Despite health risks attached to smoking there is still a growing appreciation for cigars. We know that the risks outweigh the pleasure. However, little is known about the risk in producing the product.

City of Cigars investigates the health risks associated with producing cigars - from the field worker to the cigar roller and even the storage personnel who are exposed to contamination by chemicals and nicotine. Within one of the oldest tobacco factories in Estili, Nicaragua, workers become sick without really knowing the causes. Luz, the shop steward, who has worked within the factory since her teens realizes that generations of women are becoming ruined by their working environment. She tries to start a clinic. Can she leverage the support she needs or is it just too late?

Seydou Konate is a doctor in a remote area in Mali. He is the only physician serving a population of 40,000 patients. Who can blame him for his bedside manner? Konate is at the center of a global issue: bringing quality health care to rural people left behind by development. Everything’s Fine is a humbling experience for us all.

Do you own your body? Mr. Hamsen, an unemployed labourer discovers that The Genomics Health Group Ltd. has patented a gene found in his body. It might have to be removed. A parody on genetic engineering and intellectual property rights gives pause to what we have unleashed in the race to map and patent the genetic code.

Part environmental expose and part art film, this powerful crossover piece flies in the face of conventional documentary making methods. In her visually stunning picture, artist and filmmaker Mortimer leads us on a hypnotic journey to the high arctic. Against this wintry backdrop she follows research into the far-reaching effects of chemicals on the environment, and considers the extent of their consequences.

Featuring testimonies from leading environmental scientists and women from the Inuit community, Invisible tells the story of how man-made chemicals are building up in our bodies and being passed from mother to child. Mortimer uses dramatic imagery to create a fascinating portrait of contemporary Inuit life. The result is a thought-provoking documentary that questions how we live in the world today.

Some call it poison others hail it as environmentally friendly. Who’s telling us the truth about Fertile Residual Material (FRM) aka sludge and who’s lying? The foods that we eat are mostly produced on land fertilized by digester sludge containing dangerous substances. The consequences have been disastrous so far and most feel that governments need to ban its usage instead of regulating it.

The continued use of sewage sludge in agriculture and regulating its use to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man - is an ongoing debate.

“I am polluted.” – A powerful statement. These three words should never be heard from a child or to a greater extent your own child. But this is the reality for Ada Cohen daughter of Barri Cohen director of the film Toxic Trespass.

The documentary investigates the growing evidence that we are conducting a large-scale toxicological experiment on our children. Together, Barri and Ada confront polluters, researchers who see no conclusive link between environmental poisoning and childhood diseases, and the government officials who are supposed to be protecting us.

Toxic Trespass reveals the links between industrial chemicals, environmental degradation and childhood illness – and asks why our governments are doing so shockingly little about the problem. It’s a call to arms for citizens to fight the pollution that affects us all.