The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Skip to content Accessibility
Subjects (64)
Technology (32)

Industrial Technology (6)

  • Down North
    Down North
    Hector Lemieux 1958 29 min
    This 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    Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term.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.
  • Front of Steel
    Front of Steel
    John McDougall 1940 18 min
    This short WWII propaganda documentary drives home the point that steel and committed steel workers can make the difference between winning and losing in modern warfare. A short sequence demonstrating the depravity of the Nazis is followed by a detailed explanation of the manufacture of Bren guns, ambulances, transport trucks and submarine chasers in Canada during World War II.
  • The Forest Watchers
    The Forest Watchers
    Peter Raymont 1975 25 min
    This 1975 documentary examines the challenges faced by the Canadian forestry industry, such as deforestation, pest control and forest fire.
  • Magic Molecule
    Magic Molecule
    Hugh O'Connor  &  Christopher Chapman 1964 9 min
    This short documentary introduces us to the colorful and versatile world of plastics. Transmuted from coal, oil or wood, synthetic substances can make thousands of new products, from silk threads to furniture.
  • Shift Change
    Shift Change
    Jefferson Lewis 1986 56 min
    This documentary looks at the microchip, an American invention exploited by the Japanese that caused a second industrial revolution. The devastating effect on millions of human lives is related through interviews with some of the newly jobless in Hamilton, Ontario. Using the example of Japan for contrast, host James Laxer demonstrates that the cost of technological advances need not be so high if their effects are foreseen and planned for. Part 2 of the series Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada.
  • Trawler Fishermen
    Trawler Fishermen
    Martin Defalco 1966 22 min
    This short film was shot on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and shows off the new technology employed on modern fishing boats in the mid-1960s. The featured trawler is open-stern style, allowing full nets to be dragged easily from the sea then lifted to release the silvery catch into the cleaning troughs.

Explore