innovation, Jekyllum features a creature resembling the University's logo who, after absorbing a mysterious potion, is transformed into a monstrous spider that spins its web and captures its prey…��Described at the time as a “computer drama” in “calculo-color” with a “computerophonic” soundtrack, Jekyllum uses deliberately eccentric codes. Born of the humor of mathematicians and computer scientists at UdeM's Centre de calcul, these neologisms nonetheless reflect the real technical advances of the time. The film is animated using the “cybernovision” system developed by the film's director, Claude Schnéegans, who also designed the general-purpose programming language FILEMON (for Film et montage) to enable the creation of computer animations. The soundtrack, composed by Robert Dupuy, a member of the Informatique-Musique group, enriches the film with a psychotronic sound atmosphere perfectly in tune with its visual aesthetic.��Behind its apparent lightness, Jekyllum offers a darker allegory. The creature inspired by the Université de Montréal logo could well represent the scientific community itself, and the potion, the destructive power and risks that science confers on human knowledge. In this perspective, Jekyllum then becomes a fable about how computer tools, by increasing our intelligence tenfold, can also reveal a disturbing facet of progress.

Nino Gabrielli, Collaborating Researcher�Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la�littérature et la culture au Québec (CRILCQ)

06/03/2025

🔬This week on Tënk: 𝗖𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘃𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀 (𝟱 + 𝟭) 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮 🦠

𝗔𝘂𝘅 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗲
Algae, fungi, lichens, liverworts, mosses, ferns, clubmosses, horsetails... all observed through the passionate eye of Father
Venance.

𝗟𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗲́𝗿𝗲́𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗲 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲
An innovative audiovisual method for teaching chemistry, developed at the Université de Montréal by Professor Henri Favre.

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗱'𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
Illustration of impulse phobia: a mother’s pathological fear of her child’s death.

𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗘
The film is a dynamic study of the formation the LE cell, so important in the diagnosis of Acute Disseminated Lupus Erythematosus.

𝗝𝗲𝗸𝘆𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗺
The first horror film entirely made on a computer, using Cybernovision. A "computer drama" in "calculo-color" with a soundtrack in "computerophonic."

𝗗𝗲́𝗹𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮
Six archival films are transformed through a process of abstraction and recontextualization.

Which ones are you watching this week?

́demontréal

05/31/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 (Anne-Marie Bouchard, 2024)

𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸
This short film sits at the crossroads of animation, documentary, etched and painted film interventions, and found footage. It evokes deep, almost inexpressible emotions, thanks to the talent of its director, who masterfully combines these different techniques with subtlety and precision. The result is breathtaking and captivating, drawing us into a state of awestruck contemplation. The music by Lyne Goulet, Martien Bélanger, and Frédéric Lebrasseur undeniably helps to bind it all together, stimulating the mind and sustaining the film’s poetic momentum. The “landscape,” in the literal sense, consists of images of nature — water, plants, minerals — captured in close-ups or wide shots, onto which the filmmaker intervenes through engraving to convey an idea or isolate a motif, much like Pierre Hébert did in his Places and Monuments series. However, the “landscape,” which dissolves according to the title, can also metaphorically evoke both memory and film stock itself. Indeed, Anne-Marie Bouchard weaves together “landscape,” “memory,” and “film” while reminding us that the photochemical medium — and the recorded images it carries — is itself a kind of vanishing memory. Though discreet by nature, Anne-Marie Bouchard is a major figure in Quebec’s experimental cinema scene.

Marco de Blois, Artistic Director
Sommets du cinéma d’animation

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸!
https://www.tenk.ca/en/documentaires/the-films-of-the-sommets-du-cinema-d-animation/the-dissolution-of-the-landscape

05/28/2025

𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 (𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘀, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯)

𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸
Tornadoes is a film that doesn’t immediately let itself be pinned down. It teases us with a subject and a line of interpretation, only to surprise us and take us somewhere entirely different. Tornadoes, and the US-American fascination with them, serve as a decoy subject — a pretext to delve into the society of the United States, a lens through which to expose its contradictions and excesses. What the film offers is a clever, subtle, and biting critique. It magnifies everyday details that, as the film unfolds, take on the air of near science fiction: the voice of an insurance company lurking through suburban streets; newscasts revelling in natural disasters; storm chasing turned into a tourist attraction; burgers sold to survivors… The tornadoes seem to crystallize a society’s taste for the obscene and the catastrophic — a society that obstinately chases these destructive phenomena and, more metaphorically, its own downfall.

Marie Cornen
Production and Distribution Assistant
Tënk France

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲̈𝗻𝗸!
https://www.tenk.ca/en/documentaires/environment-/tornadoes

05/26/2025

🐻This week on Tënk 🏞️

𝗔𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗸
In 1973, the James Bay Festival took place over nine days in Montreal. This historic one-of-a-kind event was held in support of the James Bay Cree whose territory, resources and culture were threatened by the expansion of hydro-electric dams. First Nations, Métis and Inuit performers came from across North America to show their support in an act of Indigenous unity and solidarity few people in Montreal had ever witnessed.

𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗷𝘁𝗲𝗸
The extraordinary true story of a brown bear adopted by Polish soldiers in the Levant during World War II. This animated short follows Wojtek’s journey from the Persian desert to the front lines at the Battle of Monte Cassino, where he becomes both a soldier and a powerful symbol of resilience.

𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲́ 𝗱𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁
Beaupré the Giant marked his era with his 8’3” height. Though he died young and far from home in 1904, his journey as a phenomenon was only just beginning. In a stunning series of twists and turns, his mummified body would take more than 80 years to find its way back home.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲
Through visual metaphors, the film offers an incursion into an inner landscape, a dive into subconscious, a mix of childhood memories and recurrent dreams, between surrealism and automatism.

Which ones are you watching this week?

05/21/2025

🧹This week on Tënk 🌋

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺
As they learn about Le balai Libéré, a self-managed cleaning company from the 1970s, today’s cleaners on the same Belgian university campus question their working conditions and whether self-management is still possible today.

𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀
Tornado Alley, a region in the center of the United States, faces devastating tornadoes every year. While some study them closely for protection, others turn them into a profitable spectacle.

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀
Inside a shelter, participants in a talking circle share their experiences of intimate partner violence as a way to regain their dignity and strength to act.

𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲; 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲
How can you continue to create when you can barely feed yourself? Alex Anna presents their film 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 at a sunlit festival, but behind their apparent success hides a ceaseless fight with their own mind.

𝗔𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽
An experimental and poetic documentary filmed in Super 8 on the Capelinhos volcano on the Azores island of Faial.

Which ones are you watching this week?

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