Screening times:
Sunday, November 29, 7:00 PM
Celebrate the world of work and those who do it at the Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLIFF). Over two evenings, a selection of shorts from various countries will be screened exploring themes of labour and workers’ rights. Presented by Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax and Carbon Arc Cinema.
Day 2 of CLIFF is held at Carbon Arc Cinema. It has a 90-minute run time.
From The White Quarry
1910: The Uncovering – 27 min | Documentary
dir. Chad Townsend (Canada) | English and Japanese with English subtitles
For many years the only transportation link across Canada was one railway line. This tenuous ribbon of steel was built through high, snowy, and unpredictable mountains. The tragic avalanche that occurred at the Rogers Pass summit in March of 1910 remains Canada’s deadliest. 58 railway workers, majority Japanese died while attempting to clear a snow slide from the tracks when another larger avalanche struck from the other side in the middle of the dark night. This documentary project also delves into the lives of two unlikely friends today, a downtown Vancouver businessman, and a Japanese-born ski guide brought together by their need for purpose, healing, and a shared passion for researching the mysteries and injustices of this event. During production, the team was surprised with a visit by a 1910 victim’s great grandson from Tokyo.
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The Machine Shop – 10 min | Comedy
dir. Jon Flahr (Canada) | English
A worn down machinist takes up a hobby that reignites his joy for life.
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The White Quarry – 53 min | Documentary
dir. Marco Mensa and Elisa Mereghetti (Italy) | Italian with English subtitles
On the island of Lipari, in the heart of the Aeolian archipelago, the vast white expanse of a disused pumice quarry stands as both a monument and a wound. The White Quarry explores this extraordinary landscape where geology, memory, and poetry converge. Narrated by geopoet Davide Sapienza, the film weaves together the voices of former workers, local historians, and environmentalists to recall a century of industry and its toll—on the land, and on the people afflicted by silicosis.
Through archival images and present-day reflections, the documentary confronts the risk of erasure: of stories, of lives, and of a landscape in flux. As the island looks to the future—with plans for a Geo-Mining Park, a Museum of Memory, or luxury tourism—The White Quarry asks a vital question: can we transform a legacy of exploitation into a vision of sustainable renewal?
Tickets Pay-What-You-Choose
