The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content Accessibility

Explore all films (4210)

  1. Available in English Options
1917
2025
  • Sons
    Sons
    Justin Simms 2024 1 h 8 min
    Set against the backdrop of his son’s first five years of life—from cooing infant to hurricane of a boy—filmmaker Justin Simms looks at modern masculinity through the lens of fatherhood as he asks an increasingly urgent question: How do we teach our boys to be better men?
  • Posthumans
    Posthumans
    Jérémie Battaglia  &  Dominique Leclerc 2025 1 h 28 min
    Director Dominique Leclerc spent years depending on medical devices for her survival. Then, looking for alternative solutions, she entered the world of emerging technologies.
  • Incandescence
    Incandescence
    Nova Ami  &  Velcrow Ripper 2024 1 h 44 min
    Wildfires are burning with increasing intensity around the world. Following the rhythms of the seasons, Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper’s Incandescence is an immersive cinematic experience, weaving on-the-ground footage with extraordinary stories of survival and adaptation that transform our understanding of wildfire. The film takes shape from the ancient patterns embodied in fire: destruction, aftermath and rebirth. From the flightpath of bees to an osprey’s aerial perspective, floating over the landscape: the Earth comes back.
  • Country Fairs
    Country Fairs
    Jean Roy 1962 27 min
    For farm folk it is a day of judgment, for town folk a day of fun, in the Eastern Townships of Québec. Drum majorettes and cattle shows, pipes and drums and homemade pickles--the country fair has something for everyone, and in this film the probing camera is everywhere to capture its essence to the full.
  • Ghosts of the Sea
    Ghosts of the Sea
    Virginia Tangvald 2024 1 h 37 min
    While searching for clues about the death of her brother, who was lost at sea, Virginia Tangvald embarks on a fascinating investigation into her family’s dark secrets. Calling into question the idyllic life of her father, legendary sailor Peter Tangvald, her quest dismantles the myth of absolute freedom and offers the hope that a toxic cycle has been broken.
  • La Québécoise
    La Québécoise
    Les Nirenberg 1972 27 min
    The French-Canadian woman is no longer without legal rights and career opportunities. Speaking of the struggle to bring about change, the evolving role of women in Québec society, and the challenges still ahead are Senator Thérèse Casgrain, Judge Réjane Colas, a nun, a Playboy bunny, and several feminists.
  • The Tribal Mind
    The Tribal Mind
    Torben Schioler 1994 51 min
    South Africa isn't the only society where racial and tribal identity have profoundly marked the way people live together--it's just one very striking example. Against a backdrop of ongoing violence, a new breed of South Africans are rising above old tribal reflexes as they struggle towards real democracy. Initiatives in South Africa may well provide models to the larger world where old tribal politics of narrow self-interest continue to wreak havoc. But is the rest of the world prepared to relinquish its own tribes? Is there enough time? Some scenes contain explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.
  • Man Against a Fungus
    Man Against a Fungus
    Maurice Constant 1955 38 min
    This film dramatically portrays a struggle that is waged annually in wheat-growing areas--man against the wheat rust fungus. Views of the destruction caused during rust epidemics emphasize the urgency with which plant pathologists are endeavoring to breed resistant wheats and, eventually, to annihilate the blight. Animation, time-lapse photography and cinephotomicrography illustrate the life cycle of the fungus and the complex alternation of generations which poses one of the chief problems.
  • The Bomb Under the World
    The Bomb Under the World
    Werner Volkmer 1994 51 min
    An ornately decorated elephant leads a parade through an Indian village. A religious holiday? No, a promotional campaign for soap. Consumer society is coming, and India's growing population is looking westward, demanding the same goods and a similar living standard. And why shouldn't they? But what are the broader consequences of Western-style consumerism taking hold in large developing countries?
  • Une Job Steady ... Un Bon Boss
    Une Job Steady ... Un Bon Boss
    Ian McLaren 1972 27 min
    Ask any French-Canadian who tells the funniest stories, and he'll say with a chuckle, Yvon Deschamps. Now big box-office, Deschamps grew up in Montréal's inner city where, he says, mothers didn't speak, they just hit. Here he is, on and off stage, quipping, haranguing with irreverent wit--the very embodiment of Québecois humour and its unique slant on life.
  • Afghan Chronicles
    Afghan Chronicles
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Dominic Morissette 2007 52 min
    This feature documentary looks at democracy, freedom of speech and nation rebuilding in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. With a radio station and 2 magazines - one of them aimed at women - the press agency Killid Media is a real media phenomenon. As it follows the distribution of these popular magazines across Kabul, this film shows the struggles within this changing society and paints a touching picture of a land that is a work in progress, dreaming of a better future.
  • Le Devoir, Part 1: 1910-1945, Do What You Must
    Le Devoir, Part 1: 1910-1945, Do What You Must
    Hugues Poulin  &  Jean-V. Dufresne 1973 27 min
    "Fais ce que dois" (Do what you must) was the motto Henri Bourassa gave to the newspaper he founded in 1910. An attitude of vigorous independence has characterized the Montréal daily ever since. This film and the following one examine Le Devoir's influence over the years, how it has interpreted and treated local, national and world issues--the wartime conscription question, for example. Interviewed in Part 1 is the founder's daughter, Anne Bourassa.
  • United States of Africa
    United States of Africa
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Yanick Létourneau 2011 1 h 15 min
    African hip hop pioneer Didier Awadi is on a quest to craft an album that pays tribute to the great black revolutionary leaders and their struggle to realize a dream: a united, independent Africa. In this epic musical and political journey, Awadi visits some 40 countries to collaborate with hip hop activist artists, including Smockey (Burkina Faso), M-1 of Dead Prez (United States) and ZuluBoy (South Africa).

    Featuring a score by Ghislain Poirier, as well as Awadi’s own songs, United States of Africa draws the viewer into one artist’s profound meditation on the power of music and the impact of political engagement—both individual and collective. A hopeful and compelling portrait of a continent whose politically aware youth is refusing to accept the role of victim, the film is a call for Africans to rise up, take a stand and take control of their continent and their destiny.
  • Le Devoir, Part 2: 1945-1973, The Quiet Revolution
    Le Devoir, Part 2: 1945-1973, The Quiet Revolution
    Hugues Poulin  &  Jean-V. Dufresne 1973 26 min
    The Duplessis years, labour violence, the far-reaching policies of Jean Lesage, the B&B Commission, the emergence of the Parti Québécois, the FLQ and the October Crisis of 1970--these were tense times fraught with change. Commenting on their significance and on Le Devoir's involvement is a roster of eminent spokesmen: political leaders, historians, writers, journalists, and Le Devoir's renowned editor-publisher, Claude Ryan.
  • Your Country, My Country
    Your Country, My Country
    Marquise Lepage 1993 6 min
    English version of a film about a friendship between two ten-year-old Montréal schoolkids. She is black and serious, he is white and rather nonchalant, and they look at life in different ways!
  • Wandering Spirit Survival School
    Wandering Spirit Survival School
    Marvin Midwicki Les Holdway , … 1978 27 min
    This school, organized by concerned parents, broke with tradition by introducing subjects that are of particular relevance to its pupils. Traditional Indigenous stories, traditions, languages and crafts balance the program of academic subjects required by the Ontario Ministry of Education. The experience of the children at Wandering Spirit is contrasted with the very different life experienced by their parents, educated in the old residential schools.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - Language
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 2 - Language
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    Through interviews with new Canadians and supporting dramatizations, episode 2 looks at the trials and successes of newcomers struggling to learn one or both of Canada's official languages. Language, immigrants stress, is of major importance since the ability to communicate in English and/or French affects employment, social integration and acceptance. Without the necessary language skills, immigrants with academic or professional credentials often find themselves doing menial jobs. In some cases, newcomers are exploited by members of their own ethnic community. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 3 - Discrimination
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 3 - Discrimination
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    Canada espouses the concept of a cultural mosaic, where ethnic and cultural diversity is respected. In episode 3, immigrant Canadians share their experience of this mosaic, presenting realities that do not always coincide with official policy. Many newcomers, especially visible minorities, encounter discrimination in imployment, housing and social acceptance. This film also addresses the experiences of refugees seeking asylum in Canada. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Eye Witness No. 60
    Eye Witness No. 60
    1953 10 min
    Tomorrow's Officers: At Le Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean, young recruits become mentally and physically equipped to assume future military leadership. This Unseen World: Photomicrography and time-lapse sequences reveal some of the strange growth processes under the water and soil surface. Scientists Uncover Prehistoric Alberta: In the Badlands of Alberta, paleontologists dig for the fossilized remains of prehistoric monsters that once roamed this area.
  • Sing a Little
    Sing a Little
    1951 9 min
    Puppet animation illustrates three songs sung by Alan Mills in his CBC studio: The Farmer's Cursed Wife, Barbara Allen, and Jack the Sailor.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 4 - Employment
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 4 - Employment
    Dan Moscrip 1999 27 min
    This final segment looks at the challenges newcomers face finding employment. The problem of having credentials recognized in a new country is explored. Immigrants with job training and skills cannot always work in their field of expertise since Canadian professional associations may not recognize their qualifications. An added difficulty surrounding employment arises from traditional gender roles where the man is expected to be the bread winner. Newcomers may have to adjust to new roles that disrupt family life. The problem posed by lack of job experience in Canada is also addressed. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 1 - Identity
    Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada - Episode 1 - Identity
    Dan Moscrip 1999 26 min
    This episode puts a human face on the immigrant experience. Newcomers tell us why they have come to Canada and talk about how this move has affected their sense of identity. Families also discuss the conflicts between generations that immigration can cause. Walk a Mile: The Immigrant Experience in Canada is a 4-part series that reveals the challenges faced by immigrants who leave all they know to make a new home in Canada. The aim of this series, as the title suggests, is for viewers to walk that symbolic mile in the others' shoes and to more readily show understanding and tolerance of the immigrant experience in Canada.
  • Bloom
    Bloom
    Fanie Pelletier 2022 1 h 24 min
    Through moments in the lives of three groups of girls, images gleaned from the web and live streams of young women around the world, Bloom delves into the world of today's teenage girls. We delicately observe a hyper-connected but lonely generation inhabited by great lucidity, an inner struggle with self-image obsession, and a need for self-affirmation in the face of a complex sense of alienation.
  • The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché
    The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Marquise Lepage 1995 52 min
    This feature documentary is a portrait of Alice Guy-Blaché, one of cinema's most fearless pioneers. A filmmaker before the word even existed, Guy-Blaché made her first film at the end of the last century, when cinema was still brand-new. After directing, producing and writing more than 700 films, she slipped into oblivion. This film rescues her brave and shining memory.
  • Cano, Notes on a Collective Experience
    Cano, Notes on a Collective Experience
    Jacques Ménard 1979 1 h 29 min
    Portrait of a group of rock musicians living in Ontario who sing in both English and French. They live and create collectively. The film shows them on the road, on stage, in hotel rooms and in the recording studio. What differentiates them from other musicians is their strong sense of sharing, whether it be of the limelight, their talent, their creativity, or their income. The star system does not exist for them.
  • Speaking Our Peace
    Speaking Our Peace
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Terre Nash  &  Bonnie Sherr Klein 1985 55 min
    Filmed in Canada, Britain and the U.S.S.R., this hour-long documentary focuses on local and international peace initiatives by women. Featured in the film are Rosalie Bertell, Marion Dewar, Muriel Duckworth, Ursula M. Franklin, Darlene Keju, Margaret Laurence, Solanges Vincent and Kathleen Wallace-Deering. In interviews and in encounters with Soviet women, they outline their views on war and peace. The film includes scenes of women in mass demonstrations at Litton Systems Canada and at Greenham Common in England, as well as footage of ordinary citizens who must live with the health and environmental problems caused by uranium mining and nuclear weapons testing.
  • Johnny Osbourne
    Johnny Osbourne
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Graeme Mathieson  &  Chris Flanagan 2024 18 min
    Before gaining international recognition as the “Dancehall Godfather,” legendary singer Johnny Osbourne was at the forefront of a revolution that transformed Toronto into one of the most influential reggae communities in the world.
  • Roy & Yvonne
    Roy & Yvonne
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Graeme Mathieson  &  Chris Flanagan 2024 15 min
    Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison made history as one of the first Jamaican ska duos. Decades after going their separate ways, the pair rekindle their magic—this time, 3,000 kilometres north, in Scarborough, Ontario.
  • Nana McLean
    Nana McLean
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Graeme Mathieson  &  Chris Flanagan 2024 15 min
    Against the changing face of Toronto’s Little Jamaica, where she established some of the city’s landmark reggae record stores, singer Nana McLean challenges outdated stereotypes and establishes her reputation as the queen of Reggae in Canada.
  • Jerry Brown’s Summer Records
    Jerry Brown’s Summer Records
    We're sorry, this content is not available in your location.
    Graeme Mathieson  &  Chris Flanagan 2024 15 min
    Jerry Brown’s Summer Records was one of the first recording studios to give Canadian reggae artists a voice. Four decades later, never-before-seen footage lets us meet the man behind the mixer for the very first time.