All of these doc shorts were directed, shot, and edited by David Ridgen and broadcast on “CBC News: Sunday”, a two-hour current affairs newsmagazine program that covered stories of politics, media, and spirituality on Sunday mornings and evenings from February 2002 until it was taken off the air in 2010.
The Devil (2004)
Synopsis
A concept piece about the devil filmed with the stars attending the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. Features, Nicolas Cage, Francis Ford Coppola, Rockin’ Ronnie Hawkins, Roger Ebert, Denys Arcand, Sir Ridley Scott, Kim Cattrall, Tonya Lee Williams, Fran Drescher, Robert Benton, religion Prof. Philip Harland and more. 8 min.,
Fear of dying (2005)
Synopsis
A concept piece on death and dying filled with the stars attending the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Features: Dustin Hoffman, Darryl Hannah, Mark Whalberg, Jennifer Tilley, Bill Condon, Lily Tomlin, Annette Bening, Romeo Dallaire, David O. Russell, Ontario’s coroner, philosophy prof. Donald C. Ainslie and more. 8 min.,
GWAR (2005)
Synopsis
A kick-ass insider report on GWAR’s “Mock the Vote” tour during the build-up to the 2004 election battle between John Kerry vs. George W. Bush. Features the late great Canadian Dave Brockie as Oderus Urungus. RIP. 7 min.,
Wal-Mart Unionization (2005)
Synopsis
Wal-Mart worker Brent Fralic’s struggle to unionize a Windsor, Ontario Wal-Mart with the help of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). Features interviews with Windsor consumers, Wal-Mart workers, Wal-Mart spokesperson Andrew Pelletier and UFCW representatives. 15 min.,
A viable Palestine? (2005)
Synopsis
A concept piece about the notion of a ‘viable’ Palestinian state featuring Joel Singer, architect of Oslo I & II, Henry Siegman of the Council on Foreign Relations, Noam Chomsky, Daniel Pipes, Robert Fisk, Ed Morgan, Elia Zureik, and more. 15 min.,
The Village (2005)
Synopsis
The members of Whole Village have a vision for the way people of the world should be living: as a close-knit, consensus-based intentional community, in harmony with their environment. Problem is, squabbles and power struggles within the Village are threatening to tear it apart. Their neighbours in the idyllic countryside of Caledon, Ontario think they are a cult and the town building department won’t grant their progressive plans for a 17,000 square foot “single family dwelling” a building permit. “The Village: a family story” chronicles the many struggles and triumphs of a unique and determined group of people over a three-year period, as they attempt to overcome their differences to create an ideal society in the middle of a well-established, and skeptical Ontario community. 35 min.,
Other selected short docs
Steven Page – a short doc about Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies in the aftermath of 9/11
Showdown in Steeltown – a TV one hour doc about the cutthroat Liberal nomination race between Tony Valeri and Sheila Copps in Hamilton before the 2004 Canadian Federal Election.
Innate Democracy? – a short doc about the notion of democratic thought and evolution featuring standout interviews with evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker and social anthropologist Chris Boehm.
Ahmad Chalabi – Two different short docs featuring exclusive interviews with Iraqi-American intelligence and political operative Ahmad Chalabi.
Black Dawn: the next pandemic – wrote, produced, and directed key “reality-effect” sequences with actors in a “what-if” TV one hour about the possibility of a pandemic bird flu sweeping the planet. CBC Fifth Estate Special.
Writer/Director/Camera/Editor
David Ridgen
(SD/HD, 2004-2005 © CBC)
ridgenfilm 