Michael Spencer

A two-part in-depth exploration of the evolution of the private film industry, seen through the eyes of more than 50 industry professionals. Part One (1939-1979) : Artists and professionals from the social and commercial film sectors recount the struggle to build a film industry that is privately operated yet publicly funded. Part Two (1980-2010) : Executives, policymakers, and industry professionals trace the origins of the major funding institutions and discuss the unintended consequences of building a cultural industry around performance metrics, revenue generation, and private profit.

Features clips from 21 documentary and animation film classics, interviews with NFB filmmakers past and present, and incisive commentary from film critics and historians on the role and influence of the NFB during its first half century of existence.

This short film is an introduction to oyster farming in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Showing the various stages of oyster cultivation, the film highlights the sampling of larvae by Department of Fisheries biologists, the staking of oyster beds by farmers, the nurturing of spat, and underwater scenes showing the dragging of the seabed with cotton mops to ensnare starfish, which prey upon the oyster. Final sequences show the grading and shipping of oysters and their arrival at the seafood restaurant or family dinner table.

This classic short film shows how to make an igloo using only snow and a knife. Two Inuit men in Canada’s Far North choose the site, cut and place snow blocks and create an entrance--a shelter completed in one-and-a-half hours. The commentary explains that the interior warmth and the wind outside cement the snow blocks firmly together. As the short winter day darkens, the two builders move their caribou sleeping robes and extra skins indoors, confident of spending a snug night in the midst of the Arctic cold!

In this short film, a curious high school civics class has a lot of questions about Canadian history. Suddenly, while the class is visiting Robert Harris’ famous painting The Fathers of Confederation, John A. MacDonald comes to life from the painting and speaks to the students, explaining the Canadian Constitution and the reasons for it. This lively animated meditation on history and art is an engaging portal to the lessons of the past.

During the short Arctic summer on Baffin Island, the native Inuit enjoys four months of continuous daylight. But it is no time for relaxation, for provision must be made for the long, cold winter night ahead. In this film Idlouk, an Inuit hunter, tells of his life in this northern land. We watch as he stalks the seal so vital to his existence, and as he and other hunters set out in kayaks to harpoon the white whale and the narwhal. At camp we meet his wife, children and aged parents, each of whom has work to do in the unceasing struggle for survival in this harsh land.

This film poses the question of whether an honest judgment is better than diplomatic double-talk in situations where an individual's feelings may be hurt.