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Biology (14)

  • Anger After Death
    Anger After Death
    Rick Raxlen 1971 28 min
    A film mingling documentary and dramatic elements to portray the effects of the threat of chemical and biological warfare on the contemporary mentality. The chemist who manufactures the secret weapons, the scientist who comments on them with complete detachment, the soldier of the First World War, killed by poison gas, who returns to life to discover the manner of his dying--all make their claims on the audience in an arresting, provocative way.
  • Biology Made Un-easy
    Biology Made Un-easy
    James Braithwaite 2007 1 min
    This short animation film is a close look at the microscopic world that surrounds us. Within each basic human interaction there is something strange festering under the surface, and we just need a good magnifying glass and a strong stomach to see it.

    Produced as part of the fourth edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Bad Seeds
    Bad Seeds
    Claude Cloutier 2020 6 min
    Bad Seeds takes us to a bizarre world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shapes the way a chameleon changes colours. The veteran director of deftly connects growth with rivalry and evolution with competition, crafting an increasingly shocking duel that’s peppered with allusions to the western, the Cold War, board games, and much more.
  • Cosmic Zoom
    Cosmic Zoom
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    Robert Verrall 1968 8 min
    This short animation transports us from the farthest conceivable point of the universe to the tiniest particle of existence, an atom of a living human cell. The art of animation and animation camera achieve this exhilarating journey with a freshness and clarity. Without words.
  • Cries from the Deep
    Cries from the Deep
    Jacques Gagné 1981 1 h 36 min
    This documentary records the journey undertaken by Jacques Cousteau, his 24-member team, and an NFB film crew to explore the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, one of the world's richest fishing areas. They discover shipwrecks, film icebergs and observe beluga whales, humpback whales and harp seals. The film also includes a fascinating sequence showing Calypso divers freeing a calf whale entrapped in a fishing net.
  • 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.
  • From the Big Bang to Tuesday Morning
    From the Big Bang to Tuesday Morning
    Claude Cloutier 2000 5 min
    Propelled by Claude Cloutier’s signature drawing style and absurdist humour, this animated short offers an overview of the evolution of life on Earth from rock to human, with some surprising twists in between.
  • The Glass Ark
    The Glass Ark
    Bernard Gosselin 1994 1 h 29 min
    Montreal’s Biodome, one of the most popular attractions in the city, features a microcosm of the Earth’s major ecosystems, from tropical rainforest to the Arctic. This feature-length doc shows the enthusiasm brought to the last stages of this undertaking and the magnitude of the challenge met by a young team of scientists who planned this unusual nature museum, home to thousands of animals and plants.
  • Life and Radiation
    Life and Radiation
    Hugh O'Connor 1960 30 min
    This short film explores the effects of atomic radiation on living things. It starts off with a discussion on the most familiar form of radiant energy (the sun) and goes on to include a demonstration of radiation. A discussion of the possible genetic alterations follows.
  • Marvin Parson’s Inner Wild Wilderness
    Marvin Parson’s Inner Wild Wilderness
    Fred Casia 2010 1 min
    Filmmaker Fred Casia, inspired by the iconic '50s-vintage View-Master stereo viewer and '60s-era TV nature shows, takes us on a weird and wacky 3-D safari through the jungle that is the human digestive system. With 2-D digital animation set into a diorama-esque stereoscopic space, Casia creates a small, bizarre gem.

    Produced as part of the 6th edition of the NFB’s Hothouse apprenticeship.
  • Origin of Life on Earth
    Origin of Life on Earth
    Kenneth Horn 1972 3 min
    This short animated film presents the theory of the origin of the Earth and its transformation into a life-supporting planet. The evolution of the first simple life forms is illustrated in bright colours, and the seminal role of photosynthesis in nourishing and supporting all life on earth is highlighted.
  • Science Please! Part 2
    Science Please! Part 2
    2001 15 min
    The Science Please! collection uses archival footage, animated illustrations and amusing narration to explain various scientific discoveries and phenomena.
  • The Wonderful World of Colour
    The Wonderful World of Colour
    Claude Cloutier 1999 1 min
    A clip in the Science Please! collection, The Wonderful World of Colour uses archival footage, animated illustrations and amusing narration to explain how the cones of the retina enable us to perceive the spectrum of colours.
  • What in the World Is Water?
    What in the World Is Water?
    Martin Defalco 1967 11 min
    Water functions as a willing worker, shaping the land, shifting earth or rock, carrying the food by which plants survive, and so supporting other forms of life. This film is designed primarily to show the astonishing utility of this common substance, but it also shows the beauty of water in movement, from raindrops pelting the earth to the mighty cataract of Niagara.