One water bottle for the entire school is not uncommon for the Northern First Nations communities in Ontario. With uranium in their tap water, they must rely on the water that is delivered to them (and when it is delivered). Maurice exposes the deteriorating delivery services and lack of government response to getting these isolated communities a basic human right—clean water. www.vtape.org

Inventive and charming, this documentary takes a surprisingly colourful approach to illustrate a very sad state of affairs. We are introduced to a cheerful teenage girl who lives in an environmentally devastated village in Northern India. She loves Bollywood films and sings and dances every chance she gets. This wonderful girl is also suffering from an undiagnosed disease and struggles to define a life that is constantly torn between joy and agony. The film takes a look at the relationship between her illness, the unsanitary milieu in which she lives, and how the medical care available to her is sadly insufficient. It is a very personal film that also investigates the rapport between the subject and the filmmaker making it a highly emotional experience.

The heartache of a parent having to burry their child disrupts the cycle of life. The Grandmothers (Gogos), of Swaziland have watched their children die of AIDS, while taking on the parental role for the grandchildren who have survived. Interviewing three Gogos, Gillooly takes us on a journey as the women work to organize their communities. Along with The Gogo Project (an international consortium of aid organizations that provide seeds and supplies for these families) these women work to survive and support the children that have unexpectedly been left in their care. To learn more about what you can do to support African grandmothers caring for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, visit www.stephenlewisfoundation.org.

Socially and economically, China is changing rapidly. Divided into the five major social classes: workers, students, soldiers, merchants and peasants, Umbrella takes us through this transformed society and shows us specifically how each group struggles with its new reality. Using the umbrella as a device to communicate the new social reform, we see workers making umbrellas, merchants selling them, students looking for work in the rain, etc. The umbrella is used figuratively as well as metaphorically in this sharp and thorough film. The poetic documentary shows us a China we rarely get to see, with true cinematic storytelling, honest characters and camera work that makes itself as transparent as can be. In the vein of Manufactured Landscapes and Up the Yangtze, this first-time director takes us on a mesmerizing journey through one of the world’s most fascinating cultures. www.cnex.org.cn

An important look at a new ecologically-inspired industrial revolution lead by American architect William McDonough and German ecological chemist Michael Braungart. These two bright and aspiring men describe in a very concise and straightforward manner that in a world where our high consumption rates generate copious amounts of waste, we can no longer rely on traditional methods of reducing or recycling our waste. There is a need to establish a new theory that is ecologically sound and designed in a way that insures that manufacturers’ products, when leftover, should either be fully recyclable in the Technosphere or biodegradable food for the Biosphere. Through a series of tangible models, we see how these theories can change the way we manage and conceptualize waste for the better. We are also not surprised to see that their ideas are being embraced by corporations and governments worldwide. www.frif.com

Two soulful members of an Indigenous tribe in Australia, explain with grace and severity, the nature of their relationship to the earth, which is about belonging to it as opposed to owning it.

What if the aviation industry was hiding something from the population, imperative and controversial to the point of making us all reconsider flying all together? This chilling documentary does exactly that. Doctors, scientists, pilots and passengers share their knowledge and personal experiences in this controversial exposé dissecting the air quality in aircrafts and the effects it can have on our health. Passengers simply assume there are safe filtering systems in the aircrafts they travel in – little do they know, that the air goes through the engines, causing contamination when there is a leak or slightest malfunction. The toxic fumes have at times incapacitated pilots to the point of seriously endangering the safety of everyone on board. AN important number of pilots, flight attendants and regular passengers have suffered from a condition called “toxic air syndrome” and the aviation industry has been covering it up for over thirty years. No matter how frequently one flies, the experience will never be the same again after watching Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines. www.welcomeaboardtoxicairlines.com

Illegal wildlife trade, specialty cuisine and encroaching development are now some of the greatest threats to the biological diversity in Vietnam. Animals such as the King Cobra are endangered because of the multi-billion dollar business of illegal trafficking. This trip through the wild kingdom of Vietnam is both a warning and a call for awareness of endangered species.