Inspired by real events, the world premiere of new CBC original drama THE PORTER (Feb. 21), following the lives of Black train porters and their friends and families in the 1920s as they pursue conflicting paths to a better life.
CBC Gem’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH collection features four categories:
BLACK STORIES, MUST WATCH BLACK LEADS, CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY and BLACK MUSIC & ART; including Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary series MUHAMMED ALI (Jan. 28); CONVICTION: THE STEPHEN LAWRENCE STORY (Feb. 1), the gripping tale of the conviction of two suspects in Britain’s most infamous murder; and THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (Feb. 1).
The exclusive Canadian premiere of new HBO Max adult animated comedy TEN YEAR OLD TOM (Feb. 1) from the creator of The Life and Times of Tim, about a kid in a world of hapless adults. Featuring Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus, Best in Show), John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) and David Duchovny (Californication).
Acclaimed international series include the Canadian premiere of MISS S (Feb. 1), the Chinese adaptation of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; THE HEAD (Feb. 7), a thrilling murder mystery set in the Antarctic; and the Canadian premiere of Finnish drama CARGO (Feb. 25), which tells the story of an Eritrian mother fighting to find her family’s freedom during a global human trafficking epidemic.
BEING BLACK IN CANADA presents BEING BLACK IN CANADA: MY JOURNEY HERE (Feb. 1), which chronicles the experiences of Black immigrants settling in Canada, and BEING BLACK IN CANADA AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (Feb. 5), which explores what it means for Black Canadian athletes to be representing more than just their country on the world’s biggest stage.
CBC Gem is Canada’s streaming home for the OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES BEIJING 2022, offering more than 2400 hours of Olympic content and up to 14 concurrent streams of live sport from Wednesday, February 2 to Sunday, February 20.
New CBC Gem original series include BEST IN MINIATURE (Feb. 11) hosted by This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ Aba Amuquandoh, featuring 11 artists competing to build their dream home in miniature form; and animated series UPROOTED: THE PLANTEMIC (Jan. 28) from writer and director Betty Xie, featuring an all-star cast led by Andrea Bang from Kim’s Convenience and following houseplants confined with their human at home during the pandemic.
CBC GEM ORIGINAL SERIES
- UPROOTED: THE PLANTEMIC (5×2, Animated Comedy, Filmloft Media, 2022, Canada)
Streaming Friday, January 28
During the pandemic, five plants are trapped in an apartment with their human friend’s constant presence. Like the rest of us, they adapt to a new way of living and finding meaning. Inspired by Bojack Horseman and What We Do in the Shadows and written and directed by filmmaker Betty Xie, this new original series tells the story of the COVID-19 pandemic from urban houseplants’ perspective. Featuring an all-star cast including Andrea Bang of Kim’s Convenience, Rosalina Lee of Netflix’s Seoul Searching, Franco Nguyen of TallBoyz and Emmy-nominated voice actor Eric Bauza (The Ren and Stimpy Show, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker and Luke Skywalker)
- AUTOMATIC (1×50, Drama, Supernice Visual Effects, 2022, Canada)
Streaming Friday, January 28
A sci-fi themed compendium of short films connected by motifs of loss and the integration of technology into humanity’s plight.
- BEST IN MINIATURE (10×60, Unscripted, marblemedia, 2022, Canada)
Begins streaming Friday, February 11
BEST IN MINIATURE is a brand-new series hosted by writer and stand-up comedian, Aba Amuquandoh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), that welcomes 11 highly skilled artists from across the world to compete in the ultimate challenge: building their dream home in miniature form. The competitors will create their houses, in painstaking detail, room by room by shrinking life-size objects to 1:12 scale. While the objects may be small in stature, the stakes could not be higher. Judged by U.K Miniature Expert Emma Waddell, and esteemed Designer Micheal Lambie, precision and design technique will save the competitors from elimination. In each episode, the remaining miniaturists will continue to battle it out to stay in the game until only three remain for the final competition. The winner will receive a cash prize and the coveted title of Best in Miniature.
- THE PORTER (8×60, Drama, Inferno Pictures and Sienna Films, 2022, Canada)
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere* on CBC TV and CBC Gem on Monday, February 21
Set in the early 1920s and inspired by real events, THE PORTER follows train porters Junior Massey and Zeke Garrett, Junior’s wife Marlene, and upstart performer Lucy, as a tragedy in the community sets them on starkly different paths to a better life. While Junior takes advantage of a broken system to pursue money and power in gambling and bootlegging, Zeke fights the railway to change the system from within by unionizing the Black porters. Marlene questions whether her work as a Black Cross nurse is truly serving her community, while Lucy takes her success into her own hands – whatever the cost. As each pursues their goals, their once unbreakable bonds are stretched to their limits. Will they need to betray each other and their community to make their dreams reality? Starring Aml Ameen (I May Destroy You, Yardie), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Star Trek: Discovery, Pretty Hard Cases), Mouna Traoré (Self Made, The Umbrella Academy), Loren Lott (American Idol, Tag), Olunike Adeliyi (Titans, American Gods) and Alfre Woodard.
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ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL SERIES
- MISS S Season 1 (15×60, Drama, Shanghai 99 Visual, 2019, China)
Episodes 1-15 begin streaming Tuesday, February 1
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
In the Chinese adaptation of the global phenomenon that is Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, an unlikely duo – the beautiful and witty Shanghai socialite, Su Wenli (Ma Yi Li, The First Half Of My Life) and the righteous, serious inspector, Luo Qiuheng (Gao Wei Guang, Mr. Pride vs. Miss Prejudice) find themselves paired up to solve cases in Shanghai.
- TEN YEAR OLD TOM Season 1 (10×30, Tomorrow Studios, 2021, USA)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
From the creator of “The Life and Times of Tim ” comes this highly anticipated animated series. Can a kid grow up these days without being corrupted by the world around him? Our main character Tom grapples with this dilemma each day just by waking up and leaving his house, where bad influences seem to lurk around every corner. Cast includes Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus, Best in Show), John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) and David Duchovny (Californication)
- PEOPLE JUST DO NOTHING Season 2 (6×30, Comedy, Roughcut TV, 2015, UK)
Begins streaming Friday, February 4
With Chabuddy G (Asim Chaudhry, Click & Collect) as their new Manager, Kurupt FM attempts to break into the music industry. Grindah (Allan Mustafa, BBC Comedy Feeds) sees musical success as a potential escape from his impending wedding, which Miche (Lily Brazier, Juliet, Naked) continues to plan tirelessly. Beats (Hugo Chegwin, BBC Comedy Feeds) and Roche (Ruth Bratt, Man Down) prepare for the arrival of their first child together, whilst Chabuddy G is looking for love.
- THE HEAD (6×60, Drama, The Mediapro Studio, 2020, Spain)
Begins streaming Monday, February 7
When the small team at an Arctic Research Station loses communications with the outside world during the winter months, a group led by Johan (Alexandre Willaume, The Wheel of Time), the summer commander, returns to investigate. They find most of the crew dead, with only two remaining survivors, and realize Johan’s wife is missing. Only the two survivors can shed light on what happened, but their contradictory accounts quickly turn them into the main suspects.
- CARGO (8×60, Drama, Fremantle Finland, 2020, Finland)
Begins streaming Friday, February 25
*Canadian Exclusive Premiere*
Swept up into the global human trafficking epidemic, a mother must fight to find her family’s freedom. CARGO tells the story of the international refugee crisis, spanning multiple perspectives and geographical borders, and the dark world of those who profit from it.
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH COLLECTION
- MUHAMMED ALI (8×60, Florentine Films/Ken Burns, USA, 2021)
Streaming Friday, January 28
MUHAMMED ALI brings to life one of the most indelible figures of the 20th century, a three-time heavyweight boxing champion who captivated millions of fans across the world with his mesmerizing combination of speed, grace, and power in the ring, and charm and playful boasting outside of it. Ali insisted on being himself unconditionally and became a global icon and inspiration to people everywhere.
- CONVICTION: THE STEPHEN LAWRENCE STORY (3×60, Drama, Hat Trick Mercurio, UK, 2021)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
A gripping tale about the conviction of two suspects in Britain’s most infamous murder. An investigation beset by hostility, obstruction and sabotage exposed astonishing levels of complacency, racism and corruption within the UK’s largest police force, taking 18 years to reach a conviction.
- VOICE OF FREEDOM (2×50, Documentary, WGBH Educational Foundation, USA, 2021)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
On Easter Sunday, 1939, contralto Marian Anderson stepped up to a microphone in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Inscribed on the walls of the monument behind her were the words “all men are created equal.” Barred from performing in Constitution Hall because of her race, Anderson would sing for the American people in the open air. VOICE OF FREEDOM interweaves Anderson’s rich life story with this landmark moment in history, exploring fundamental questions about talent, race, fame, democracy, and the American soul.
- THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG (4×60, Documentary, McGee Media LLC, USA, 2021)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
An intimate four-hour series from Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Finding Your Roots), THE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG explores the 400-year-old story of the black church in America, the changing nature of worship spaces, and the men and women who shepherded them from the pulpit, the choir loft, and church pews.
- THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION (1×112, Documentary, Firelight Films, Inc., USA, 2015)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
In the turbulent 1960s, change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored — cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for Black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.
- BLACK BOYS (1×95, Documentary, Never Whisper Justice, USA, 2020)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
BLACK BOYS illuminates the full humanity of Black men and boys in America. An intimate, inter-generational exploration, BLACK BOYS strives for insight to Black identity and opportunity at the nexus of sports, education, and criminal justice. Speaking with an array of figures — ranging from educators, athletes, journalists, activists, parents, and youth — the documentary explores the body, mind, voice, and heart of Black boys and the double edged sword of having to build up their own self worth while knowing the world is not built for them.
- MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE (1×114, Documentary, The People’s Poet Media Group, 2016, USA)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
This unprecedented film weaves Maya Angelou’s (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her work with Malcolm X in Ghana to her poetry reading for President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, the film takes us on an incredible journey through the life of a true American icon.
- I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO (1×90, Documentary, Velvet Film, 2017, USA)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO envisions the book James Baldwin (The Fire Next Time) never finished, a radical narration about race in America, using the writer’s original words, as read by actor Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction). Alongside a flood of rich archival material, the film draws upon Baldwin’s notes on the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. to explore and bring a fresh and radical perspective to the racial narrative in America.
- PATTY VS. PATTY (1×20, Documentary, 2022, Canada)
PATTY vs. PATTY is a short documentary that revisits Toronto’s absurd “Patty Wars” of February 1985, when Canadian federal food inspectors suddenly deemed the beef patties Jamaicans are familiar with to have been illegally named “patty.”
- ALL THE STREETS ARE SILENT: THE CONVERGENCE OF HIP HOP & SKATEBOARDING (1×89, Documentary, Elkin Editions, 2021, USA)
Begins streaming Monday, February 21
The culture-shifting collision of hip hop and skateboarding is thoroughly and passionately unpacked in this dynamic new documentary from Montreal-born director Jeremy Elkin (Call Me Caitlyn), a seasoned skate-video maker. Narrated by Eli Morgan Gesner (Condemned), co-founder of the iconic NYC skateboarding company Zoo York, ALL THE STREETS ARE SILENT zeroes in on a pivotal chapter in New York history, 1987 to 1997, when Manhattan’s cauldron of youth-led subcultures married hip hop with skateboarding and gave birth to a potent (and profitable) “street culture” movement that infiltrated every urban corner of the globe.
In addition to the titles listed below as part of the CBC Gem Black History Month Collection, CBC will offer a variety of programming and editorial content across all of its platforms throughout February in recognition of Black History Month. Being Black in Canada is CBC’s year-round hub featuring Black-centred content from across all areas and platforms. Some examples of featured programming and editorial coming in February 2022 include:
- BEING BLACK IN CANADA: MY JOURNEY HERE (6×5, CBC’s Being Black in Canada, 2022)
Coming in February on CBC Gem
Black Canadian immigrants share the joys and obstacles on their paths to Black excellence. From their first steps in Canada to the moments that shaped their lives. These are their journeys here.
- BEING BLACK IN CANADA AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (1×30, CBC’s Being Black in Canada/CBC Sports, 2022)
Begins streaming Saturday, February 5 on CBC Gem and cbcsports.ca and broadcast on CBC News Network
*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
CBC’s Tamika Forrester sits down with Black Canadian athletes to discuss what it means to be representing more than just their country on the world’s biggest stage at The Olympic Games.
- BLACK ON THE PRAIRIES: PLACE EDITION (CBC Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, 2022)
Coming in February
Led by CBC senior reporter Omayra Issa, this project explores the theme of place as it relates to the history and present lives of Black people on the prairies through articles, personal essays, images and more, and shows how the experiences of Black people are inextricably linked with the Prairies themselves.
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CHINA IN FOCUS COLLECTION
- CHINA: NATURE’S ANCIENT KINGDOM (3×60, Documentary, Oxford Scientific Films, 2020, China)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
This stunning series opens with China’s mountainous terrains, where foxes, antelopes, and snow leopards thrive in harsh conditions. It then moves to dense forests that host the monkeys and iconic giant pandas. Finally, on the fringes of the city, people must make space for nature and find a way to live alongside some spectacular animals. With 20 percent of China designated as protected land, how are the Chinese people adapting to their country’s conservation efforts? And could this landmark project inspire similar projects across the globe?
- THE STORY OF CHINA (6×60, Documentary, Maya Vision International, 2016, UK)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
The oldest state on earth, home to over a billion people, and the second biggest economy in the world, China is a superpower. In this landmark series looking at China’s distinct and brilliant civilization, Michael Wood argues that to understand modern China you have to look at its history.
- CHINESE NEW YEAR: THE BIGGEST CELEBRATION ON EARTH (3×60, Documentary, Lion Television, 2016, UK)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 1
Witness how the Chinese celebrate their new year. From northeast Harbin to Beijing and to the very south of Hong Kong, see how people of China travel, eat, perform shows and start the new year.
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FEATURE FILMS
- LOVESICK (1×90, Drama, Limonero, 2017, USA)
Begins streaming Monday, February 14
In 1986, HIV was a death sentence. Today, thanks to affordable generic drugs, Dr. Suniti Solomon’s patients live longer, healthier lives – and, like all young Indians, face the pressure to marry. At 72, in the twilight of her career, Dr. Solomon finds herself in a new role: marriage matchmaker. LOVESICK interweaves Dr. Solomon’s unconventional personal and professional journeys with the lives of two patients: Karthik, a reticent bachelor, and Manu, a bubbly IT professional who, like many women in India, was infected by her first husband. As Karthik and Manu search for love, they learn how to survive under the shadow of HIV.
- CAFÉDE FLORE (1×120, Drama, Item 7, 2011, Canada)
Begins streaming Monday, February 14
Haunting and heart-breaking, director Jean-Marc Vallée’s (Dallas Buyers Club) romantic drama is an electrifying multi-layered experience. CAFE DE FLORE is a love story about people separated by time and place but connected in profound and mysterious ways. Atmospheric, fantastical, tragic and hopeful, the film chronicles the parallel fates of Jacqueline (Vanessa Paradis, A Monster In Paradise), a young mother with a disabled son in 1960s Paris, and Antoine (Émile Vallée, C.R.A.Z.Y.), a recently divorced, successful DJ in present day Montreal. What binds the two stories together is love – euphoric, obsessive, tragic, youthful, timeless love.
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LIFESTYLE
- ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY S26(B) (35×50, Boundless Productions, 2018, UK)
Begins streaming Friday, February 18
*Canadian Exclusive Premiere*
ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY returns with a new season to find the perfect home for families seeking to get away from city living. Each episode features one couple or family who are looking to make the escape and relocate to the country.
- THE DOG HOUSE Season 3 (9×60, Five Mile Films, 2022, UK)
Begins streaming Tuesday, February 22
There are nearly 9 million dogs in Britain, but finding the right homes for them isn’t easy. Set inside a rural British Dog Rescue Centre famous for its commitment to matching their homeless dogs with new owners, this series bears witness to the joy, comedy and pathos of the human-dog dating experience. No beat is missed as multiple fixed cameras observe the first meetings between the dogs and people looking for a new four legged friend.
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SHORT FILMS
- ANGAKUSAJAUJUQ: THE SHAMAN’S APPRENTICE (1×20, Animated Drama, directed by Zacharias Kunuk, 2021, Canada)
Now streaming
ANGKUKSAJAUJUQ: THE SHAMAN’S APPRENTICE is an animated adaptation of an Inuit traditional story, from the North Baffin region. It tells the story of a young shaman in training who must face her first test—a trip to the underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill. Facing dark spirits and physical challenges, the young shaman must trust the teachings of her grandmother and mentor, Ningiuq Angakkuq, and learn to control her fear.
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THE BEST OF CBC
- Past and current seasons of CBC series including ARCTIC VETS, PRETTY HARD CASES, THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES, HEARTLAND, MURDOCH MYSTERIES, STILL STANDING, TALLBOYZ, KIM’S CONVENIENCE, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW, and SCHITT’S CREEK; and classic CBC hits like BEING ERICA.
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COMING IN MARCH
- Hello (Again)
- Revenge of the Black Best Friend
- Fragile
- Alma’s Not Normal
- Spreadsheet
- Ladhood S2
- Friday Night Dinner S1 & S2
- Dramaworld S2
