What to watch on CBC Gem in June 2021

May 31, 2021Norman Wilner

A scene from the 2018 documentary Deep In Vogue

Here’s everything new coming to CBC Gem in June 2021, including these shows highlighted by NOW critics.

Pride Collection

Gem is marking Pride with a flood of queer programming, from documentaries like Amy Watson and Dennis Keighron-Foster’s Deep In Vogue (about the underground ballroom scene in Manchester, which sprung from Black gay culture in 80s New York) and Julie Sokolow’s Woman On Fire (a profile of Brooke Guinan, New York City’s first trans firefighter) to imported TV like the Dutch web series Anne+, starring Hanna van Vliet as a young woman in Amsterdam juggling old flames and new loves. There’s also a second season of the Sundance Channel show This Close, in which co-creators Shoshannah Stern and Joshua Feldman play two deaf friends – one straight, one gay – in Los Angeles.

Deep In Vogue and Woman On Fire are streaming now; Anne+ premieres June 1; season 2 of This Close premieres June 4.

National Indigenous History Month Collection

Launched on May 28, this collection offers a wealth of new-to-Gem programming, including the first film produced entirely in the Haida language – Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s 2018 drama Edge Of The Knife – and two recent projects from living legend Zacharias Kunuk, the Nunavut thriller Maliglutit (co-directed by Natar Ungalaaq) and the resettlement drama One Day In The Life Of Noah Piugattuk. Additional titles will be added June 1, including Alanis Obomsawin’s recent documentaries Our People Will Be Healed and Jordan River Anderson: The Messenger and Allan Code’s Pandemic: At The End Of The World, a short documentary about the Inuvialuit people of the Mackenzie River Delta, who survived smallpox in the 19^th century and the flu epidemic in the 20^th century, and now face COVID-19. Now streaming

A black-and-white band photo of The Tragically Hip. — Gordon Hawkins

Juno Week Livestreams

CBC is marking the 50^th anniversary of the Juno awards with six nights of live events, each one starting at 8 pm ET from Monday, May 31 through Saturday, June 5. Monday, it’s a live episode of Q with Tom Power interviewing Gord Sinclair, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay and Paul Langlois of the Tragically Hip, winners of this year’s Juno humanitarian award. On Tuesday, Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe hosts The Block Session, celebrating Black musical achievement with live performances from Michie Mee, Ammoye, Dijah SB, JRDN, Choclair and more. For Wednesday’s jazz session, Laila Biali hosts an evening with nine musicians who’ve been nominated in the Junos’ three jazz categories. On Thursday, Duncan McCue and Jarrett Martineau host a Reclaimed session highlighting this year’s Indigenous Juno nominees. Friday is given over to the awards themselves, and Saturday is dedicated to a special Juno Songwriters’ Circle evening hosted by Jim Cuddy and featuring Carole Pope, Deborah Cox, Dan Hill and July Talk. Whichever ones you watch, play ’em loud. May 31-June 5

Japan With Sue Perkins

Follow one of the most beloved hosts of The Great British Bake-Off to Japan for this two-part special, which aired in the UK in 2019 and explores the curious paradox of a deeply traditional nation obsessed with modernization. June 25

The full list of new titles available on CBC Gem in June 2021 by date: