Every Friday, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will share a film recommendation that will support students, staff and faculty in enhancing their understanding of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Students, staff and faculty can access all films featured for free through the NC Libraries and Learning Commons.

To mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this week’s feature film is Ninth Floor.


It started quietly when a group of Caribbean students, strangers in a cold new land, began to suspect their professor of racism. It ended in the most explosive student uprising Canada had ever known.

Over four decades later, Ninth Floor reopens the file on the infamous Sir George Williams Riot – a watershed moment in Canadian race relations and one of the most contested episodes in the nation’s history. Making a compassionate and audacious foray into non-fiction, writer and director Mina Shum locates the protagonists in clandestine locations throughout Trinidad and Montreal, the wintry city where it all went down.

In a cinematic gesture of reckoning and redemption, she listens as they set the record straight — and lay their burden down. Can we make peace with the past? What lessons have we learned? What really happened up there on the 9th floor?

Content Warning: This film has content that may be sensitive to some viewers. Viewer discretion advised. Please take care of yourself when watching the film. 

The following resources are available to Niagara College employees and students: 

Employees 

Full-service EFAP 

  • EFAP services are offered by Homewood Health 
  • Employees and their family members can call 1-800-663-1142 or visit Homeweb.ca with login code NC4321 

Students 

Health, Wellness, and Accessibility Services Niagara College 

Access the film

After viewing the film, we encourage you to reflect on the following questions:

  1. What insights will you be taking away from the film?
  2. What will you say or do differently as a result of watching the film?
  3. How can you apply what you’ve learned to your time here at NC and in your community?
  4. What would you like to learn more about as a result of watching the film?

If you experience any challenges accessing the films, please reach out to the Libraries and Learning Commons at [email protected].

If you have any questions related to the content of the films, please contact Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at [email protected].