• reFrame Films is the home of award-winning filmmakers Garry Beitel and Barry Lazar, who produce enduring social documentaries about compelling contemporary subjects.

New release

Salaam Montréal documents the sponsorship of three Syrian refugee families by Dorshei Emet – the Reconstructionist Synagogue of Montréal. The 16-minute documentary chronicles the efforts undertaken by synagogue members to bring the families from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia to new homes in Canada. This uplifting portrayal is directed by Garry Beitel and produced by Barry Lazar.

In Pursuit of Peace

In Pursuit of Peace is a riveting 86-minute feature documentary film that makes the case for unarmed civilian peacemaking and mediation as a response to violent international conflict.

We follow four Canadian peacemakers as they take us inside the drama of their work in some of the word’s hottest conflict zones: land disputes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the civil war in South Sudan, IDP camps with displaced minorities in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, and stories of mediation in Darfur, Nepal, and Aceh. As we follow our protagonists, we share their challenges and their hopes as they work to create alternative responses to war and violence.

Their work is portrayed in the context of Canada’s historic role as a major contributor to UN-mandated military peacekeeping missions – a role which has been significantly reduced in the last 20 years.

In Pursuit of Peace is written and directed by Garry Beitel and produced by Barry Lazar.

In Pursuit of Peace trailer

Cricket & Parc-Ex: A Love Story

Produced in collaboration with Canal D.

A 47-minute documentary about Montreal’s South Asian community who live for their love of cricket.

Cricket & Parc-Ex: A Love Story takes us inside the world of cricket and the daily life of Parc Extension – one of Canada’s poorest yet most vibrant immigrant neighbourhoods.

Little known in Quebec, cricket has hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. For the immigrant cricket players in Parc-Ex, cricket is a buffer, an arena in which they can find success, dignity, and community recognition as they slowly integrate into Quebec society. As we immerse ourselves in their world, we get to know several local cricket players including Suk, a 66 year old who immigrated from Guyana over 40 years ago and now sells and repairs cricket equipment in the basement of his grocery store; Raiyan, a 17-year-old aspiring cricket star who came to Montreal only two years ago from Bangladesh; and Huma, Alishba, Suma, and Eeman – a group of four girls of Pakistani origin who challenge the belief that only boys can play cricket. As we get to know them, we also learn more about how to play the world’s second most popular sport.

Cricket & Parc-Ex: A Love Story is a film written and directed by Garry Beitel and produced by Barry Lazar.

Cricket & Parc-Ex: A Love Story trailer