Village Gamer

This one hour Spanish language documentary explores the lesser known places inhabited by Hispanic Canadians. Como un Pez en el Hielo, is loosely translated to a “fish out of water.” The show is a compelling portrayal of how Hispanic culture is able to adapt to every corner of Canada. Their personal journey is one filled with challenges. Their vision of Canada is a unique perspective on some of the country’s most distinctive locations in a language that Hispanic-Canadians across the country can relate to.

The interactive website explores the lives of Hispanics who have landed in small towns, rural areas, or unusual places in Canada. Be it for work, exploration, love, their lives have changed forever. The content will expand the television viewer’s experience beyond simple fact-finding about the TV documentary.

Hockey United films players, families and other participants across the country to show how the game helps immigrants and their children integrate into Canadian culture. Each of the series’ four episodes focuses on a different cultural and geographic community to examine how the sport is approached and adopted with those communities — Alberta/Chinese; B.C./Punjabi; Ontario/Arabic, and Quebec/Italian. During the journey we discover our country’s love for hockey in universal; it bridges geography, ethnicity, language, religion and offers new Canadians a way to fit in and share a communal experience with their neighbors.

Hockey United: Let’s Play Hockey is an online community and information hub that explains the basics of the game and connects new fans. Uniquely, the content is produced in Punjabi, Italian, Cantonese and Arabic to foster participation from a growing demographic of new hockey enthusiasts: immigrant and first generation Canadians, and their families. And our digital component offers these new Canadians the opportunity to take part in the communal experience by combining their own stories, interacting and engaging with each other and exploring the sport further by learning about it or even participating in it. Users also learn more about hockey with educational on-demand videos and brief articles in language.

L’Italiese – Una lingua nuova per un mondo nuovo will feature a content driven website that will provide an interactive link to the TV documentary of the same name and will enable users to learn more about this linguistic phenomenon and connect them with Italian Canadians across all social media platforms. Users will be able to share and contribute to their own online “Italiese” dictionary.

“Italiese” is the name given to the new dialect and language adopted by Italian immigrants in English speaking countries.  This linguistic phenomenon has become the day-to-day vernacular of the Italian immigrant community and has helped forge their connection to their new world and to their English speaking children, work colleagues and neighbours. This one hour Italian language documentary will trace the origins, cultural impact and future relevance of the “Italiese” language within the Italian Canadian community.

In a journey that brings us to Canada, Italy, and Uganda, the documentary La Dottoressa Dominique Corti explores Dominique Corti’s struggle to keep her parents’ legacy alive. Dominique is a medical doctor and she is also the daughter of renowned Canadian surgeon, Lucille Teasdale and Italian pediatrician, Piero Corti, founders of the Lacor Hospital in Uganda. Viewers will not only experience the step-by-step process of her battle to ensure health access to one of the poorest areas in the world, but they will also understand the bond that attaches Dominique to the hospital.

The website will give access to historic information about the subject, including texts and visuals. It will cater to not only to audiences interested in the documentary, but also those searching for historical information and discovering the house of Dominique Corti’s parents through a virtual tour. This house has never been shown to the public, and is somewhat of a mystery for many.

This 1-hour documentary embarks on a journey across Saskatchewan and Guatemala to connect the dots and understand the semblance between indigenous beliefs held by Hispanic Canadians and the Canadian Native people.

This Digital Media Component will be an adjunct to the TV documentary of the same name.  The website, hosted by TLN Television will feature extensive video content and interactive online activities designed to engage and connect users/viewers to each other and other Hispanic Canadians.

Latinos are an increasingly important presence in the US, including New York City where the population in some neighbourhoods is now 80% Latin American and one can get by on Spanish alone. With an Hispanic taxi driver as his guide, producer and director Orlando Arriagada visits the many landmarks of the Latino community in the Big Apple, documenting his discoveries and filming meetings where people discuss the challenges, traditions, concerns and everyday lives of the various ethnic groups that make up the city’s large Hispanic family.

Salseros – Una Forma de Vida will showcase the passion, flavor and emotion of Salseros, every day Canadians who have embraced the Salsa culture fully and fill their lives with Salsa music and dance.   As each character’s life story is shared, audiences are encouraged to come along for the journey.  Be it dancing, playing an instrument or studying the genre, Salsa is in their blood.

The interactive website will showcase the passion, flavor and emotion of Salseros, every day Canadians who have embraced the Salsa culture fully and fill their lives with Salsa music and dance. The website will provide users with expanded online content and social media interconnectivity designed to engage, educate, entertain and inspire.

The one-hour Italian language documentary examines the social dynamics that created the Italian urban garden and also seeks to shed light on the science that has allowed many crops to grow in Canadian cities. Urban gardening has become a trend in many Canadian cities thanks in large part to Italian Canadians who gardened just to survive. They did so in order to grow and transform products that were not available in Canada at the time.

In the Storie dall’Orto website, users will be encouraged to hear what experts have to say, download a personal and free gardening calendar. They will also be able to watch video clips of bonus interviews from key personalities in the TV documentary and connect with other urban gardeners across Canada. Users will be able to interact by able to upload personal video and photo files of their own urban garden story.

Han Guangsheng was the chief of the Judicial Bureau in the Chinese city of Shenyang, responsible for overseeing four labour camps and two prisons that despite his efforts were home to some unspeakable crimes. No longer able to live with this knowledge he traded his high rank and government perks for a basement room in Toronto, and his conscience. Ten years later with a wife, two kids and a local grocery store to run, he must prove in court that he is not a criminal monster and is worthy of refugee status in Canada. Otherwise he will lose everything and be returned to China where he will become a prisoner in the same camps he used to run.

The website, The Warden Who Escaped, will use real cases to take users through the labyrinth of governmental departments and bodies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and examine where the systematic corruption and persecution stems from, how it is carried out, and what you can do to help.

Ontario is getting ready to welcome athletes from all the Americas for the Pan Am Games in July 2015. Amongst the proud sports fan in Canada is a group that has an even bigger stake on the games: Hispanic. Of the 40 plus countries that participate, over half are Spanish speaking countries. This groundbreaking documentary follows every day Hispanic Canadians as they prepare to experience the Games each in their own personal way and examines the highs and lows of the preparation, excitement and anticipation of this first international sports competition to be held in Toronto.

In 2015, Toronto will host the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, the world’s third largest international multi-sport Games. An interactive website will allow audiences to follow and engage with Hispanic Canadians as they get ready to join, participate, enjoy, follow and take part in the Games. Through online video diaries, expanded online interviews and social media interactivity, users will see the games through their eyes, connect with their views and get up close and personal with the biggest sporting event to come to Toronto.