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Nova Scotia as Seen by NFB Filmmakers

This roundup of films from Nova Scotia spans 80 years and takes viewers on a deep dive into the lives and experiences of the province’s distinctive communities.

  • The Secret Order
    The Secret Order
    Phil Comeau 2022 1 h 24 min
    Phil Comeau shines a spotlight on the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier, a powerful secret society that operated from 1926 to 1965, infiltrating every sector of Canadian society and forging the fate of French-language communities. Through never-before-heard testimony from former members of the Order, along with historically accurate dramatic reconstructions, this film paints a gripping portrait of the social and political struggles of Canadian francophone-minority communities.
  • Journey to Justice
    Journey to Justice
    Roger McTair 2000 47 min
    This documentary pays tribute to a group of Canadians who took racism to court. They are Canada's unsung heroes in the fight for Black civil rights. Focusing on the 1930s to the 1950s, this film documents the struggle of 6 people who refused to accept inequality. Featured here, among others, are Viola Desmond, a woman who insisted on keeping her seat at the Roseland movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia in 1946 rather than moving to the section normally reserved for the city's Black population, and Fred Christie, who took his case to the Supreme Court after being denied service at a Montreal tavern in 1936. These brave pioneers helped secure justice for all Canadians. Their stories deserve to be told.
  • Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia
    Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia
    Sylvia Hamilton 1992 28 min
    In their predominantly white high school in Halifax, a group of black students face daily reminders of racism, ranging from abuse (racist graffiti on washroom walls), to exclusion (the omission of black history from textbooks). They work to establish a Cultural Awareness Youth Group, a vehicle for building pride and self-esteem through educational and cultural programs. With help from mentors, they discover the richness of their heritage and learn some of the ways they can begin to effect change.
  • Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists
    Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists
    Catherine Anne Martin  &  Kimberlee McTaggart 1991 41 min
    This film profiles a number of Mi’kmaq and Maliseet artists from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, showing their similarities and differences, samples of their work and the sources of their inspiration. It offers a remarkable look at Indigenous art and spirituality in Atlantic Canada.
  • Hugh MacLennan: Portrait of a Writer
    Hugh MacLennan: Portrait of a Writer
    Robert Duncan 1982 57 min
    A portrait of and tribute to the author who, with the publication of Barometer Rising in 1941, set a precedent in Canadian literature by writing about Canadian topics and places and, in so doing, paved the way for a thriving national literary movement. Through the use of still photographs, archival footage and interviews, this documentary traces seven decades of MacLennan's public and private life--as a young boy in Nova Scotia, brought up in a strict Presbyterian family of Scottish descent, as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford, as a professor at McGill University, and as the author of seven novels and numerous essays. Also featured in the film are several readings from MacLennan's work.
  • Maud Lewis: A World Without Shadows
    Maud Lewis: A World Without Shadows
    Diane Beaudry 1976 10 min
    Set against a background of her paintings and the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, landscapes they depict, this short documentary is a portrait of the life and work of one of Canada's foremost primitive painters, Maud Lewis. Emerging from her youth crippled with arthritis, Lewis escaped into her painting at the age of 30. She had never seen a work of art and had never attended an art class but her paintings captured the simple strength, beauty and happiness of the world she saw - a world without shadows.
  • Louisbourg
    Louisbourg
    Albert Kish 1972 20 min
    The Fortress of Louisbourg, a historic landmark on the Atlantic shore of Cape Breton Island, was originally built by King Louis XV to protect French possessions in the New World during the French colonial era. Its restoration is considered to be the biggest archaeological dig in North America. This film gives a detailed account of what was involved in the reconstruction and refurbishing.
  • Encounter at Kwacha House - Halifax
    Encounter at Kwacha House - Halifax
    Rex Tasker 1967 17 min
    This short film presents a lively discussion between black and white youths at the interracial club in Halifax, touching on racial discrimination in employment, housing, education and interpersonal relations.
  • Trappers of the Sea
    Trappers of the Sea
    Margaret Perry 1945 13 min
    This film presents the lobster fishing industry in Nova Scotia with a brief reference to the cooperative movement and how co-ops are used in the affairs of the people. Pierre, a fisherman, is shown as he sails forth to set his one hundred traps. The film shows both the problems of adverse weather and also the methods used to land the lobster and prepare them for market.
  • New Scotland
    New Scotland
    Laura Boulton 1943 10 min
    This short documentary from 1943 visits various Nova Scotians at home, work and leisure while giving a panoramic view of the province’s coasts, farms and forests.

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