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World War I (24)
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Airplane Casualties1918 6 minThis short film from 1918 shows various types of footage involving aircraft. An aircraft moves down the runway and takes off. Three planes in formation are seen from the air. Viewed from the cockpit, a pilot is at the controls. A hydroplane gets ready to land in a British port. Seen from the air, bombs fall on the battlefield. An enemy plane is pursued by fire from an anti-aircraft battery, while another spirals down and crashes on the ground. Canadian aviators pose proudly for the camera while an American crew attaches bombs to an aircraft. -
Battle of Arras 31917 8 minThis third short film on the Battle of Arras shows artillery fire, troop movements and several explosions on the battlefield. German prisoners can also be seen in the trenches, as well as enemy bombs falling on the town of Arras. A classic World War One film.
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Wop MayBlake James 1979 5 minThis short animated film is about Wop May, one of Canada's leading bush pilots in the 1920s.
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Front Lines - The Officer's Role2008 8 minThis short documentary made in 2008 looks at First World War officers. They often wrote reports and updates to headquarters. With all the devastation that they would see, they still needed to encourage their troops to not give up hope. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
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Front Lines - The Life of the Soldier2008 9 minThis short documentary made in 2008 looks at the gruelling life of a soldier in the First World War. The letters home speak of the physical and emotional hardships and the mental strain of what they witness on the battlefield. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
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Five for FourNorman McLaren 1942 2 minThis animated short by Norman McLaren serves as a wartime savings campaign. Symbolic figures, drawn directly on 35mm film stock, move and dance against a simple painted background. The score is "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie," by Albert Ammons.
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Freedom Had a PriceYurij Luhovy 1994 55 minA disturbing documentary of Canada's first national alien-internment operation. It tells the little-known story of Ukrainian immigrants who found themselves subject to discriminatory and repressive measures during World War I.
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Front Lines - Nurses at the Front2008 8 minThis short documentary made in 2008 looks at the role of nurses and health workers during wartime. Long days, brutal injuries and both sad and triumphant outcomes are part of their reality. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
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Front Lines - Faith and Hope2008 9 minThis short documentary made in 2008 reflects on how religion and faith became a solace to many Canadians serving in the First World War. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
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Front Lines - The Trenches2008 9 minThis short documentary made in 2008 looks at life in the trenches in the First World War. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
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Fields of SacrificeDonald Brittain 1963 38 minThis 1964 documentary returns to the battlefields where over 100,000 Canadian soldiers lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The film also visits cemeteries where servicemen are buried. Filmed from Hong Kong to Sicily, this documentary is designed to show Canadians places they have reason to know but may not be able to visit. Produced for the Canadian Department of Veteran Affairs by the renowned documentary filmmaker Donald Brittain.
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Front LinesClaude Guilmain 2008 33 minA tribute to the combatants in the First World War, this film traces the conflict through the war diary and private letters of five Canadian soldiers and a nurse. Hearing them, the listener detects between the lines an unspoken horror censored by war and propriety.
The film mingles war footage, historical photos and readings of excerpts from the diary and letters. The directorial talent of Claude Guilmain breathes life into these 90-year-old documents and accompanying archival images so that we experience the human face and heart of the conflict.
For the educational sector, five documentary vignettes have been drawn from the film: Nurses at the Front, The Officer's Role, The Life of the Soldier, Faith and Hope and The Trenches, each with further information on its particular subject. -
Georges P. Vanier: Soldier, Diplomat, Governor GeneralClément Perron 1960 29 minThis short documentary looks at Governor General Georges Vanier: his military service in two world wars, his diplomatic service between the wars and his investiture as Canada's 19th Governor General.
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Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left - Part 2 - Born of Hard TimesArthur Hammond 1989 51 minThe world plunges into the Great Depression which, like most leaders, Canada's R.B. Bennett refuses to combat with unbalanced budgets and government spending. Inspired by reports from Russia, many turn to communism for solutions. The 1937 General Motors strike in Oshawa gives the Congress of Industrial Organizations a toehold in Canada, but on the eve of World War II Canada's tiny unions remain blocked by restrictive labour laws and, like the equally tiny Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, locked in struggle with communist rivals. Part 2.
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Inside FranceStuart Legg & Tom Daly 1944 21 minThis short film focuses on the period between World War I and World War II when France was struck by riots, strikes and economic stress. During the war that followed there was again internal dissension, between those supporting the Fighting French and those supporting the Vichy government. With the end of the war, however, France put itself on the road to recovery, rebuilding its strength on more solid foundations.
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"Just One Big Mess": The Halifax Explosion, 1917Cheryl Lean 1991 18 minOn the morning of December 6, 1917, two ships, one of which was loaded with munitions, collided in Halifax Harbour. The explosion which followed levelled two square miles of the city, killed over 1600 people and left thousands wounded and homeless. Through interviews with survivors and photographs of the devastation, this dramatically recounts the events.
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John McCrae's War: In Flanders FieldsRobert Duncan 1998 46 minThis feature documentary profiles poet John McCrae, from his childhood in Ontario to his years in medicine at McGill University and the WWI battlefields of Belgium, where he cared for wounded soldiers. Generations of schoolchildren have recited McCrae’s iconic poem “In Flanders Fields,” but McCrae and Alexis Helmer—the young man whose death inspired the poem—have faded from memory. This film seeks to revive their stories through a vivid portrait of a great man in Canadian history.
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The Kid Who Couldn't MissPaul Cowan 1982 1 h 19 minPaul Cowan's feature-length film combines fiction and reality to tell the story of how William Avery (Billy) Bishop became one of the leading fighter pilots of World War I. By no accounts a biography of Billy Bishop, the film uses a 'docu-drama' approach to show how one person goes from being a brash kid from Ontario to Canada's most decorated military figure.
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Paris 1919Paul Cowan 2008 1 h 33 minThis feature-length film, based on Margaret MacMillan's acclaimed book of the same name, takes us inside the most ambitious peace talks in history. Revisiting the event with a vivid sense of narrative, the film evokes a pivotal moment when peace seemed possible, and reflects on the hard-learned lessons of history.
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Remembrance Day Virtual ClassroomDan Thornhill 2016 24 minThe National Film Board of Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian War Museum, OHASSTA, and the Royal Canadian Legion present a recitation of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” to mark the 100-year anniversary of this iconic war poem. One of Canada’s leading film, television and stage actors, R.H. Thomson, will read the poem and moderate the event. Afterwards there is a lively panel discussion, based on your questions, featuring R.H. Thomson, WWI historian Melanie Morin-Pelletier and Master Corporal Martin Rouleau, Medical Technician. This landmark event will underpin the importance of remembrance and explore the relevance of McCrae’s poem in our times.
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RemembranceRandy Bradshaw 2009 4 minAn award-winning actor, writer, producer and director, Paul Gross has struggled to find the right balance between the heart and the head, between intellect and emotions. But sometimes a story comes along, captivates a filmmaker and simply won't leave. For Gross, this story was Passchendaele, a film based on his grandfather's experiences in a WWI battle that became synonymous with Canada's courage and resolution in the face of epic tragedy. This film was produced for the 2009 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.
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Return to VimyDenis McCready 2017 9 minIn this short film, a young woman visits the Vimy Memorial to make a charcoal imprint of the engraved name of her great-grandfather who was lost in battle. She brings with her a notebook of sketches and diary entries that he made during his preparation for battle. The sketches transform into colourized archive footage and take us back in time to revisit the daily lives of the Canadian Corps soldiers. This project marks the first time the NFB has colourized its own archives for a film project.
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The TrenchesClaude Cloutier 2010 5 minThis animated short by Claude Cloutier is a pictorial account of an attack on Canadian soldiers during WWI. On the edge of the battlefield, recruits are dreading the order to attack. At the signal, a young soldier leaps into a hell of fire and blood where the earth engulfs both the living and the dead. Blending archival images and Cloutier’s hypnotizing brushstroke, the film is a dazzling illustration of the futility of war.
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The Van Doos, 100 Years with the Royal 22e RégimentClaude Guilmain 2014 52 minThis documentary marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal 22e Régiment, the only French-speaking Canadian battalion to fight in the First World War. Widely known by its colloquial name, “The Van Doos”, the battalion served with distinction on several fronts, including both world wars, the Korean War, and in numerous U.N. peacekeeping operations. This film offers a moving tribute to both the living veterans and the lost soldiers of the Van Doos. Their personal stories and narratives bring a little-known page of our history books to life. This vibrant elegy features a moving score by Claude Naubert performed live by the regimental formation La Musique du Royal 22e Régiment.
