World War I (19)

And We Knew How to Dance: Women in World War I
Maureen Judge 1993 55 min
This feature documentary profiles 12 Canadian women who entered the male-dominated world of munitions factories and farm labour during World War I. In 1994, aged 86 to 101, these women recall their wartime work experiences and the ways in which their commitment and determination helped lead the way to postwar social changes for women.
Airplane Casualties
1918 6 min
This short film from 1918 shows various types of footage involving aircraft. An aircraft moves down the runway and takes off. Three planes in formation are seen from the air. Viewed from the cockpit, a pilot is at the controls. A hydroplane gets ready to land in a British port. Seen from the air, bombs fall on the battlefield. An enemy plane is pursued by fire from an anti-aircraft battery, while another spirals down and crashes on the ground. Canadian aviators pose proudly for the camera while an American crew attaches bombs to an aircraft.
Battle of Arras 3
1917 8 min
This third short film on the Battle of Arras shows artillery fire, troop movements and several explosions on the battlefield. German prisoners can also be seen in the trenches, as well as enemy bombs falling on the town of Arras. A classic World War One film.
Canadians Advance Near Cambrai 3
1918 8 min
This silent short film from 1918 demonstrates the devastating effects of shelling. Firemen, soldiers and civilians fight several fires in a village, brick buildings are reduced to rubble, and a water tank in a factory is totally destroyed.
Canada in World War One
1962 16 min
Canada’s role in the Allied Forces during the conflict is explored in this film, showing the brutal realities of trench warfare experienced by Canadian troops. These years of enemy bombings and shooting, left some 60, 000 soldiers dead.
Canadians Advance Near Cambrai 1
1918 8 min
A supply company transporting provisions and soldiers advances amid the ruins then along a country road. It then crosses the main square in a French town while a company on bikes goes by at a good clip. Soldiers move equipment in flooded trenches. On the battlefield, trains on a narrow-gauge track carry munitions, prisoners and casualties.
Currie's Dilemma
Philippe Baylaucq 2018 5 min
This film has been created with rare silent archival footage from the NFB, showing Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps, at work planning a battle in the company of his officers. Images and dialogue by actors have been skilfully interwoven with the hundred-year-old footage, which has been colourized and had sound added. The resulting film dramatizes the weight of Currie’s responsibilities and the dilemma he faced in whether or not to commit his men to one of the most perilous but strategically critical operations of the war. The success at crossing the Canal du Nord and the capture of Cambrai forced the Germans into retreat and hastened the end of the conflict.
Canadians Advance Near Cambrai 2
1918 9 min
Cavalry detachments come and go at a staging post, while in the background, men feed the horses. Various types of armoured vehicles travel along a country road. They are carrying provisions, soldiers and a heavy piece of metal. The armoured vehicles are also engaged in combat. From inside a bunker, a soldier fires on a tank with a machine gun.
Freedom Had a Price

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Yurij Luhovy 1994 55 min
A disturbing documentary of Canada's first national alien-internment operation. It tells the little-known story of Ukrainian immigrants who found themselves subject to discriminatory and repressive measures during World War I.
Front Lines
Claude Guilmain 2008 33 min
A tribute to the combatants in the First World War, this film traces the conflict through the war diary and private letters of five Canadian soldiers and a nurse. Hearing them, the listener detects between the lines an unspoken horror censored by war and propriety.

The film mingles war footage, historical photos and readings of excerpts from the diary and letters. The directorial talent of Claude Guilmain breathes life into these 90-year-old documents and accompanying archival images so that we experience the human face and heart of the conflict.

For the educational sector, five documentary vignettes have been drawn from the film: Nurses at the Front, The Officer's Role, The Life of the Soldier, Faith and Hope and The Trenches, each with further information on its particular subject.
Front Lines - The Officer's Role
2008 8 min
This short documentary made in 2008 looks at First World War officers. They often wrote reports and updates to headquarters. With all the devastation that they would see, they still needed to encourage their troops to not give up hope. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
Fields of Sacrifice
Donald Brittain 1963 38 min
This 1964 documentary returns to the battlefields where over 100,000 Canadian soldiers lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. The film also visits cemeteries where servicemen are buried. Filmed from Hong Kong to Sicily, this documentary is designed to show Canadians places they have reason to know but may not be able to visit. Produced for the Canadian Department of Veteran Affairs by the renowned documentary filmmaker Donald Brittain.
Front Lines - The Life of the Soldier
2008 9 min
This short documentary made in 2008 looks at the gruelling life of a soldier in the First World War. The letters home speak of the physical and emotional hardships and the mental strain of what they witness on the battlefield. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
Front Lines - Nurses at the Front
2008 8 min
This short documentary made in 2008 looks at the role of nurses and health workers during wartime. Long days, brutal injuries and both sad and triumphant outcomes are part of their reality. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
Front Lines - Faith and Hope
2008 9 min
This short documentary made in 2008 reflects on how religion and faith became a solace to many Canadians serving in the First World War. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
Front Lines - The Trenches
2008 9 min
This short documentary made in 2008 looks at life in the trenches in the First World War. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2008, 90 years will have passed since the signing of the Armistice ending the Great War in Europe. More than 600,000 men and women crossed the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and more than 60,000 of them never returned. Front Lines features veterans' letters to their families and images from the NFB archives, the Canadian War Museum and Library and Archives Canada.
"Just One Big Mess": The Halifax Explosion, 1917

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Cheryl Lean 1991 18 min
On the morning of December 6, 1917, two ships, one of which was loaded with munitions, collided in Halifax Harbour. The explosion which followed levelled two square miles of the city, killed over 1600 people and left thousands wounded and homeless. Through interviews with survivors and photographs of the devastation, this dramatically recounts the events.
Valenciennes 2
1918 9 min
In this short documentary, we see Marshal Joffre, accompanied by several French generals, visit the Canadian and British trenches. We also see King George V as he reviews the British troops as they train, while the Prince of Wales and General Currie review the honour guard. The mayor of Cambrai visits Canadian troops on the front.
Valenciennes 1
1918 2 min
In this two-minute short, Canadian officers and British generals welcome French President Raymond Poincarré in Valenciennes. The president reviews the troops, delivers a speech, and then all the soldiers gather on a square where a military band plays.

World War I (19)

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