''The Passionate Eye'' is a Canadian documentary television series—and online

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...

—that showcases documentary programming from around the world focusing on topics of news, current affairs,

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

s. Airing on

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

, it has been on-air since 1992, and has had a website since 2002. The program was originally hosted by

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

,Host , Passionate Eye - Sunday
" ''CBC.ca''. Archived fro

on 2 December 2002. who left the position when she was appointed the new

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

effective September 27, 2005. Jean was not immediately replaced by a permanent host; the series continued under a hostless format until 2015, when

Wendy Mesley Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

finally took the reins as a permanent host. The series initially aired on Sunday and Monday nights. Debuting documentaries, the Sunday programme was titled ''The Passionate Eye Sunday Showcase'' (or, ''The'' ''Passionate Eye - Sunday''); whereas the Monday-night feature was titled ''The'' ''Passionate Eye - Monday''. The series eventually dropped the "Sunday" and "Monday" from its heading when it began to air episodes more regularly into its third decade. The show formerly also aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

's main network, but was replaced by ''

Doc Zone ''Doc Zone'' was a documentary series on CBC Television which showed both independently produced and in-house productions. It was presented by the author, actor and playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald. The series started in 2006 and concluded in 2015 ...

'' and later ''

Firsthand Firsthand (sometimes first hand or first-hand) means obtained directly from the primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, ...

''. ''The Passionate Eye'' continues to air on CBC News Network several times a week. Going into 2021, CBC made various changes to its documentary commissioning operations; moving forward, the corporation will now commission and acquire one-hour documentaries under its ''The Passionate Eye'' banner. Also under this new strategy, documentaries that were previously commissioned under ''

CBC Docs POV ''CBC Docs POV'' is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist ...

'' will be commissioned for CBC Television and

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

under the ''Passionate Eye'' brand. Similar documentary services of CBC's include: ''

The Nature of Things ''The Nature of Things'' (also, ''The Nature of Things with David Suzuki'') is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on 6 November 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect that hum ...

'', which commissions one-hour science and nature documentaries;

documentary Channel A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific ar ...

, which commissions feature-length documentaries; and CBC Short Docs, which greenlights shorter-form documentaries and digital shorts.

Select episodes

Foreign-produced documentaries

International documentaries showcased on ''The Passionate Eye'' include: * '' Crumb'' — a profile of the satirical cartoonist

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

* ''

The Celluloid Closet ''The Celluloid Closet'' is a 1995 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on Vito Russo's 1981 book ''The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies'', and on lecture and film clip ...

'' — an investigation of Hollywood's treatment of homosexuals * ''

The Dying Rooms ''The Dying Rooms'' is a 1995 television documentary film about Chinese state orphanages. It was directed by Kate Blewett and Brian Woods and produced by Lauderdale Productions. It first aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and in 1996, was ...

'' — an expose of the Chinese orphanages * ''Russian Striptease'' — a stylistic look at sex and corruption in post-

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

Russia * ''

The Battle Over Citizen Kane ''The Battle Over Citizen Kane'' is a 1996 American documentary film directed and produced by Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein, from a screenplay by Lennon and Richard Ben Cramer, who also narrates. It chronicles the clash between Orson Welles a ...

'' — the impact of ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

'' between

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. * ''Calling the Ghosts: A Story about Rape, War and Women'' — the personal journey of two Bosnian women, a lawyer and a judge, who were imprisoned during the civil war. * ''

In the Shadow of the Stars ''In the Shadow of the Stars'' is a 1991 American documentary film about the San Francisco Opera by the husband-and-wife team of Irving Saraf and Allie Light as it depicts the lives of the various members of the chorus, rather than the big name sta ...

'' — behind-the-scenes look at the San Francisco Opera Company. * ''For Better or For Worse'' (1993) — intimate portraits of five culturally-diverse couples who have been together for 50 years or longer. * ''

Fourteen Days in May ''Fourteen Days in May'' is a documentary film directed by Paul Hamann and originally shown on television by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1987. The programme recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an ...

'' — the last two weeks on death row with a man many believe to be innocent. * ''Project Nim'' — the story of

Nim Chimpsky Neam "Nim" Chimpsky (November 19, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee and the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University. The project was led by Herbert S. Terrace with the linguistic analysis head ...

, a chimpanzee who was the focus of a controversial experiment that aimed to show what would happen if baby chimps were taken from their mothers at birth and raised like humans. * '' 10%: What Makes a Hero?'' — an investigation into why some people are willing to put themselves at risk in order to perform what others consider heroic deeds * '' The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden'' — investigative biographies of then-President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and former Vice President Joe Biden.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passionate Eye CBC Television original programming 2000s Canadian documentary television series 2010s Canadian documentary television series Canadian Screen Award-winning television shows CBC News Network original programming 1992 Canadian television series debuts 1990s Canadian television news shows 2000s Canadian television news shows 2010s Canadian television news shows 2020s Canadian television news shows 2020s Canadian documentary television series