The Things I Cannot Change (1967)

Directed by

Tanya Ballantyne Tree

Genre

documentary

Country

Canada

Runtime

55 min

Rating

8.7 of 10 from 3 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows a family living in poverty in Montreal. It focuses on the parents as they struggle with unstable work and raising many children.

intimaterawobservationalsombergroundedunflinchingatmosphericdownbeat

What happens

The Things I Cannot Change is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Tanya Ballantyne and released in 1967. A precursor of the National Film Board of Canada's Challenge for Change program, the film profiles the issue of urban poverty through the story of Kenneth and Gertrude Bailey, parents of a large family coping with unstable employment in Montreal. The film was broadcast by CBC Television on May 3, 1967 as an episode of the anthology series Festival. Controversy arose when its cinéma vérité style struck some viewers as exploitative of the Baileys. Kenneth and Gertrude Bailey alleged that, after the film's broadcast by CBC Television, their own reputation in the community suffered so badly that they were forced to move out of their home. A sequel, Courage to Change, was released in 1984. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• While I Run This Race (1967)
• The Times That Are (1967)
• Warrendale (1967)
• À St-Henri le cinq septembre (1962)
• The Street: A Film with the Homeless (1997)
• Legault's Place (1967)
• Homeo (1967)
• Ville-Marie (1965)