Christopher's Movie Matinée is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Mort Ransen and released in 1968.
[2] Depicting the youth counterculture hippie movement in the Toronto district of Yorkville, the film was unusual in that it directly engaged the teenagers as active participants rather than subjects, depicting their own debates about what kind of film Ransen should make about them and incorporating footage directly filmed by the youth with personal video cameras.
[3] The film includes the group organizing a protest against Toronto Board of Control member Allan Lamport's efforts to crack down on the hippie movement in the city;[4] it ends when the filmmakers are recalled to Montreal by the National Film Board of Canada after being accused in the Toronto press of instigating the protest rather than merely depicting it.
[6] The film did not receive widespread theatrical distribution, instead being shown primarily in private screenings for schools and organizations[7] until it was broadcast on CBC Television in 1969.
[11] It earned a Certificate of Merit at the 1970 Adelaide Film Festival and received a citation as the Recommendation of the Adult Education Centres Jury at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.