Folk Music (45)

And a bit of music… (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1980 27 min
Fiddler Junior Crehan de Clare tells us how after working in the fields and caring for the animals, there is sometimes a little time left over for music. Farmer James Gleeson, poet Liam O’Muirthliem, and the musicians and dancers of Gleeson’s Pub reveal what they have in common with Ireland: music and the quest for freedom.
Buffy
John Walker 2010 6 min
Folk music icon Buffy Sainte-Marie became internationally renowned with her protest song "Universal Soldier." In this short documentary, she candidly discusses her hopes, creative vision and songwriting skills, as well as her role as an Aboriginal activist. Still a vibrant artist fifty years into her career, she keeps her eyes set on the future.
Blackfly
Christopher Hinton 1991 5 min
This animated film about the pesky blackfly is based on the song of the same title, written and sung by Canadian folk singer Wade Hemsworth, with back-up vocals by the McGarrigle sisters. It recounts Hemsworth's battles with this quintessential "critter" during a summer of surveying in Northern Ontario.
C'est l'aviron
Norman McLaren 1944 3 min
One of a series of French-Canadian folk songs, this film was illustrated by Norman McLaren for the Chants populaires series. White gouache drawings on black cards were photographed with overlapping 'zooms' to suggest the forward movement of a canoe along rivers and lakes. This film appears in Chants populaires no. 5 and in Chants populaires no. 6.
The Cat Came Back
Cordell Barker 1988 7 min
This hilarious animated short is based on the century-old folk song of the same name. Old Mr. Johnson makes increasingly manic attempts to rid himself of a little yellow cat that just won't stay away...
The Chinese Violin
Joe Chang 2002 8 min
In this animated short, a young girl and her father move from China to Canada, bringing only their Chinese violin along for the journey. As they face the challenge of starting fresh in a new place, the music of the violin connects them to the life they left behind and guides the girl towards a musical future.

Part of the Talespinners collection, which uses vibrant animation to bring popular children’s stories from a wide range of cultural communities to the screen.
Log Driver's Waltz
John Weldon 1979 3 min
Easily one of the most often-requested films in the NFB collection, this lighthearted animated short is based on the song “The Log Driver’s Waltz” by Wade Hemsworth. Kate and Anna McGarrigle sing along to the tale of a young girl who loves to dance and chooses to marry a log driver over his more well-to-do competitors.
Celtic Spirits
James Littleton 1978 57 min
In this feature-length documentary, two Cape Breton musicians visit Ireland and Scotland in search of their musical roots. Diving deep into Cape Breton music – from the past and present – Celtic Spirits also offers an intimate look at life in the region.
C’est pu comme ça anymore (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1977 26 min
Sexton Rosie Pratte, fiddler Charles Pagé, and the last French-speaking families of Old Mines (Vieille Mine), Missouri, talk about life in the old days. They are descendants of French-Canadian voyageur-traders who settled in the Aux-Arcs mountains (Ozarks). A fragile memory that persists…
Envoyez de l’avant nos gens (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1975 24 min
Farmer, singer, and fiddler Antonio Bazinet describes the hard life on rocky-soiled Laurentian farms and in logging camps. Songs and fiddle tunes such as “Envoyez de l’avant nos gens,” written by local forestry workers and based on an older theme, capture the period’s joie de vivre.
Folksong Fantasy
Alma Duncan 1950 7 min
This short puppet animation gives life to 3 traditional folk songs: The Riddle Song, Who Killed Cock Robin? and The Cooper of Fife.
The Fiddlers of James Bay
Bob Rodgers 1980 28 min
This short documentary traces the history of the fiddle’s arrival in Canada 300 years ago via Scottish traders from Orkney Island. The Cree population of what is now Northern Québec adopted the instrument, and many contemporary Cree residents are master fiddlers. In this film, two Cree fiddlers travel to the Orkney Islands, the birthplace of the music they learned from their fathers and grandfathers. The film captures the warmth and good will of this reunion.
Fred’s Lounge (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 26 min
Every Saturday morning on the KEUN radio station set up at Fred’s Lounge in Mamou, Revon Reed hosts local musicians. He talks about the lives of Cajuns and introduces the Deshôtels brothers, Madam Landreneau, CD Courville, and Nathan Abshire, who perform ballads, waltzes, two-steps, and blues numbers to laisser le Bon Temps rouler…
Faut pas l’dire ! (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 26 min
Folklorist Charlotte Cormier relates how Acadians, having been dispossessed during the Expulsion, maintained their social cohesion and culture through oral tradition, including song. The struggle is not over, and many Acadians are concerned about the future of their people, but no one dares say the dirty words…
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Derek Lamb 1963 5 min
This short animation film is cartoon illustration of the eponymous nonsense song by Canadian folksinger Alan Mills. Sung by Burl Ives, the song is given an unbridled interpretation by the cartoonist, and by the end of the song, our old lady has swallowed much more than a fly.
Il faut continuer! (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1978 27 min
Educator and musician Jany Rouger introduces us to accomplished folk musicians from Bas-Poitou: basket maker and fiddler Paul Micheneau, and square-dance fiddler Maximin Rambaud, who leads the figures of old-style dances, a forerunner of the modern-day caller. Rouger explains why it’s so important to continue this tradition.
J’ai chanté, j’ai déchanté et je rechante (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1980 27 min
A trip to Upper Brittany, whence came the ancestors of many French-Canadians, bringing with them a wealth of songs still sung in the Gaspé region. Philippe Durand and Yann Plunier introduce us to Breton history and culture. Jeannette Maquignon and friends sing work songs, songs to dance to, and laments.
Je suis fait de musique (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1978 26 min
Well-known button-accordion player Philippe Bruneau from Montréal tells of how he became an internationally recognized folk musician. His outstanding compositions dedicated to many of Quebec’s great musicians have become and inspiration for generations of young Trad musicians.
Johnny à Dennis à Alfred (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 26 min
Three generations of Acadian fiddlers from Baie Sainte-Marie relate their experiences and their love of music. The fiddling tradition passed from the grandfather Alfred, a lumberjack, to the father Dennis, a caulker, to the son Johnny, a fisher and professional musician. An admirable legacy in one of the oldest Acadian communities.
La Bastringue Madame Bolduc
George Geertsen 1992 4 min
This animated short provides an illustrated version of Madame Bolduc's popular French song, La Bastringue. Although virtually unknown in English Canada, Bolduc is a well-known folk singer among French Canadians in Quebec and New England, circa the 1930s. This was one of her most famous songs.
Le merle
Norman McLaren 1958 4 min
In this animation film, Norman McLaren imparts unusual activity to an old French-Canadian nonsense song. Simple white cut-outs on pastel backgrounds, many by Evelyn Lambart, provide lively illustrations. The folksong "Mon Merle" is sung in French by the Trio Lyrique of Montreal.
La terre d’amitié (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1978 28 min
"The commune of Gençay, in Haut-Poitou, invites you to an evening of music at the Dognon.” Singer Huguette Compagnon describes the prejudices faced by speakers of the Poitevin dialect. Ethnologist Michel Valière talks about his fieldwork and explains the urgency of preserving cultural diversity in France and around the world.
Le quêteux Tremblay (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1977 25 min
Gaspé fiddler William Tremblay describes his lifestyle. In times past, Quebec’s quêteux—neither beggars nor homeless—had a social function. They were respected figures who brought news, told tales and stories, cast spells, and were often fine musicians. In exchange, they were welcomed, lodged, and fed.
Les Créoles (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 28 min
Descended from slaves in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), Creoles faced discrimination in South American society—too black for some, too French for others. They developed their own style of music: Zydeco. Delton Broussard and Calvin Carrière give us a taste of it, and singer Inez Catalon talks and sings about her life in Kaplan.
Les ruine-babines (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1975 24 min
In Quebec, ruine-babines (literally, lip destroyer) is a common term for the harmonica. It’s also the name of a group of young musicians from the Montréal region. Gilles Garand, Louise De Grosbois, and friends embarked on an exploration of their musical roots, and they talk about their discovery of French-Canadian folk music.
Le reel des ouvriers (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1977 27 min
Musicians from Quebec’s Portneuf region adopted and adapted Irish fiddle and drum tunes. Road worker and fiddler André Alain; carpenter and accordion player Jean-Claude Petit; and bus driver, frame-drum player, and jig dancer Arthur Tremblay introduce us to their lively music.
L’en premier (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 26 min
Initially, the Acadians lived peacefully with their ingenious system of dykes and aboiteaux, a technology they brought over from Poitou that allowed them to farm reclaimed tidal marshland without taking anything away from their Mi’kmaq allies. Ethnologist Charlotte Cormier describes what life was like, and Lamèque lumberjack Majorique Duguay expresses it in song.
Le dernier boutte (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1980 28 min
The French-speaking population of Port au Port was made up of Acadian exiles, fishers from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and Breton and French deserters. Their descendants preserved a spirit of freedom that can be heard in their music. As the great Newfoundland fiddler Émile Benoît said, Ça vient du tchoeur (It comes from the heart). A touching account!
La révolution du dansage (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 28 min
Fiddler and mother Georgina Audet made it her mission to preserve the island’s square dances. She relates how, despite the harsh living conditions and opposition from the church, her father passed on a precious repertoire of songs and square dances, which she now shares at dance evenings at the Château Bél-Air.
Mr. Frog Went A-Courting
Evelyn Lambart 1974 4 min
In this colourful animated short by renowned filmmaker Evelyn Lambart, a handsome frog courts and wins a mouse for his bride. The story was inspired by a popular old folk song and nursery rhyme, originally published in 1548. Sung by Derek Lamb to lute accompaniment.

The film’s ending, which is also taken from the original song, might not be suitable for some audiences, especially very young audiences. Parental discretion is advised.
MacPherson
Martine Chartrand 2012 10 min
This animated film by Martine Chartrand (Black Soul) recounts the friendship between a young Félix Leclerc and Frank Randolph Macpherson, a Jamaican chemical engineer and university graduate who worked for a pulp and paper company. An inveterate jazz fan, Macpherson inspired Leclerc, who wrote a song about the log drives and entitled it “MacPherson” in honour of his friend. Paint-on-glass animation shot with a 35mm camera.
Ma chère terre (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 25 min
Radio host and writer Revon Reed relates that the Acadians, expelled from their land in the north, dreamed of owning land in Louisiana, and this became a hallmark of the culture. Fiddlers Aedius Naquin and Dennis McGhee talk about the life of a Cajun musician and their unique style of singing while playing, inherited from the troubadours of the Middle Ages.
Opre Roma: Gypsies in Canada
Tony Papa 1999 52 min
This documentary celebrates the vibrant culture and tenacious struggle of the Canadian Gypsy and introduces a new generation of Roma who claim their roots with pride. They call themselves by their rightful name, the Roma. Almost 80,000 call Canada home. Meet Julia Lovell, a passionate defender of Roma human rights, whose father is slowly gaining the confidence to reveal his heritage; and Karen Gray Boothroyd, a flamenco dancer just beginning to reclaim her Gypsy roots.
Polish Dance
Laura Boulton 1944 10 min
This short documentary profiles the traditional music and pageantry of Polish-Canadians in Manitoba. The heritage and national traditions of Poland were brought to Canada by immigrants and sustained across generations. The colourful traditional dress and lively music of Polish-Canadians is captured by ethnomusicologist Laura Boulton, a pioneering woman in the educational documentary film movement whose goal was to “capture, absorb, and bring back the world’s music.”
Pitou Boudreault, violoneux (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 26 min
Chicoutimi carpenter Louis Boudreault epitomized the typical Quebec fiddler. He relates how he learned his trade and his introduction to music by his father, Idas. Having learned the dance music of the Lac Saint-Jean region from his great uncle Thomas Vaillancourt, he explains how good fiddlers learn by connecting with the dancers.
Parler breton, c’était un crime ! (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1980 26 min
Bretons descend from the Celts, and France once banned their language and culture. An eloquent example for understanding, in reverse, the assimilation of certain French-speaking communities in the Americas. Philippe Durand refutes the mechanics of colonialism, and Emmanuel Kerjean and Lomig Denniou answer with melodies and call-and-response songs (Kan ha diskan).
Réveille ! (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1976 27 min
International star Zachary Richard talks about his journey as a musician, explaining how the American melting-pot ideology tried to eradicate Cajun culture in the U.S. After years of shame, young musicians such as the band Coteau and Michael Doucet are taking up the torch. Richard performs his resistance song “Réveille!”
The Story of H.M.S. Shannon
1958 7 min
This animated short describes an incident in the War of 1812. Here, colourful drawings give a satirical twist to the engagement between a British ship, the H.M.S. Shannon, and an American ship, the U.S.S. Chesapeake. Sung to guitar accompaniment by Canadian folksinger Tom Kines.
The Songs of Chris Cobb
Colin Low 1967 7 min
By using film as a means of communication, the people of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, voice some of their daily concerns. In this film, Islander Chris Cobb sings his own songs and recites his poems about the old days and the recent changes on Fogo.
Sing a Little
1951 9 min
Puppet animation illustrates three songs sung by Alan Mills in his CBC studio: The Farmer's Cursed Wife, Barbara Allen, and Jack the Sailor.
Songs of Nova Scotia
Grant Crabtree 1958 11 min
Dr. Helen Creighton explores her native Nova Scotia, finding singers and songs in order to document the fast-receding folklore of the early pioneers on her tape recorder.
Soiree at St.Hilarion
René Bonnière & Pierre Perrault 1960 29 min
A virtual prisoner of the winter snows that block its roads, the village of St.Hilarion, to justify its name, revels in the joys of the jig and the "turlutte", the lilting songs that tell the humorous tale, ever new and yet essentially always the same, about the sorry fate of the one who gives into temptation.
Serenal
Norman McLaren 1959 3 min
A gay fantasia of patterned sound in which Norman McLaren salutes the West Indies, painting the spirit of fiesta on film to the lively beat of an island tune by Trinidad's Grand Curacaya Orchestra.
Votre histoire ça va être une chanson (English Version)
Michel Brault & André Gladu 1978 24 min
Florent Lemay, a talented singer and gardener to the Seigneur of Lotbinière, recalls how songs were written back in the day. His neighbour, farmer Joseph Auger, maintained this old tradition of writing songs based on events and happenings in the parish, and Lemay inherited his compositions.
Who Were the Ones?
Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell 1972 7 min
This short film was created by a group of Indigenous filmmakers at the NFB in 1972 and is essentially a song by Willie Dunn sung by Bob Charlie and illustrated by John Fadden: "Who were the ones who bid you welcome and took you by the hand, inviting you here by our campfires, as brothers we might stand?"
The song expresses bitter memories of the past, of trust repaid by treachery, and of friendship debased by exploitation upon the arrival of European colonists.

Folk Music (45)

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