What’s Coming to CBC Gem (April 2022)

Check out the full list below of what’s coming to CBC Gem in April 2022.

Acclaimed international titles include the English-language Canadian Premiere of the new  adaptation of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (April 8) starring David Tennant (Doctor Who); Canadian Premiere of Israeli multi-award winner MANAYEK (April 22); and third seasons of GHOSTS (April 1) and THE A-WORD (April 1), an Exclusive Canadian Premiere

Our Changing Planet Collection, in honour of Earth Day, features the Exclusive Canadian Premiere of documentary series EDEN: UNTAMED PLANET (April 15), narrated by Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown); award-winning documentary ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH (April 21) from Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas de Pencier; and the Best Canadian Documentary at the 2020 Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS (April 8)

NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY (April 20) selections in recognition of this year’s theme, “Celebrating Indigenous Voices”

Feature films include CBC Films title SAINT-NARCISSE (April 1) from acclaimed filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, and multi-award winner at the Quebec Cinema Awards THE PASSION OF AUGUSTINE (LA PASSION D’AUGUSTINE) (April 15) from internationally renowned filmmaker Léa Pool

The 10th Annual Canadian Screen Awards on Sunday, April 10 celebrate the past year’s achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media

ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL SERIES

• THE A-WORD Season 3 (6×60, Comedy, Fifty Fathoms and Keshet UK, 2019, UK) 

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

Exclusive Canadian Premiere 

Two years on, life has changed dramatically for Joe and his family. Alison and Paul are divorced and living 100 miles apart. Joe spends his weeks with Alison in Manchester and weekends with Paul in the Lakes. The old family home has been sold, and Paul is doing up a new house for him and Joe to move into. Only Maurice seems to be holding it together; since retiring, he has become a Volunteer Firefighter. When a fire breaks out at Paul’s new house, Maurice is part of the team that deals with it, but when he takes Joe to the fire-damaged house, he manages to cause a bigger crisis as Joe is left traumatized by what he’s seen and the lack of a place to call home.

“The A Word is exceptionally authentic in everything it does. Beautiful? Yes. Emotionally sound? Absolutely. Funny? Very much so. But above all, it rings true, and leaves you a little better off than you were before.” – Allison Keene, Paste Magazine

• GHOSTS Season 3 (7×30, Comedy, Monumental Television and Them There, 2021, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

GHOSTS returns for a third season following young couple Alison (Charlotte Ritchie, Call the Midwife) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Stath Lets Flats), who unexpectedly inherit a grand country estate only to find it is both falling apart and overrun with ghosts. Alison and Mike are working hard to bring their new ‘guest house’ plans to fruition, when the peace is disrupted by an unexpected visitor who arrives with a life-changing revelation. Alison questions everything she thought she knew, and the ghosts react with varying degrees of fear, mistrust, and in some cases, delight. Meanwhile, Mike is more intent than ever to put Button House on the map while trying to hold onto his day job. Starring Lolly Adefope (Shrill), Mathew Baynton (Vanity Fair) and Simon Farnaby (Detectorists).

“A lovely, funny, silly comedy” – Alexandra Pollard, The Independent

• AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (8×48, Drama, Slim Film + Television and Federation Entertainment, 2021, UK/France/Italy/Germany)

Begins streaming Friday, April 8

English-language Canadian premiere

In this thrilling new adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel, gentleman adventurer Phileas Fogg (David Tennant, Doctor Who, Broadchurch) is inspired by an article about the exciting advances in travel to take on an almost impossible wager – to circumnavigate the globe in just 80 days. As a man who has spent the last 20 years in a comfortable leather armchair at The Reform Club, he will need all the resilience he can muster and of course would be nowhere without the assistance of quick-witted Frenchman, Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma, OSS117: Red Alert in Africa). Joining them on the road will be the Daily Telegraph journalist who came up with the whole crazy idea in the first place – Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch, The Crown).

“A charming festive adventure ideal for family viewing.” – Sophie Rainbow, London Evening Standard

• PEOPLE JUST DO NOTHING Season 4 (6×30, Comedy, Roughcut TV, 2018, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, April 15

In Season 4 of the BAFTA Award-winning series for Best Scripted Comedy, uncertain times lie ahead at Kurupt FM when commander and chief – Grindah (Allan Mustafa, Love Wedding Repeat), hits rock bottom after his break up with Miche (Lily Brazier, Juliet, Naked) and the boys start going down different paths. Following the birth of his and Roche’s (Ruth Bratt, Man Down) baby, Beats (Hugo Chegwin, The Curse) tries to juggle being a stay-at-home dad with his radio commitments. Steves (Steve Stamp, The Curse) is getting through the loss of his Nan by spending time with baby Robyn, while Chabuddy (Asim Chaudhry, Hoff The Record) struggles with bankruptcy and has to look for work to make ends meet. With the prospect of war with a rival pirate station on the horizon, can they all pull together to save Kurupt FM?

“Entertaining, and absolutely of its time…” – Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

• MANAYEK (10×60, Drama, Yoav Gross Productions, 2020, Israel)
  Begins streaming Friday, April 22
  *Canadian Premiere*

An Israeli police-officer-turned-hitman guns down a key state witness and Izzy Bachar (Shalom Assayag, Kfula) – an Internal Affairs investigator – steps in to interrogate him. The assassin alleges that a high-ranking officer is operating a vast criminal network within the force. The prime suspect: Barak Harel (Amos Tamam, The Spy), a highly respected cop, and Izzy’s best friend and former partner. Izzy is incredulous until he learns Barak is already under investigation. And as Izzy digs deeper, the two veteran cops find themselves locked in a ruthless game of cat-and-mouse. The series was a favourite of the Israeli Academy for Film and Television in 2020, winning the awards for Best Drama Series, Best Director in a Drama Series, Best Screenplay for a Drama Series, Best Leading Actor and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

OUR CHANGING PLANET COLLECTION

• WHY PLASTIC? (3×53, 2021, Denmark/Sweden/Japan/Norway/UK/Germany/Canada)

Now Streaming 

WHY PLASTIC? is a three-part documentary series about the causes, consequences and possible solutions to plastic pollution.

Coca-Cola’s Plastic Promises (directed by Laura Mulholland)

Coca-Cola has a long track record of failing to meet its own targets to reduce plastic waste. Are they really serious about turning the tide on plastic waste?

The Recycling Myth (directed by Tom Costello and Benedict Wermter)

What really happens to our plastic waste once we put it in the recycling bin?

We the Guinea Pigs (directed by Louise Unmack Kjeldsen)

Is there a connection between the increase in a number of diseases and disorders – and the chemicals used to make plastic?

• GREAT ELECTRIC AIRPLANE RACE (1×60, Documentary, directed by Miles O’Brien, 2021, USA)

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

This documentary from producer/director/narrator Miles O’Brien (Nova, Front Line) looks at the array of promising new electric planes on the horizon and takes audiences for a ride in some impressive prototypes that are already in the air—such as Burt Rutan’s Long-ESA that can fly at over 200 mph and climb to 3,000 feet in under six minutes. Boeing, Airbus, Raytheon and other major companies are currently racing to develop practical short-haul passenger planes that promise to slash the operating costs and emissions of regular flights. But first, significant hurdles of battery weight, energy storage and cooling must be overcome. How long will it be before the dream of super-quiet, super-efficient airliners becomes a reality?

• THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS (1×86, Documentary, directed by Jennifer Abbott, 2020, Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, April 8

When director Jennifer Abbott (The Corporation) lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown. Named Best Canadian Documentary at the 2020 Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief—both personal and planetary. Stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is everything. For the people featured, climate change is not happening in the distant future: it is kicking down the front door. Battles waged, lamentations of loss, and raw testimony coalesce into an extraordinary tapestry, woven together with raw emotion and staggering beauty that transform darkness into light, grief into action.

“The imagery, music, and storytelling are utterly captivating…”

– Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight

• EDEN: UNTAMED PLANET (6×50, Documentary, BBC Studios, 2021, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, April 15

Exclusive Canadian Premiere

Travel to the far corners of the planet with narrator Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown, The King’s Speech) and discover the secrets of Earth’s few remaining untouched lands, all brimming with life. From the Namib Desert to Patagonia, only a handful of places on Earth can claim to be largely unchanged. Isolated from the rest of the world, these places have been protected from the most damaging effects of human interference.

• 2040 (1×92, Documentary, directed by Damon Gameau, 2019, Australia)

Begins streaming Friday, April 15

Concerned about his young daughter’s future, filmmaker Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) travels the world in search of new approaches and solutions to climate change. He meets with innovators and changemakers in many fields to draw on their expertise. The film was nominated by the Australian Film Critics Association for the Best Documentary Award.

“2040 points a practical, achievable path toward solutions, but its most important contribution is a sense that change is possible.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

• ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH (1×87, Documentary, directed by Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas de Pencier, 2018, Canada)

Begins streaming Thursday, April 21

Multi-award-winning filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky and Nicholas de Pencier travel to six continents and 20 countries to document the impact of humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet. At the intersection of art and science, ANTHROPOCENE witnesses, in an experiential and non-didactic sense, a critical moment in geological history — bringing a provocative and unforgettable experience of our species’ breadth and impact. The film won the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Cinematography in a Feature-Length Documentary Awards at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards.

“…potent and frequently terrifying.” – Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS

• 2022 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS (1×60, Awards Show, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, 2022)

Streaming Sunday, April 10 at 8 p.m. (9 AT / 9:30 NT)
For the past ten years, the Canadian Screen Awards have brought together Canada’s best and brightest film, television, and digital media talents to honour achievements in their crafts, and the 2022 edition is sure to be the most exciting and innovative yet. Featuring a selection of prominent categories and tributes to this year’s Special Award recipients, the 2022 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS show will be a star-powered, creatively curated treat for fans of homegrown entertainment, highlighting Canadian content and its notable moments that made audiences laugh, cry, and reflect over the past year.

CANADIAN FEATURE FILMS

• NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY (Wednesday, April 20) 

Audiences are invited to spend National Canadian Film Day with CBC Gem, the home of more than 150 homegrown titles. In recognition of this year’s theme, “Celebrating Indigenous Voices,” audiences can enjoy and discover titles including THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN (2019, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Kathleen Hepburn), KUESSIPAN (2019, Myriam Verreault), MALIGLUTIT (SEARCHERS) (2016, Zacharias Kunuk), ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF NOAH PIUGATTUK (2019, Zacharias Kunuk), and SGAAWAAY K’UUNA (EDGE OF THE KNIFE) (2018, Gwaai Edenshaw, Helen Haig-Brown), among others.

• SAINT-NARCISSE (1×100, Drama, directed by Bruce LaBruce, Canada, 2021)

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

Canada, 1972. Twenty-two-year-old Dominic (Félix-Antoine Duval) has a fetish… for himself. Nothing turns him on more than his own reflection and he spends much of his time taking Polaroid selfies. When his loving grandmother dies, he discovers a deep family secret: his lesbian mother didn’t die in childbirth, like he had been told, and he has a twin brother (also played by Duval) who was raised by a depraved priest in a remote monastery. The power of destiny brings the two handsome, identical brothers back together. After being reunited with their mother, they are soon entangled in a strange web of sex, revenge and redemption. A CBC Films-funded title, SAINT-NARCISSE received the Graffetta d’Oro for Best Film at the 2020 Venice International Film Festival.

• MAFIA INC. (1×143, Drama, directed by Daniel Grou, Canada, 2019)

Begins streaming Friday, April 8

The Gamache, tailors from father to son, have been dressing the Mafia family Paternò for three generations. Vincent “Vince” Gamache (Marc-André Grondin, C.R.A.Z.Y.) works on behalf of Frank (Sergio Castellitto, Twice Born), the godfather, with his eldest son Giaco (Donny Falsetti, Guy X, Claddagh). Vince, reckless and rash, seeks to earn his stripes by impressing the godfather. Without the Paternò knowing, he stages a big operation and is promoted. Fuming with jealousy, Giaco discovers that Vince committed a monstrous act behind his back. The Gamache disown Vince and war begins. Adapted from the non-fiction book by André Cédilot and André Noël.

• THE PASSION OF AUGUSTINE (LA PASSION D’AUGUSTINE) (1×103, Drama, directed by Léa Pool, Canada, 2014)

Begins streaming Friday, April 15

Simone Beaulieu (Céline Bonnier, L’Heure bleue), better known as Mother Augustine, runs a convent school for girls in rural Quebec in the 1960s. She has turned the little convent into a musical treasure where the students have won every prestigious music competition in the region. When her talented but rebellious niece Alice (Lysandre Ménard, D’encre et de Sang) joins the convent, and when the government threatens to shut down the school in favour of public education, Mother Augustine’s world is suddenly turned upside down. She and her fellow nuns are forced to confront the waves of modernity, and Mother Augustine herself must search her soul for a new calling. Can she accept her past in order to move forward? Or will she perish with tradition? Winner of six awards at the Quebec Cinema Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress.

“.. a nuanced tale of generational shift, personal transformation and the galvanizing power of music.” -T’Cha Dunlevy, Montreal Gazette

• SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSICAL (1×92, Musical Comedy, directed by Michael McGowan, Canada, 2010)

Begins streaming Thursday, April 28

Seventeen-year-old Farley Gordon (Noah Reid, Schitt’s Creek) has led a sheltered life, home-schooled and isolated by his parents. His closest friend is Eve (Allie MacDonald, Under the Silver Lake), their next door neighbour. When his skill at hockey is realized, Farley is signed to a major hockey league and achieves instant fame and success. But pressure from his coach and teammates and a changing relationship with Eve begin to create intense strain in Farley’s life.

“A 1930s-style, boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl songfest. With sticks, skates and a puck.”

– Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail

LIFESTYLE

• GRAND DESIGNS UK Season 19 (8×60, Boundless Productions, 2021, UK)

Begins streaming Wednesday, April 6

Exclusive Canadian Premiere

Season 19 of GRAND DESIGNS UK follows self-builds all over Great Britain, from a sculptural home in Devon, to an ambitious renovation on a Scottish country estate and an eye-catching triangular home in Sussex. Designer and writer Kevin McCloud guides viewers through the trials and tribulations – physical, financial and emotional – of those obsessively trying to create a unique place to live, including a family overcoming grief, an estuary home designed to survive one-in-a-thousand-year flood events, an architect attempting to intertwine his home with a beautiful natural pond, and many more.

• PAUL O’GRADY FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS Season 10 (10×30, Shiver Productions, 2022, UK)

Begins streaming Monday, April 11 in recognition of National Pet Day

Exclusive Canadian Premiere

Paul O’Grady follows the ups and downs of life at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home as its dedicated staff care for our four-legged friends in need.

KIDS

• GLOWBIES Season 2 & 3 (7×12.5 & 5×12.5, Gallus Entertainment, 2021, Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

Follow Jelly, Randy, Alby and Poppy as they have fun adventures around Brighthouse Bay. With enough glows they can power their Lighthouse home and keep the residents of Brighthouse Bay safe.

• ROBOTIK (42×2.5, Cheshire Smile Animation Inc., 2019, Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, April 1

A young girl-bot named Beka and Bubo, her dog-bot, really like to help friends at their Robotik Lab. They are often visited by a diverse collection of colourful robot characters and creatures, each one with its own unique need. Through curiosity and care Beka playfully discovers each problem and with inspired ideas and all her tools, she makes each robot happy.

• THE WONDER GANG Season 2 (25×11, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2021, Australia)

Premieres Saturday, April 2

Willow, Whyla and Wes are the Wonder Gang – a determined team of fact-finding kids who will do whatever it takes to answer any question about amazing animals and nature, no matter how complicated! With the help of their super cute quokka pals Quidget, Quinton and Quest, and armed with a dazzling array of glowing gadgets and technology, the Wonder Gang are dedicated to finding out how the natural world works.

Courtesy: CBC

For all the latest streaming news and reviews, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.