Click on the drop menus below to find documentary and animation films, amateur videos, TV commercials, and videos submitted by students. Click on the expand icon on the bottom right corner of the videos to watch them in full screen. For the Hora dos Portugueses videos, see the individual pages in the People section.
Documentaries & Animation
The White Ship
Hector Lemieux
© National Film Board, 1966
Sailing ships on an open sea make an attractive sight, all the more to be valued because of their rarity. This film shows one of the Portuguese schooners that fished the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. From the moment the townsfolk turn out for the blessing of the ship and crew, to the time when the ship turns homeward with the season’s catch–leaving one crewman in a Newfoundland grave–this film holds the viewer’s attention on an ancient calling that will soon disappear.
Photography Lessons
Kelly O’Brien
© National Film Board, 2006
A Portuguese immigrant and his hot shot son: both are professional photographers but their subjects are a study in contrast. José Pimentel does weddings, communions and passport photos for the local seniors. His son George chases celebrities at film festivals around the world, searching for glamour shots of Hollywood stars. While he may sometimes get blinded by the spotlight, George still enjoys working alongside José at the family photo studio. Working in two different worlds, father and son find common ground behind the camera’s lens. In the end, both try to capture something authentic and meaningful in a simple portrait.
Learn more about George Pimentel here.
Montrose Avenue
Marek Colek & Pat Shewchuk
© Tin Can Forest
& National Film Board, 2006
“We made this short animated film about our Portuguese neighbourhood in Toronto in 2006. We wanted to create a portrait of an average day on our street, highlighting the things we really loved about the neighbourhood; the small town feeling within a large city, the Portuguese influences and culture, and of course, Trinity Bellwoods Park. In 2013, we made a book with KidsCanPress, In Lucia’s Neighborhood, based on the film.”
Learn more about Nuno Cristo, whose music features in this animation, here.
Narrativas de Regresso
© João Sardinha & António Saraiva
2010
Excerpt from the 55-minute documentary Regressa Urgente about fado singer Marta Raposo during her preparations to return to Montreal after living in Lisbon for four years and her reflections on the meaning of home and belonging.
Learn more about Marta Raposo here.
Vhils’ Cleaners’ Action
© Vhils & Expanding Roots
October 2021
“This mural is a celebration and a honour to the many Portuguese immigrant women who toiled as janitorial workers in the high-rise office towers in downtown Toronto and at the Queen’s Park Legislative Buildings during the 1960’s and 70’s. Known as Portuguese “cleaning ladies”, these strong, resilient and courageous women represent an essential part of the lives of countless Portuguese-Canadians as mothers, partners, breadwinners, community members and activists. This mural features the portrait of Sra. Idalina Azevedo, who was one of the main figures of the movement to create better work conditions for these women, organizing strikes and other forms of resistance. This work is dedicated to their struggle, perseverance and determination.”
The entire collection of the Comunidade newspaper, from which images were used in this video, can be found here. Learn more about Marcie Ponte, featured in this video here and Little Portugal in Toronto BIA here.
Oral Histories
Portuguese Canadian History Project
See Portuguese Canadian History Project for more.
City Builders: Immigrant Construction Workers in Postwar Toronto
Strong Hearts, Steady Hands
The videos in this section are from the raw footage of the documentary Strong Hearts, Steady Hands (2004) produced by Felipe Gomes and directed by Carol Coffey. The footage was donated by Gomes to the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections (CTASC), York University Libraries, through the Portuguese Canadian History Project, in 2013. The finding aid to Felipe Gomes fonds at the CTASC can be found here.
60 Years of Portuguese Immigration to Canada
This video was produced by the Northern Portugal Cultural Centre and the Oshawa Portuguese Club in the context of the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the beginning of Portuguese mass immigration to Canada in 2013.
Miscellaneous
Courtesy of Fr. Fernando Couto. All rights reserved.
Courtesy of Fr. Fernando Couto. All rights reserved.
Courtesy of David Dias.
All rights reserved.
Courtesy of David Dias.
All rights reserved.
Courtesy of Teresa Ascenção. All rights reserved.
Student submissions
In collaboration with the Camões, I.P.’s Coordinator for Portuguese Language Programs in Canada, we invited Portuguese-Canadian students across Canada to participate in this project by contributing short videos in which they reflect on their personal and family histories or identities based on three artifacts of their choosing. Below are the videos that were submitted to the exhibit’s curator in 2022. Portuguese-language instructors wanting to offer this exercise as an assignment in their classes can download the guidelines and consent form here.