This week on CBC Newsworld, they are showing a lot of documentary shorts and the past two nights, I have been watching them and been enthralled.

Last night, I watched Helen's War, Portrait of a Dissident which followed Dr. Helen Caldicott and her niece in her attempt to raise funds to start her Nuclear Policy Research Institute and to promote her new book entitled "The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush's Military-Industrial Complex" . It was very interesting and encouraging to see that Helen has not really lost any of her passion for her quest to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

On Saturday, I watched a short film called X-change which documented a ten-day exchange between an ardent Westerner (from Alberta) and a militant Quebec separatist. This was an interesting insight into two very different people who go to the other's hometown and try to understand each other. The separation of Quebec is a huge debate in Canada and there are many opinions of what should be done. But when it really comes down to it, both sides would be at a great loss if they were to separate because we compliment each other. On a non-political level, if we cannot all accept that we are different yet the same, then the whole world is in trouble.

I must say that I was impressed by both of these films and I was glad to actually spend some quality time thinking about some important issues.