Michael Rubbo

A fascinating documentary about the debate over who actually wrote Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. Australian Michael Rubbo treats his film like a mystery, feeding us clues and expounding on the various theories that come to light over the course of his investigation. (imdb)

Peanut butter is the secret ingredient for magic potions made by two 'friendly' ghosts. Eleven-year-old Michael looses all of his hair when he gets a 'fright' and uses the potion to get his hair back, but too much peanut butter causes things to get a bit 'hairy' (imdb)

When the joker Tommy Tricker plays some practical jokes on some of his friends, his best friend Ralph, a stamp collector, discovers the secret of "stamp travel" to make him travel around the world on a stamp to bring back the mysterious Charles Merriweather, who never returned on a stamp for 75 years. (imdb)

While sketching one day, 13 year old Jo encounters a mysterious art dealer who buys a few of her drawings and commissions her to do some more. Some time thereafter she reads a news story about a million dollar sale of some drawings of a young Vincent Van Gogh. She enlists the aid of some friends and heads to Amsterdam in search of the mystery man. Or, should she go to 19th century Arles in search of Vincent himself? (imdb)

Welcome to the world of stamps with Tommy Tricker and friends as they learn the magic of travelling through time and space for the mere price of the postage. Though of course, nothing is as easy as it seems as they soon learn when they try to rescue Charles Merriweather, a stamp traveller frozen in time since his last attempt at stamp- travelling, 65 years ago. But Charles turns out to be a girl, his sister Molly! And she is rapidly turning into an old woman. (imdb)

Three Canadian filmmakers travel to Cuba in hopes of filming Fidel Castro. While waiting they capture life on the island.

This short live-action film tells the story of little raccoon who encounters many adventures when he strays from home to explore the world. (imdb)

This short documentary demonstrates how international aid works, or fails to work, in the transfer of technology from a more to a less industrialized society. In the late 1970s, the government of Ghana, with the help of the Canadian International Development Agency, drilled wells and installed hand-operated pumps in many of the African country's villages in an effort to provide a clean and convenient water supply. (nfb.ca)

This feature documentary profiles Jean-Guy Moreau, a Québécois comedian, impersonator and political satirist who rises far above the level of being merely funny. In this film he prepares to perform in English before a Toronto audience. He will impersonate Premier René Lévesque conducting a press conference. Moreau becomes so caught up with his subject that at times his personality merges with that of Lévesque, as he fends off the questions of a very engaged audience. (nfb.ca)

This documentary by Michael Rubbo (Waiting for Fidel) offers candid glimpses of Indonesia and its people. Filming in and around the capital of Jakarta, the cameras follow where chance leads, capturing the flavour of life in this fertile crescent of tropical islands. Throughout the film, the focus is on a society caught between the past and the conflicting options for the future - to change or not to change from long-established patterns of life to ones more influenced by western technology. (nfb.ca)

A film about the people of Saigon told through the experiences of 3 young American journalists who, in 1970, explored the consequences of war and of the American presence in Vietnam. (nfb.ca)

In Margaret Atwood: Once in August, filmmaker Michael Rubbo attempts to discover what shapes the celebrated writer's fiction and what motivates her characters. As one of Canada's most distinguished poets and novelists, Atwood is also one of this country's most elusive literary figures. (nfb.ca)

Documents the case of a woman who had a face-lift, following her from the planning stage through the operation and recovery period. Presents interviews with a plastic surgeon, a psychologist, and a personnel consultant (archive.org)

In this children's film, a white mouse cavorts about the forest, mostly on the back of a bumbling black bear, creating such a stir that other forest creatures (a deer, a tortoise, a hawk and a hound) have to put a stop to it. Animals speak with human voices and "act" out their parts. (nfb.ca)

This documentary film is an exploration of Québec's feature film industry. The film takes a look at the people who have succeeded in this unique milieu (Geneviève Bujold is one) or failed; at its movies, which run the gamut from hard-core skinflicks to such highly acclaimed films as Mon Oncle Antoine, and at its audiences, which number in the millions. (nfb.ca)