Bruce Alcock

Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, are a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies and are now also sold on DVD. The Minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991 as part of a one-off heavily-promoted history quiz show hosted by Rex Murphy. The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television and CTV Network. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman's CRB Foundation, Canada Post Power Broadcasting, and the National Film Board. They were devised, developed and largely narrated by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully. In 2009 Historica merged with The Dominion Institute to become The Historica-Dominion Institute. While the foundations have not paid networks to air Minutes, they have made them freely available, and in the early years paid to have them run in cinemas across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each minute counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content requirements.

Jam Van is an animated series aimed at kids that follows the exploits of Anne and Lamb as they drive across the country and hang out with some of the biggest names in contemporary music - all of whom have a song to perform. Special guest stars include Boyz II Men, Sheryl Crow, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and many more!

Spang Ho was going to aquarium with his friends.

The tale of a tragic love story set in Newfoundland. When illness takes the woman he loves, a simple man raises his voice in melancholy song as a last farewell. The film, based on a song by local musician Emile Benoit, is anchored in a beautiful, remote corner of the province, and pays homage to its land, sea and the harsh lives of the local fishermen.

KENSINGTON MARKET depicts the evolution of a small shop within a vibrant community as new arrivals make their home in Canada. This is the 88th short in the Heritage Minute series and the first to be fully animated.

With Carbon in the news every day, you might think you know everything about her. But you’d be wrong. This spectacular and surprisingly unorthodox documentary reveals the paradoxical story of the element that builds all life, and yet may end it all. Narrated in first person by  Sarah Snook (Succession), Carbon tells of her birth in the violent core of an exploding star and of turbulent sagas through the fabric of our evolving Earth. Accompanied by celebrated scientists, unique animations and a stunning orchestral score, Carbon reminds us of our humble participation in the most extraordinary story in the universe. 

America had Charles Bukowski and Canada had Al Purdy, a hard-drinking, hard-living poet who wrote about bars, hockey and beer. In this vibrant and kinetic short film, Purdy reads his best-known poem (involving a beer, a bar, and a brawl) accompanied by a dizzying array of animation that perfectly captures the work's ironic tone and its exuberant evocation of alcohol, antagonism and Art.

Abtract forms play with sync, anticipation, pattern, and palette in this theme and variations exploration of sound and performance. Animated semi-improvisationally to a beautiful Gamelan piece by Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill.

Director Bruce Alcock takes his inspiration from Chopin’s eponymous composition in this wonderful 3D animation, which pays tribute to the moments of beautiful chaos that can spring suddenly from the mundane.

54 Hours is a remarkably vivid account of the 1914 tragedy in which 132 men were stranded on the ice during a severe snowstorm off the coast of Newfoundland. Seventy-eight men froze to death on the ice pack.