SIGNATURE SERIES

NATIONAL PREMIERE – Divine Restoration
Mondays, starting May 2, 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET, 26/30 mins.

There are churches all over North America that could use a little tender loving care. So each week, hosts Catherine Burdon and Jim Codrington and the rest of the Divine Restoration team help enthusiastic volunteers from a local congregation to complete a challenging 48-hour renovation project – anything from fixing up an old pulpit to creating a new kitchen for feeding the homeless. This brand new series is multi-faith broadcaster VisionTV's first foray into lifestyle programming.

ENCORE PRESENTATION – RetroVision: Treasures from the Vaults of the National Film Board
Mondays, starting May 9, 10 p.m. ET, 26/60 mins.

Since 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has been documenting every imaginable aspect of our culture – from the clothes we wear to the things we do behind our bedroom doors. This weekly series, hosted by comedian Kenny Robinson, showcases short films from the NFB archives that offer an engaging, eye-opening and often amusing look at how Canadian life has changed through the decades.

DOCUMENTARIES AND DOCUMENTARY SERIES

WORLD PREMIERE – End of Days
Tuesday, May 3, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins. Airing in honour of Israel Independence Day

Many devout Evangelical Christians believe Jesus Christ will soon return, and that Israel plays a pivotal role in the unfolding of Biblical prophecy. Believers who share this apocalyptic vision are among Israel's fiercest political supporters, and many Jews welcome such expressions of solidarity. Others, however, question the motives of so-called “Christian Zionists.” This documentary by Martin Himel ( Confrontation at Concordia ) examines the complex and potentially combustible relationship between Christian and Jewish Zionists.

WORLD PREMIERE – Unbreakable Minds
Wednesday, May 4, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins. Airing in honour of Mental Health Week

For people in the grip of mental illness, every day is a battle against unknowable demons. How does it feel to live this way? And what is it like to watch someone you love go through such suffering? This hour-long documentary by Montreal filmmakers Abbey Jack Neidik and Irene Lilienheim Angelico is an intimate portrait of three men and their families as they struggle to cope with severe mental disorders.

WORLD PREMIERE– Shalom Abu Bassem
Tuesday, May 10, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins. Airing in honour of Israel Independence Day

It seems to be a street like any other. But Haladiya Street in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem lies near the epicenter of an intractable political and religious conflict; every ripple on the surface of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle sends shockwaves shuddering through the lives of residents. This documentary by Israeli filmmaker Nissim Mossek, who has been recording everyday happenings on Haladiya Street since 1986, chronicles 20 years in the life of the community through the eyes of two neighbours: Arab merchant Abu Bassem and Jewish settler Danny Robbins.

VISIONTV PREMIERE – Odd Kid Out
Wednesday, May 11, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins. Airing in honour of Mental Health Week

One in 20 children lives with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this documentary, filmmaker Karen O'Donnell takes a personal look at the challenges of raising a child with this condition. She chronicles her own frustrating experiences with 13-year-old son Kail, and tells the stories of two other families struggling to cope with ADHD kids.

WORLD PREMIERE – Vendetta Song
Tuesday, May 17, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins.

The murder of Eylem Kaftan's aunt Guzide has been a mystery for 30 years. In this documentary, the Montreal filmmaker returns to her Kurdish roots in eastern Turkey to uncover the truth, and to confront the ancient tradition of “honour killing.” A National Film Board of Canada co-production.

WORLD PREMIERE – The Big “V”
Wednesday, May 18, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins.

In a culture obsessed with sex, it sometimes seems like the most radical thing anyone could do is … well, to not do it. In this hour-long documentary, Vancouver filmmakers Michelle Welygan and Erin Mussolum introduce the viewer to more than a dozen men and women of all ages who have decided to hang onto – or reclaim – their virginity. Why did they make this choice? And what's it like trying to keep something you're supposed to want to lose?

ENCORE PRESENTATION – Footbinding: Search for the Three Inch Golden Lotus
Tuesday, May 24, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins.

In this intensely personal documentary, Chinese Canadian filmmaker Yue-Qing Yang returns home to investigate China's hidden shame: the now-extinct practice of foot binding. Why did millions of women through the centuries subject themselves to this cruel custom in pursuit of a strange ideal of feminine beauty? To learn the answer, Yue-Qing must find her way past the taboo that now surrounds the subject.

VISIONTV PREMIERE – Through Thick and Thin
Wednesday, May 25, 10 p.m. ET, 60 mins.

Filmmakers Leslie Coté and Felicia Francescut are both in recovery from serious eating disorders. In an effort to understand what has happened to them, they profile others who have gone through similar experiences. This documentary, which combines revealing interviews, stylized imagery and excerpts from the filmmakers' personal journals, is a powerful meditation on the war between body and mind that so many women wage within.

MOVIES

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET, 2 hours (except where noted)