Emptying the Tank
Tuesday, January 22, 2019 on cbc.ca/cbcshortdocs and on CBC Gem
In this striking portrait of Chippewa mixed martial artist Ashley Nichols, director Caroline Monnet eloquently demonstrates and celebrates the athlete’s inner strength, fortitude and dedication to her physical and spiritual health. This short documentary explores what makes Ashley so determined to rise to the top of the extremely competitive and controversial world of mixed martial arts.
Stalkers
Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC News Network (repeats Sunday, January 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and Wednesday January 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBC News Network)
Stalkers follows three high-risk victims, each trying to bring a resolution to their ordeal, and the organization trying to protect them from this invasive and terrifying crime. Every year, one million people in the UK are stalked. Yet fewer than one percent of cases end in conviction. A 2017 UK government report revealed nationwide failings in the way that police and prosecutors respond to stalking cases. Paladin is an independent charity in the UK fighting to protect victims of stalking. Staffed by a specialist team of domestic abuse caseworkers and former police and probation staff, the charity advises victims of stalking on gathering evidence and lobbies the police to take action.
Known in Canada as criminal harassment, stalking has profound consequences for the victims, both personal and professional. In Stalkers, we see Paladin in action, trying to protect victims from crimes such as online hate mail, abusive phone calls, vandalism, being followed at work, and even death threats from total strangers. In one case a victim reported his abuse more than one hundred times to the UK police and made forty different witness statements. Instead of being charged with stalking, the perpetrator was only served with restraining orders.
Filmed over 12 months, Stalkers vividly shows what it’s like to suffer ongoing abuse.
The Nature of Invention
Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and available to stream Friday, January 25 from 5 p.m. ET on CBC Gem
What is it that drives inventors to invent? For some, it’s observing nature and mimicking it. Seeing a burr caught in a dog’s fur inspired velcro, a diving seabird inspired a flying-and-diving drone that folds its wings as it enters the water, and the movements of dogs inspired, well, dog robots. We humans borrow freely from the great designer — nature — to make our lives better, simpler or sometimes just more fun.
Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem
Lone Wolf (Mark Kelley)
What changed Alex Minasian from an awkward teen to someone who committed one of the largest mass killings in Canadian history? The Fifth Estate looks at the making of a murderer and the cultural crisis fueling incels, members of an online community who are primarily men that has proliferated in recent years. It’s an abbreviation for the term “involuntary celibates.” At least five mass murders, resulting in 45 deaths, have been committed in North America by people who have either self-identified as incels or who had mentioned incel-related names and writings in their internet postings — including, of course, the Toronto van attack in the spring.
Fake Immigrants/Frederic Zalac (Habiba Nosheen)
It’s a small, relatively modest house in Calgary. Perfect for one family. So why was it listed as the place of residence of 60 people, all originally from China? The answer lies with Sony Wang, an immigration consultant who orchestrated one of the most sophisticated immigrant scams in Canadian history. The twist in this tale isn’t that the people were trying to sneak into the country; it’s that they were sneaking out, pretending to be Canadian citizens while having no intention of living here.
