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Air Force Programs (11)
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Aviators of Hudson Strait1973 28 minThis short documentary looks at early Canadian aviation through film footage shot by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the recollections of retired Air Vice-Marshal Thomas A. Lawrence, leader of the 1927-28 aerial survey expedition to Ungava Bay and Hudson Strait. The formidable challenge of flying under Arctic conditions, the hazards faced and the emergencies solved, often with the help of Inuit, make an absorbing chapter of northern frontier history.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term.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. -
AircrewThomas Farley 1954 45 minThis film takes us to a number of Royal Canadian Air Force training centres to show how recruits from all parts of Canada become the key men at the controls of their country's aerial defence.
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AirwomenIan MacNeill 1956 17 minA Fighter Control Operator must know her radar screen as well as she knows her own face. Elaine Harrington learns to do exactly that as she comes successfully through the rugged preliminary training to which the Royal Canadian Air Force subjects its recruits, both male and female. Elaine's dream is realized with a posting to Canada's NATO force in Germany.
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Canada's SnowbirdsJoan Henson 1980 1 minThis installment in the Canada Vignettes series depicts the Canadian Forces Air Demonstration Aerobatics team at work.
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Canada's Air DefenceJohn Howe 1957 33 minThis short 1956 documentary shows how the Royal Canadian Air Force fulfills its primary role of maintaining constant vigilance and providing a blanket of aerial defense. It illustrates the combat readiness and shows how, in the event of an attack, warnings would be flashed to National Defence headquarters in eastern Canada and to Continental Defense headquarters in the United States.
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Eye Witness No. 221950 10 minAlberta's Blood Indians: On their reserve near Cardston, Alberta, the Kainai take action against waste and want, to improve living standards. Music Master: All the world of music reaches blind Paul Doyon, piano virtuoso, through his "seeing fingers." Sky Sentries: Jet planes of the Royal Canadian Air Force's famed 401 Squadron scream through the skies over Montréal in an air defense exercise.
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Eye Witness No. 301951 10 minThese vignettes from 1951 covered various aspects of life in Canada and were shown in theatres across the country. Subjects included here are British Columbia's Cariboo Trail, once the scene of a great gold rush and which still pays off for the placer miner and occasional prospector; Canada's new state residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, a redesigned old stone mansion destined to become Canada's No. 10 Downing Street; a unique ceremony in remote Chesterfield Inlet as the first Inuit girl in history receives the veil of the Grey Nuns; Great Lakes conservationists outsmart the eel-like bloodsucker that preys on fish; and the new blue model uniforms designed for the Women's Division of the Air Force.
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. -
Frontiers to GuardIan MacNeill 1956 17 minA Fighter Control Operator must know her radar screen as well as she knows her own face. Elaine Harrington learns to do exactly that as she comes successfully through the rugged preliminary training to which the Royal Canadian Air Force subjects its recruits, both male and female. Elaine's dream is realized with a posting to Canada's NATO force in Germany.
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How They Saw Us: Wings on Her ShoulderAnn Pearson 1977 11 minThis is a 1943 recruitment film. Although it specifically promises women jobs in post-war aviation, its primary message is that women fulfill support positions "so that men might fly."
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Nomad's LandClaire Corriveau 2007 52 minMeet an Air Force wife who discovers that she married into a lifestyle she hadn't chosen. When her husband joined the Air Force, Claire Corriveau discovered a world where everything was subordinate to the needs of the Canadian Forces. Her first film, the feature documentary Nomad's Land, powerfully depicts the hard existence of military wives.
Isolated, often lonely, forced to move repeatedly, these women have little control over their lives. This explosive film reminds us that they are the first collateral damage of an institution that, without their sacrifices and backstage work, would be unable to do its work. Their unsung contributions come at a high personal price. In French with English subtitles. -
Radar StationAllen Stark 1953 15 minThis short from 1953 takes us on a guided tour of a northern Canadian radar defense post. There, Squadron Leader Bill Lee of the Royal Canadian Air Force discusses the station’s operations, revealing the little-known role of these isolated posts scattered across Canada’s Arctic.
