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Arctic Region (8)
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The AnnanacksRené Bonnière 1964 29 minThis short documentary depicts the formation in 1959 of the first successful co-operative in an Inuit community in Northern Québec. The film describes how, with other Inuit of the George River community, the Annanacks formed a joint venture that included a sawmill, a fish-freezing plant and a small boat-building industry.
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The Annanacks (Inuktitut version)2011 29 minThis short documentary depicts the formation in 1959 of the first successful co-operative in an Inuit community in Northern Québec. The film describes how, with other Inuit of the George River community, the Annanacks formed a joint venture that included a sawmill, a fish-freezing plant and a small boat-building industry.
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Down NorthHector Lemieux 1958 29 minThis short film serves as a report on sub-Arctic developments in the 1.3 million square km District of Mackenzie. In communities such as Hay River, Yellowknife and Port Radium, modern technology and methods of winter transport opened up new possibilities in mining, lumber, and other industries, and new opportunities for the local populations.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
Eye Witness No. 31948 11 minThe film takes us to a dispersal centre in Halifax for a close-up view of some new neighbours--homeless Europeans, eager to contribute their skills to a new homeland in Canada. The second part of the film tours the mushrooming community of Yellowknife, six hundred and seventy-five miles north of Edmonton. In five years, its population jumped from five hundred to five thousand, turning a mining camp into a permanent mining town.
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Fort Good HopeRon Orieux 1977 47 minShot during the Berger Inquiry into the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, this short documentary brings us the perspective of Canada’s First Nations communities. The majority feel that the pipeline would destroy their ancient hunting grounds and upset the balance of nature, and that Canada’s title to the land is far from settled. Though made in the late seventies, Fort Good Hope seems more relevant than ever, and raises important questions about northern development in general.
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Fragments of Lost History2000 50 minThe yellowed pages of a travel journal, a letter unearthed by chance, photographs recovered from a company's dusty archives: These are but a few of the scattered materials used to reconstruct the fascinating and little known adventure of Revillon Brothers, a Parisian merchant of elegant furs, who came to Canada at the turn of the century to enter into the fur trade. But the adventure comes to an end in 1936 when Revillon's great rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, buys out the French company. Victorious, the Hudson's Bay Company, is the only of the two to be remembered in the history books. In between the words of the few remaining witnesses to a lost history, in the memories of descendants of employees and in specialists' passion for the fragments recovered, a world long thought vanished is recreated in front of our eyes. In French with English subtitles.
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Look to the NorthJames Beveridge 1944 22 minThis short film from 1944 depicts the swift development of the Canadian northwest for wartime strategy as well as post-war planning. The Alaska Highway was only one result of wartime prosperity in the northern region, and this film looks at some of the others, including air routes to Europe and Asia.
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Land for Pioneers1944 16 minBoth exploration and the fur trade opened up Canada's Northwest Territories, a land for pioneers. The magic of gold once lured thousands into the Yukon, but greater riches lie east of the Klondike, imbedded in the rocks and tundra of the Canadian Shield. The farm areas, the fisheries, the forests, and the rivers of northern British Columbia and the Prairie provinces also promise wealth. The Alaska Highway opened up potential grain fields, and air routes form a close link with the busy centers of the South, encouraging industrial development.
