The Loxleys and the War of 1812

For those curious to know the behind-the-scenes stages through which a film passes before it reaches the screen, this film explains the basic steps of motion picture film production. Script to Screen takes a mock-serious happening and follows it all the way through direction, photography, editing, sound effects, synchronization of sound and visuals, and various laboratory processes. Filmmaking is seen to be a craft of many hands and minds.

In the early 1970s, a group of young volunteers, the Free Youth Clinic of Winnipeg, operated a "crisis bus" to rescue young people experiencing bad drug trips, usually from LSD. This film documents the activities of the volunteers: responding to and treating emergencies, whatever the hour, and obtaining further medical aid for their patients, if required.

In this short documentary from the 70s, we get a glimpse of life inside an artistic community in the mudflats area of North Vancouver. An anti-establishment group, they live as squatters, rejecting drugs while practicing a philosophy of love for the universe. They also reject the values of mainstream society, as embodied by the mayor of North Vancouver, who wants to turn their “home” into a shopping centre.

The Games included many sports seen in Olympic competition, plus others--for example, pirautaqturniq, the Inuit skill of hitting an object with a ten meter-long sled dog whip. This film captures the all-out participation in the week-long events hosted by Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon, with competitors from all over the Arctic including Alaska, and with observers from the Soviet Union.

A film that enlarges on humanity’s capacity to foul its own nest, and to ignore it. Made by a joint team of Canadian and Croatian animation artists, the film transmits its warning with unflagging humour, imagination, movement and design. It consists of 14 shorts, as well as comical segments—played by actors—that introduce and serve as transitions between the animated pieces. The film comments on our responsibility, on a global scale, to conserve what is left of our vital resources and usable environment.

This short documentary takes a fascinating look at the meaning behind some Indigenous masks from the North Pacific coast. Our guide is professor Claude Levi-Strauss of Paris, a world-renowned anthropologist and authority on the structural analysis of myth. He explains the significant features of 3 masks, and the stories behind them, while also visiting an Indigenous carver on Vancouver Island.

This short film is told in the first person by Rose, a Métis woman from northern Alberta who has left a difficult life in the city to rediscover her roots by returning to her Woodland Cree community. Rose reveals the racism, isolation and health issues she faced when trying to make a life for herself outside her home community, and how she is able to help others now that she has reconnected to her culture.

The film is part of a 1970s series of eleven films title Working Mothers by producer/director Kathleen Shannon, exposing inequality for women in accessing education, childcare, and equal pay. These films led to the creation of Studio D at the National Film Board, the world’s first feminist production studio. 

Meet Tony Rossi, a 10-year-old boy who can only distinguish light from shadow. Despite this difficulty, he leads a very active life. The short documentary shows the ingenious ways in which Tony manages his life. This film is part of the Children of Canada series.

In this early film Norman McLaren shot crystal formations through a low-power microscope, using polarized light with the lower part of the picture masked off. The film was then rewound and a scene of dancers was filmed.

A panorama of winter scenery and sports in the Laurentians.

This feature documentary recounts the opposition between American revolutionaries and Canadian communities settled along the St. Lawrence River during the period leading up to the American Revolution. The flames of rebellion spread northward but Canada resisted encroachment.