Documentary filmmaker Magnus Isacsson has received many awards for his work in photography, radio, TV and film. A former producer for the English and French networks of the CBC, he has made more than a dozen independent films since 1986. Often shot over long periods of time, they tell dramatic stories that raise important social and political issues.

Uranium (Golden Sheaf Award for Best Documentary, Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival [Saskatchewan, 1991]) is about the radioactive contamination of Native land by Canada's uranium mines.

Power (Best Documentary, Festival international du film d'environnement, [Paris, France, 1997]; Grand Prize, Festival international du film sur l'énergie Lausanne [Switzerland, 1998]) chronicled the Crees' successful five-year struggle against the Great Whale hydro project in Northern Quebec.

The Choir Boys (Golden Conch, International Mumbai Film Festival [India, 2000]; nominated for Best Feature at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival [Toronto, 2000] and for a Jutra Award for Best Documentary [2000]) narrates the success and tribulations of a Montreal choir made up of homeless men.

Other recent films are Pressure Point (Quebec Film Critics Award for Best Documentary [2000]) Maxime, McDuff & McDo (nominated for three Gémeaux Awards [2003]) and newly released Hellbent for Justice. Isacsson received the 2004 Prix Lumières from the Quebec Directors Association.

Since September 2007, he's publishing a blog called "documentary field notes and flashpoints".

Hell-Bent for Justice
NFB / érézi (2005)

HELL-BENT FOR JUSTICE tells the story of courage in the face of mobster tyranny. Ordinary citizens, caught in the cross fire of the Quebec biker wars refuse to be silenced in spite of their personal traumas. Confronting organised crime, the police and the media, they show the power of citizen action.

Waiting for Martin
Lo Tekk (2004)

An innovative collaboration between a veteran documentarian and a young animator/editor, WAITING FOR MARTIN updates the proud tradition established by Mike Rubbo's Waiting for Fidel and Michael Moore's Roger and Me. The film tells the dramatic and entertaining story of an activist who won't take no for an answer.

Maxime, McDuff & McDo
Productions Virage inc. (2002)

This is the story of two young men, Maxime and Pascal, who sow the wind and reap a storm. Things quickly get out of control when the two employees attempt to form a union at a Montreal McDonald's.

Awards
 - Nominated for the Gémeaux Awards for Best Documentary, Best Direction and Best Editing (2003).

View from the Summit
NFB / érézi (2002)

Seven film crews provide us with an extraordinary perspective of Quebec City over the course of the three days in April, 2001 when the Summit of the Americas-and the ensuing protests-rocked the city. The cameras expose both sides of the barricades, featuring corporate leaders, political activists, and those responsible for keeping the peace.

The Choir Boys
érézi (1999)

A feature-length documentary about a Montreal choir made up of homeless men. The film follows the surprisingly successful career of of the choir as well as its internal conflicts over a two year period.

Awards
- Nominated for Best Feature Length Documentary Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Toronto, 2000).
- Nominated for the Quebec Jutra Award for Best Documentary (2000).
- Golden Conch for Best International Video over 60 minutes, Mumbai (Bombay) International Film Festival (2000).
- Screened in competition, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (2000).
- Screened in competition, Cinéma du Réel (Paris, France, 2000).

Pressure Point - Inside the Montreal Blockade
(co-director) Multi-Monde Productions (1999)

Co-directed by Malcom Guy, Anna Pascal, and Isacsson, this film documents Montreal's backlash against the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the implications of economic globalization it carried. Isacsson was also an associate producer on the film, a Multi-Monde production (1999).

In his article 'Point of No Return' Lyle Stewart reviews some the harrowing personal calculations behind civil disobedience and the challenges of making this activist film.

Awards
 - Quebec Film Critics Award for Best Documentary (2000).

Union Trouble - A Cautionary Tale
Productions Virage (1999)

UNION TROUBLE - A CAUTIONARY TALE is a dramatic story about a historic attempt to unionize the employees of McDonald's, a company known all over the world for its anti-union policies. The film follows the battle undertaken by a small group of employees of one restaurant near Montreal, in an attempt to create the only union at McDonald's in all of North America.

Awards
- Nominated for Best Social Issue Documentary Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Toronto, 1999).

Vivre Ensemble
Macumba International (1997)

A television program on migrations in Africa.

Awards
- Special mention from the jury at Festival de films Vues d'Afrique (Montreal, 1997).

Power - One River Two Nations
Cineflix (1996)

POWER - ONE RIVER TWO NATIONS tells the story of the five-year battle carried out by the Cree of Quebec against the Great Whale hydro-electric project.

Awards
- Nominated for the Genie Award for Best Feature Length Documentary (1996).
- Nominated for the Best Feature Length Documentary Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Toronto, 1997).
- Best Documentary Award, Festival international du film d'environnement (Paris, France, 1997).

 - Grand Prize of the Festival and Grand Prize of the Press, Festival international du film sur l'énergie Lausanne (Switzerland, 1999).

The Big Upheaval
Productions Virage (1996)

This film documents the 1972 strike of the Common Front of public sector employees in Québec.

Awards

 - Nominated for the Best Political Documentary Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Toronto, 1997).
 - Series Award, Best Video, Quebec Office of Social Communications (1997).

The Emperor's New Clothes
NFB (1995)

This freature-length documentary produced by the National Film Board of Canada takes a hard look at the consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement for working people.

Uranium
NFB (1991)

URANIUM is a film about the radioactive contamination of Native Peoples' lands by Canada's uranium mines.

Awards

 - Golden Sheaf Award for Best Documentary, Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival (Toronto, 1997).

Toivo - Child of Hope
Alter-Ciné (1990)

TOIVO - CHILD OF HOPE tells the story of the liberation of Namibia, a freedom hard-won after thirty years of bloody struggle against the tyrannical rule of the white minority.

A film about about war, famine and development in Ethiopia