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National Canadian Film Day
To mark the 10th anniversary of National Canadian Film Day, discover a selection of NFB films that celebrate the history and development of Canadian cinema
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Fernand Dansereau: In a LifetimeSylvie Lapointe 2022 5 minFernand Dansereau is one of Quebec’s most prolific filmmakers, having produced, directed and written more than sixty documentaries, fiction films and television serial dramas. Over the course of his career, he has helped forge new filmmaking practices such as cinéma de relation and direct cinema. This short film traces a long journey, during which Dansereau has constantly travelled the pathways of creativity, with kindness as his guide, giving voice to people seeking to define the essence of a nation. In the process, it affords the viewer a glimpse into the filmmaker’s own soul. -
WintopiaMira Burt-Wintonick 2019 1 h 28 minWintopia is an intimate father-daughter story and poignant search for the meaning of utopia. Following the quick and tragic death of Peter Wintonick, Canada’s “documentary ambassador to the world”, his daughter Mira Burt-Wintonick dives into her father’s obsession with untangling the contradiction that is utopia. The remains of his unfinished film and several hundred hours of raw footage shot over 15 years leads Mira to surprising places and connections with her father, compelling all of us to live life with purpose.
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Camera TestJoyce Wong 2019 5 min
What gets lost when female voices are stymied during the creative process? Pairing intimate interviews with absurdist re-enactments, Joyce Wong crafts a tartly subversive look at patriarchy and racism in the film industry.
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Eleven Moving Moments with Evelyn LambartDonald McWilliams 2017 1 h 3 minThis feature-length documentary shines a much-deserved spotlight on Evelyn Lambart, who stood side-by-side with Norman McLaren for 21 years. Dubbed The First Lady of Canadian Animation, Lambart was an accomplished animator in her own right. This compilation, playfully contextualized by filmmaker Donald McWilliams, aims to prove just that.
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Making Movie History: Michel BraultDenys Desjardins 2013 7 minBack in 1947, while still making amateur movies with Claude Jutra, could Brault have known that he would mark film history? His defiant experimentalism shook things up at the NFB, and films like Les raquetteurs (1958) would launch an irreversible movement. Alongside US filmmakers such as Richard Leacock, the young Québécois was at the forefront of the Direct Cinema revolution--and his "walking camera" would influence Jean Rouch. He collaborated with Pierre Perrault and the inhabitants of Île-aux-Coudres on the landmark film Pour la suite du monde (1963), a key moment in vérité cinema. Restlessly creative, Brault continued investigating both reality and fiction. His own feature, Les ordres (1974), honoured at Cannes, remains ingrained in Quebec's collective memory, as does his cinematography in legendary films like Mon oncle Antoine and Les bons débarras. It is impossible to imagine Quebec cinema without him. Michel Brault died in 2013 at the age of 85.
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Making Movie History: Alanis ObomsawinJoanne Robertson 2012 5 minAlanis Obomsawin talks about how she got her start at the NFB and the overarching importance of sound/story in her work.
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Capturing Reality: The Art of DocumentaryPepita Ferrari 2008 1 h 37 minIn this feature-length film on the art of the documentary, director Pepita Ferrari interviews 33 leading documentarians and shows clips from over 50 films. From cinéma-vérité pioneers like Albert Maysles and Michel Brault to mavericks like Errol Morris and Nick Broomfield, it explores the challenges of capturing reality on film. Directors as diverse as Pakistani feminist Sabiha Sumar and new media guru Peter Wintonick reflect on ethical issues and the contested status of the “truth.”
Featured interviews include German iconoclast Werner Herzog; Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán; British director Kim Longinotto and Alanis Obomsawin, the First Lady of First Nations cinema. -
NFB Pioneers II: Her Voice, the Studio D StoryLucia Piccinni 2007 55 minPart of the NFB Pioneers series with the Doc Channel, this episode deals with the Studio D, the first permanent, state-funded women's film unit in the world created in 1974. Studio D gave a number of women the unprecedented opportunity to work consistently on women-centred film projects. Features interviews with Gerry Rogers, Bonnie Sherr-Klein, Zoe Dirse, Susan Trow, Gail Singer, Dorothy Henault and Beverly Shaffer.
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RyanChris Landreth 2004 13 minThis animated short from Chris Landreth is based on the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Ryan is living every artist's worst nightmare - succumbing to addiction, panhandling on the streets to make ends meet. Through computer-generated characters, Landreth interviews his friend to shed light on his downward spiral. Some strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.
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Cinéma Vérité: Defining the MomentPeter Wintonick 1999 1 h 42 minCrisis, Lonely Boy, Chronicle of a Summer. You may not know these films, but you see their influences every day--in everything from TV news to music videos to Webcams. The cinéma vérité (or direct cinema) movement of the '50s and '60s was driven by a group of rebel filmmakers tired of stilted documentaries. They wanted to show life as it really is: raw, gritty, dramatic. Rich in excerpts from vérité classics, Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment is the first film to capture all the excitement of a revolution that changed movie-making forever. Director Peter Wintonick's Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media is one of the bestselling documentaries of all time; co-producer Éric Michel won the Cannes Palme d'or for 50 ans, by director Gilles Carle, and co-producer Adam Symansky won an Oscar for Flamenco at 5:15.
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Hand-Crafted Cinema Animation Workshop with Caroline LeafEric Roberts 1998 35 minThis short film brings together animation workshops led by award-winning independent animator Caroline Leaf. The film, which discusses and demonstrates Leaf’s artisan's approach to narrative filmmaking, explores 3 techniques she pioneered during her 20-year tenure at the NFB: sand, paint-on-glass and scratch animation.
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Creative Process: Norman McLarenDonald McWilliams 1990 1 h 56 minThis feature length documentary is a journey into Norman McLaren’s process of artistic creation. A cinematic genius who made films without cameras and music without instruments, McLaren produced 60 films in a stunning range of styles and techniques, collecting over 200 international awards and world recognition. Drawing on McLaren's private film vaults, a gold mine of experimental footage and uncompleted films, this film explores McLaren's methods, including his celebrated "pixillation" technique.
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AnimandoMarcos Magalhães 1987 12 minIn this short film, we watch Brazilian artist Marcos Magalhães bring an animated figure to life on the drawing board. Using different materials and techniques, he manipulates his character to walk, jump and interact with his surroundings. This whimsical film was made during an apprenticeship program at the National Film Board of Canada.
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McLaren on McLarenGrant Munro 1983 7 minAn opening address, a tribute and highlights of a long and productive career--McLaren on McLaren is Norman McLaren on camera. The occasion is the opening of a prestigious festival in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in November, 1983, marking the tenth anniversary of Holland Animation. The renowned animator pays homage to those who merged their arts with his, and to the National Film Board, which gave him forty-two years of artistic freedom.
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Interview1979 13 minDeux femmes, deux cinéastes, deux animatrices échangent leurs opinions sur elles-même. Pour se décrire, elles utilisent les mots. Et chacune fait un portrait de l'autre à l'aide d'une technique d'animation : photos découpées pour Veronika Soul et peinture sur verre pour Caroline Leaf
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The Light FantastickRupert Glover & Michel Patenaude 1974 57 minA detailed retrospective of the animation film at the National Film Board of Canada, of the techniques employed, and of the men and women who used and sometimes invented them. Documentary footage explains the techniques, and clips from NFB films illustrate the often spectacular results. Topics include Norman McLaren, hand-drawn-on-film and pixillation techniques, the "sing-along" animated songs of the 1940s, Alexandre Alexeieff's pinscreen, and Evelyn Lambart's fairytale improvisations.
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PinscreenNorman McLaren 1973 38 minThis documentary shares a behind-the-scenes look as husband and wife Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker demonstrate the pinboard technique of film animation they invented together. With a group of NFB artists and animators, they share and explore the techniques and astounding visual effects achieved by filming patterns and shadows created using 240,000 pins.
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GriersonRoger Blais 1973 57 min
This feature film is a portrait of John Grierson, the first Canadian Government Film Commissioner and founder of the National Film Board in 1939. Interweaving archival footage, interviews with people who knew him and footage of Grierson himself, this film is a sensitive and informative portrait of a dynamic man of vision.
Grierson believed that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term "documentary film."
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Script to ScreenClaude Delorme 1972 21 minFor those curious to know the behind-the-scenes stages through which a film passes before it reaches the screen, this film explains the basic steps of motion picture film production. Script to Screen takes a mock-serious happening and follows it all the way through direction, photography, editing, sound effects, synchronization of sound and visuals, and various laboratory processes. Filmmaking is seen to be a craft of many hands and minds.
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Anniversary1963 19 minHere you will see Marie Dressler, Mary Pickford, Norma Shearer, Walter Huston and a host of other Canadians who achieved world renown on the silver screen. Slapstick, romance, tragedy, comedy--it's all here in an entertaining sampling of what audiences have applauded down the years. You see the audiences too, and the theatres where early movies first drew in the fans. As guide you could hardly find a more knowledgeable or familiar figure than Walter Pidgeon, a Canadian with eighty or more films to his credit. He recalls the personalities of the great stars he has known and explains how the technology developed that shows the stars on the screen.
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Opening Speech: McLarenNorman McLaren 1961 6 minIn this short film, Norman McLaren is literally caught by his own film tricks. As he attempts to welcome an audience, he is frustrated by an animated microphone with a will of its own.
