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Governor General's Performing Arts Awards2008 - 2024 16 editionsInspired portraits of Canadian performing arts legends. -
Hothouse2003 - 2024 14 editionsShort, surprising and always entertaining! Watch a collection of one-minute animated shorts from our Hothouse animation mentorship program, past and present.
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Alambic2022 3 filmsThe Alambic collection invites you to experience the unique and stunning vision of a group of emerging filmmakers, in a series of films each under three minutes long. Alambic is an experimental creative lab offering early-career artists the opportunity to craft original visual stories in the space of a few months. An initiative of the NFB’s French Animation Studio, Alambic puts out an annual call for emerging creators who want to participate in this unique experience.
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Labrador Doc Project2021 4 filmsThe Labrador Documentary Project (Lab Doc Project) supports Indigenous storytelling by working with first-time Labrador Inuit filmmakers to create and distribute Inuit stories from Inuit perspectives. The Lab Doc Project is led by Inuit through community collaboration, and focuses on topics selected by the filmmakers through a process of reflection and community engagement. This initiative aims to elevate Indigenous storytelling in Newfoundland and Labrador, create film opportunities for Inuit, and proactively diversify our industry. There are four films in this Project, with two launching in 2021, and the remaining films launching in 2023.
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Comic Strip Chronicles2017 - 2021 2 editionsDiscover the creativity and wit of cartoonists-turned-filmmakers in our Comic Strip Chronicles, a collection of shorts that celebrates the strong affinity between two art forms: the comic strip and the animated film.
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5 Shorts Project2015 - 2020 4 editionsLaunched by the NFB’s French Documentary Studio, the 5 Shorts Project seeks to discover new filmmaking talent from Quebec’s regions while exploring the short-form doc genre. Five directors are challenged to create a 4-to-5-minute short with a technical requirement. These independent, individual films will benefit from the cohort’s constructive reflection and interaction.
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The Curve2020 7 editionsThe Curve is the pulse of our nation, beating in its own time during this unprecedented time. Our creators, with their talent and insight, are bringing to life the voices of Canadians touched by COVID-19, both near and far. The Curve is an online destination where these experiences will be expressed in animation, documentary and digital storytelling formats.
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Five Feminist Minutes 20192019 4 filmsIn 1990, the NFB made waves with Five Feminist Minutes , a series of short films produced by the trailblazing Studio D, the world’s first all-woman production unit. When the NFB celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2019, four contemporary directors picked up the thread.
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FIVE@502019 5 filmsIn 1969, Canada passed Bill C-150 into law, which partially decriminalized homosexuality in Canada. Fifty years later, the NFB presents Five@50, a unique collection of five-minute shorts reflecting on contemporary LGBTQ2+ lives and identities. These intimate documentaries range from personal reflection to cultural history, and include experimental forms, animation and dramatization. When it comes to progress and queer culture, what have we gained? And what have we lost along the way?
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Urban.Indigenous.Proud2018 5 filmsUrban.Indigenous.Proud is a film project partnership between the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres and the National Film Board of Canada. Taking a community-driven approach, the OFIFC and the NFB produced five short documentaries by Indigenous filmmakers who set out to explore urban Indigenous culture and lived experiences in five Friendship Centre communities.
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Naked Island2017 14 filmsProduced by the National Film Board, Naked Island brings together some of Canada’s most talented animators in a series of 14 super-short and incisive films that expose the dark underbelly of modern-day society. Blending the art of animation with the format of advertising, these filmmakers use wit and satire to address topics from global warming to politics to our obsession with technology. Ranging from Oscar® winners and nominees to emerging talent in animation and fine arts, these filmmakers make bold statements in a variety of styles to create ultimate anti-advertisements that encourage us to stop and think.
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Vistas2009 13 filmsVistas - 13 short films on the theme of "nationhood". Produced by the National Film Board of Canada and APTN.
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I Can Make Art2005 6 filmsSeries of films that take a kids'-eye view on a diverse group of Canadian visual artists.
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Talespinners2000 15 filmsTalespinners, for ages 5-9, includes seven tales of children who confront challenges with ingenuity and creativity. Each story brings facets of a different cultural community to the screen, through a setting, accent, folk element, tradition, particular food or vocabulary. Young viewers will be captivated by the adventures and determination of the Talespinners’ children. This collection includes four original tales and three inspired by books. The stories have particular appeal to modern kids growing up in a complicated world.
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How Do They...?1997 8 filmsEverybody loves a good "how-to" film. Here we've assembled a selection of short films demonstrating how to do everything from getting the centres in chocolates to recycling paper.
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Children First!1996 7 filmsFifty years ago, a boat left New York with a cargo of powdered milk for the hungry children of post-war Europe. It was the first undertaking of the UN's International Children's Emergency Fund. Initially conceived as a short-term measure, UNICEF went on to become a leading world advocate for children's welfare and is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year. Children First! showcases award-winning NFB shorts dealing with children's rights and the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child. Diane Chartrand's The Orange is a touching tale of how children help a hungry classmate. Janet Perlman's Dinner for Two is a light-hearted lesson in conflict resolution, and Eugene Fedorenko's Oscar-winning Every Child is an engaging reflection on every child's right to a name and nationality. Rounding out the selection are Michèle Cournoyer's An Artist a beautifully rendered story of a parent's awakening to his young daughter's potential abilities, and Martine Chartrand's TV Tango, a comic critique of mass media and its impact on children. Francine Desbiens's To See the World is a fitting tale of a boy who witnesses the suffering of the world's children through a train window, and envisions solutions which ensure happy, healthy children everywhere. Finally, a child's right to a future in which dreams may be fulfilled is examined in Why? by Brestislav Pojar.
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Canada Remembers1995 3 filmsThis 3-part series draws on personal stories and archival footage to tell the story of six of the most significant years in our country's history: from 1939, the beginning of WWII, to its end in 1945.
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The Valour and the Horror1991 3 filmsThis three-part series critically examines some aspects of Canada's contribution during the Second World War. Many of the events described are not familiar to most Canadians, and all share the theme of the bravery of Canadian soldiers and the tragedies of war.
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Children of Jerusalem1991 7 filmsChildren of Jerusalem (1991–1996) is a collection of seven films by multi-award-winning filmmaker Beverly Shaffer. The series offers portraits of life in Jerusalem as experienced by seven children from diverse social, cultural and religious backgrounds.
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Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada1986 5 filmsSince 1982, when the issue of free trade with the United States was resurrected, dusted off and presented anew to Canadians, we have been buffetted by dissenting viewpoints on this contentious and crucial question. Can Canada stand alone and hold its own in the economically turbulent late 20th century? Should it even try? A major gap in the debate so far has been a comprehensive context in which the average Canadian could place the matter at hand. This series attempts to fill that gap. It clarifies not only Canada's economic position in relation to its closest neighbor, but also the United States' economic standing in the world. In the process, Reckoning clearly shows Canada's current position in the global economicy and where, perhaps, it should be heading.
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Canada Vignettes1978 43 filmsDiscover this series of classic shorts exploring every facet of Canadian culture and history.
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Pacificanada1974 8 filmsWhat makes British Columbia different from the rest of the country is a fascinating subject no matter what form it takes. When explored on film it makes for vivid contrasts and not a few surprises. The films in this series capture a colorful spectrum of life on the west side of the Great Divide, reflecting not only the physical magnitude of the land, vertically and horizontally, but the character of the people who meet its challenge.
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West1973 12 filmsThis is the Canadian West that the traveller seldom sees, each film an intimate look at some facet of life of the three Prairie provinces. From the west, the east, the NFB and independent filmmakers, the films in this series show Canadians in many walks of life--the whole colorful mosaic that spreads from the plains of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the towering peaks of Alberta's mountains.
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Corporation1973 7 filmsCorporation(1973–1974) is a behind-the-scenes look at an iconic Canadian business, guided by its president, Sam Steinberg, who offers observations and reminiscences about his company’s 50-year history. “A company can’t stand still,” he says, “it must grow.” Viewers can witness the rise of Steinberg’s from grocery store to major supermarket chain in this seven-part documentary series.
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Adieu Alouette1972 10 filmsThis documentary TV series explored Quebec in the 1970s, focusing on culture and moving beyond an antiquated, folkloric view of the province.
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Struggle for a Border: Canada's Relations with the United States1969 9 filmsWhy are there just two nations occupying that enormous expanse of the North American continent north of the Rio Grande? Why not just one unlimited American empire? Or why not several nations? This unique work gives clear and vivid form to the immense and complex forces--economic, political, military, diplomatic, social, and geographic--that created and confirmed the U.S.-Canada border. The largest single work ever undertaken by the National Film Board of Canada, Stuggle for a Border is the result of painstaking scholarship and research, and imaginative filmmaking. Each of the nine one-hour films is entirely self-contained, though part of a larger continuity. There are no interviews, but an on-screen narrator provides commentary and perspective. The films are so constructed that, if need be, they may be shown in half-hour, or shorter, segments.
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The History Makers1959 - 1964 3 editionsFrom the most intrepid explorers to the fathers of Confederation, this series of 17 half-hour episodes tells the compelling early history of our great country.
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Canada at War1962 13 filmsFrom the depressed thirties to the war-torn forties -- a time of testing and trial, of strength discovered and victory won. Here is Canada's story of World War II, as experienced by Canadians at home and on the battlefronts of the world. In thirteen half-hour films you re-live a vital era that changed the nation and the world.
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Between Two Wars1960 3 filmsThree half-hour films revive the eventful, time-obscured years between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second. From a wealth of newsreel footage, much of it irreplaceable, these films recall two eventful decades of Canada's history.
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Candid Eye1958 14 filmsShot unscripted and unrehearsed, this NFB documentary series for television is a seminal offering in the history of doc filmmaking.
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Perspective1955 46 filmsThis TV series from the mid-1950s blended documentary and fiction to tell Canadian stories from a Canadian perspective.
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On the Spot1950 20 filmsThe first NFB series made specifically for television, On the Spot consisted of 15-minute documentary reports (which later ran 30 minutes) on different aspects of life in Canada.
