Like Andrew Qappik

In this short film, sculptor and textile artist Kai Chan shares his artistic philosophy of economy and repetition with young artists who build extraordinary, complex 3D structures using simple materials and basic techniques. Part of the I Can Make Art ...series.

This short film is part of a series entitled I Can Make Art and focuses on the work of Emily Carr. In this film, kids examine Carr's unusual world and the inspiration for her haunting landscapes. Drawing on this inspiration, they then attempt to create a giant forest mural on a window in their school. The series is comprised of six short films that take a kid's-eye view of a diverse group of Canadian visual artists.

This short film introduces kids to sculptor Ron Noganosh, who transforms items like rusted hubcaps and computer parts into art. Inspired by Ron's found-object sculptures, a group of primary school students discover how to turn "junk" into art. Part of the I Can Make Art series of 6 films that take a kids'-eye view on a diverse group of Canadian visual artists.

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.

This short documentary is a portrait of Frederick Varley, Canadian painter and member of the Group of Seven. In the film, Varley returns to his studio in Toronto after a sketching trip. The camera moves about the studio selecting examples of his canvases and watches him as he begins a new painting.

This adventure film features Scott McVay, an authority on whales, and filmmaker Bill Mason. The objective was to film the bowhead, a magnificent inhabitant of the cold Arctic seas brought to the edge of extinction by overfishing. With helicopter and Inuit guide, aqualungs and underwater cameras, the expedition searches out and meets the bowhead and beluga.

Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term.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.

This short documentary focuses on prairie sculptor Joe Fafard. If there's one thing Joe knows, it's cows. He knows the way they tuck in their forelegs to lie down to ruminate and the way a calf romps in the barnyard. He also knows his friends and neighbours in the farming community of Pense, Saskatchewan—and he sculpts them all in clay, as eloquent and quirky miniatures. Joe's work has been exhibited throughout Canada as well as in Paris and New York, and this film offers a glimpse into his process, his aesthetic, and the charming prairie community in which he lives.

Marcelle Ferron was a Quebec-born painter and stained glass maker, and a dominant figure in contemporary art in Quebec and Canada. Frequent stays in a dull, dark hospital room due to a childhood illness left her with a passion for light and colour that is evident in her abstract painting and modern stained glass creations.

In I Can Make Art Like Marcelle Ferron, students are exposed to contemporary abstract art and discover Ferron's luminous world. Inspired by her extraordinary art, they create their own works, experimenting with the texture and transparency of cellophane and paint.

Awash in colour and bold design, I Can Make Art Like Marcelle Ferron captures her passion and reinforces the important legacy of this groundbreaking artist.

I Can Make Art is a series of six short films that take a kids'-eye view on a diverse group of Canadian visual artists.

In this short film from the I Can Make Art Like... series, a group of Grade 6 students are inspired by Maud Lewis, the celebrated Nova Scotian folk artist who painted scenes of country life. With the help of artist Kyle Jackson, they create a folk art painting of their own downtown neighbourhood. Informative, touching and filled with the magic of creation, this film shows both the power and simple pleasure of folk art.

The NFB's 11th Oscar®-nominated film.

This short film depicts how a small Canadian city, bearing the name of Stratford and by a river Avon, created its own renowned Shakespearean theatre. The film tells how the idea grew, how a famous British director, international stars and Canadian talent were recruited, and how the Stratford Shakespearean Festival finally became a triumphant reality.

For more background information about this film, please visit the NFB.ca blog.

This full-length documentary examines the work of Krzysztof Wodiczko, an artist who has taken his art out of museums to project it onto the sides of buildings. The film explores Wodiczko’s philosophy of art as social contract and shows examples of his provocative work, which has lit up walls from London's Trafalgar Square to Zion Square in Jerusalem.