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French as a Second Language (11)

  1. Available in English Options
5 years old
18 years old
  • Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are Endless
    Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are Endless
    Ginette Pellerin 2009 52 min
    Made famous in 1971 by the success of La Sagouine and achieving international celebrity after winning the Prix Goncourt for Pélagie-la-Charrette in 1979, Antonine Maillet has been the mouthpiece of the Acadian people throughout the world for fifty years. This documentary takes us from Bouctouche to Montreal by way of Moncton to discover a great writer who has rarely spoken of herself with such candour and generosity. An unforgettable autobiographical document.
  • The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg
    The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg
    Paul Driessen 2000 8 min
    This animated short by Paul Driessen tells the story of a boy with an overactive imagination. The young protagonist, bored with his lot, imagines a diabolic and dangerous life of adventure. But when he finally finds himself facing a real-life drama, the mundane life that he always wanted to escape is what he wishes to recapture.
  • Instant French
    Instant French
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    André Leduc 1979 1 min
    This animated short is a take on the "As Seen on TV" commercials, or the K-Tel ads of yesteryear. In this parody version, the ad attempts to sell an electronic device that allows one to speak fluent, effortless French.

    Please note that this film was produced in 1979 and reflects certain attitudes and thinking of its era. The last scene of the film includes negative stereotyping of Jews living in Quebec. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. While the film does not represent today’s views as perspectives of Canadians (and the NFB) have evolved and we have become more conscious regarding issues of discrimination and minority rights, the film is presented in its original version because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these stereotypes never existed.
  • Skier
    Skier
    1978 2 min
    In this short vignette, skier Kathy Kreiner prepares for and participates in her Olympic gold-medal race at Innsbruck.
  • Emergency Numbers
    Emergency Numbers
    John Weldon 1984 2 min
    This short animation from Oscar® winner John Weldon is a hilarious "cat and dog fight" film that also reminds us to keep emergency numbers close to our telephones.
  • Cot Cot
    Cot Cot
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    Pierre Sylvestre 2007 6 min
    How unbelievably boring is the life of a solitary cowboy living in the middle of a vast prairie, surrounded by stupid chickens clucking and a shapeless bovine! Not surprising then if his temper turns fowl. Based on a strip cartoon by the Swiss writer Ibn Al Rabin, Cot Cot is a hilarious parody of the western, featuring a cowboy at the end of his tether and a cow that's much smarter than she looks.

    Technique: 2-D computer animation.
  • The Grasslands Project - Les Fransaskois
    The Grasslands Project - Les Fransaskois
    Scott Parker 2016 7 min
    This short documentary from The Grasslands Project zooms in on the Prairies' francophone minority. The southern Prairies are overwhelmingly anglophone, yet a strong and vibrant francophone population persists in the small rural communities that dot this landscape. Gravelbourg is considered the centre of French language and culture in the region, and this short film hears from the Fransaskois (a term combining French and Saskatchewan) on the challenges and future of their unique prairie culture.
  • The Girl With the Red Beret
    The Girl With the Red Beret
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    Janet Perlman 2023 5 min
    A girl takes a wild ride on the metro in Montreal. Travelling from station to station, she encounters an array of colourful characters in a bizarre musical journey that’s peppered with hilarious and unexpected incidents. This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humour and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s timeless hit “Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.”
  • Land for Pioneers
    Land for Pioneers
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    1944 16 min
    Both exploration and the fur trade opened up Canada's Northwest Territories, a land for pioneers. The magic of gold once lured thousands into the Yukon, but greater riches lie east of the Klondike, imbedded in the rocks and tundra of the Canadian Shield. The farm areas, the fisheries, the forests, and the rivers of northern British Columbia and the Prairie provinces also promise wealth. The Alaska Highway opened up potential grain fields, and air routes form a close link with the busy centers of the South, encouraging industrial development.
  • On the Ice Floe
    On the Ice Floe
    Stéphane Lahoud 2012 27 min
    This short documentary depicts a warm yet ephemeral community that comes together on the ice in Rimouski, Quebec—the site of an unusual encounter between ice fishermen and French artist Joseph Kieffer.
  • Viola Léger, Together
    Viola Léger, Together
    Rodolphe Caron 2013 5 min
    This short film pays tribute to Acadian actress Viola Léger. One of the brightest stars in Canada’s artistic firmament, Léger is best known for her role as La Sagouine in the play of the same name by Acadian writer Antonine Maillet. She has performed it more than 2,500 times, winning rave reviews for her authentic and engaging portrayal. In this film, an in-depth interview combined with archival photos and videos captures the passion and vitality of a woman who, at the venerable age of 82, is ever willing to take on the roles still being offered to her.

    Produced by the NFB in co-operation with the National Arts Centre and the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation on the occasion of the 2013 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.