The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a federal cultural agency within the portfolio of the Canadian Heritage Department. Initially known as the National Film Commission, it was created by an act of Parliament in 1939. Its mandate, as set forth in the National Film Act, 1950, is “to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations.”
Directed by Co Hoedeman • Animation • 1977 • 13 minutes
A fable of great humour and appeal, The Sand Castle is the story of the Sandman and the creatures he sculpts out of sand. Under his direction, they build a castle and celebrate the completion of their new home, only to be interrupted by an ...
Directed by Torill Kove • Animation • With Liv Ullmann • 2006 • 14 minutes
This Oscar®-winning short animation follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer Sigrid Undset. Kasper attempts to answer some pretty big questions: can we trace...
Directed by John Weldon and Eunice Macaulay • Animation • 1978 • 7 minutes
The first big mistake Ralph makes is not clearing the snow from the front walk, and his life goes downhill from that point on. By the end of the story, the mailman has fatally slipped on his job, Alice, his wife, doesn't ...
Directed by Chris Landreth • Animation • 2004 • 14 minutes
Ryan is based on the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who, 30 years ago, produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. In the film, we hear the voices of prominent animators and artists discussing Ryan's work,...
Directed by Norman McLaren • Animation • 1952 • 8 minutes
Two neighbours live side by side in harmony until a flower grows on the dividing line between their properties. Who does it belong to? The argument that follows ends up with both neighbours in their graves. The most famous of Norman McLar...
Directed by Eugene Fedorenko • Animation • 1979 • 6 minutes
Produced at the invitation of the United Nations Organization to celebrate UNICEF's Declaration of Children's Rights, this film is the Canadian contribution to the hour-long feature film consisting of ten six-minute segments in celebrat...
Directed by David Fine and Alison Snowdon • Animation • 1993 • 12 minutes
Surprise birthday parties can be risky. Especially when the guest of honour is turning 40! When Margaret plans a celebration for her husband, Bob, she underestimates the sudden impact of middle age on his mood. A witty, of...
Directed by Cynthia Scott • Documentary • 1983 • 5 minutes
This Oscar-winning film is a visual and emotional thriller. It is an impressionistic record of a flamenco dance class given to senior students of the National Ballet School of Canada by two great teachers from Spain, Susana and Antonio R...
Directed by Michael Rubbo • Documentary • 1971 • 58 minutes
A film about the people of Saigon as seen through the experiences of three young American journalists who, in 1970, explored in their own way the consequences of war and of the American presence. It is not a film about the Vietnam war, ...
Directed by Stuart Legg • Documentary • With Lorne Greene • 1941 • 22 minutes
Winner of the first Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject! It presents the strategy of the Battle of Britain, showing with penetrating clarity the relationships between the various forces made up the island's defens...
Directed by William Canning, Donald Brittain • Documentary • 1974 • 56 minutes
Spring 1972. The Chicago Cubs are poised to win the National League's Pennant race, lead by their star pitcher, a Black Canadian named Ferguson Jenkins, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Out of ...
Directed by Colin Low, Wolf Koenig • Documentary • 1957 • 21 minutes
A vivid recollection of the Klondike gold rush at its frenzied height, City of Gold uses a collage of still photographs to compare Dawson City of the gold rush, when the gold from its river beds flowed freely through the stores...
Directed by Roman Kroiter, Wolf Koening • Documentary • 1959 • 29 minutes
Canadian concert pianist Glenn Gould enjoys a respite at his lakeside cottage. It is an aspect of Gould previously known only to the collie pacing beside him through the woods, the fishermen resting their oars to hear his ...
Directed by Roman Kroiter, Wolf Koening • Documentary • 1959 • 29 minutes
Glenn Gould, renowned Canadian concert pianist, in New York--kidding the cab driver, bantering with sound engineers at Columbia Records; and then, alone with the piano, fastidiously recording Bach's Italian Concerto.
Directed by Douglas Wilkinson • Documentary • 1949 • 10 minutes
A demonstration of igloo-building in Canada's Far North, showing how the site is selected and how blocks of snow are used to make a snug shelter in only an hour and a half. As the camera follows each stage, the commentary explains t...
Directed by Donald Brittain, Don Owen • Documentary • 1965 • 44 minutes
Produced in 1965, this is an informal portrait of the Montreal poet, novelist and songwriter, Leonard Cohen. He is seen reading his poetry to a rapt audience and also alone, or relaxing with family and friends.
Directed by Wolf Koening, Roman Kroiter • Documentary • 1962 • 26 minutes
The story of popular singer Paul Anka. He rose from obscurity to become the idol of millions of adolescent fans around the world. This film takes a candid look at both sides of the footlights as well as the promotion indus...
Directed by Michael Rubbo • Documentary • 1974 • 57 minutes
Inside Fidel Castro's Cuba with a movie-making threesome whose hope is that Fidel himself will star in their film. The filmmakers are Joseph Smallwood, former Newfoundland premier, Geoff Stirling, radio and televison owner, and Michael ...
Directed by David Bairstow • Documentary • 1951 • 54 minutes
A documentary account of the five-week visit of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to Canada and the United States in the fall of 1951 includes the pageantry of Québec City; the National War Memorial in Ottawa; the Trenton Ai...
Directed by Caroline Leaf • Documentary • 1981 • 27 minutes
Quebec-born singing sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle enjoy international acclaim--for their inimitable style, their talent as songwriters and especially for their unassuming, informal selves! With sister Jane as business manager, Kate a...
Directed by Colin MacKenzie & Aparna Kapur • Animation • 2019 • 15 minutes
When an extraordinary new resident – Balakrishna, an Indian elephant – arrived in the town of East River, Nova Scotia, in 1967, no one was more in awe of the creature than young Winton Cook, who became inseparable from hi...
Directed by Howie Shia • Animation • 2015 • 7 minutes
A modern adaptation of the myth of Hercules, BAM tells the story of a young boxer struggling to negotiate between his shy, bookish nature and a divinely violent temper. Where does this rage come from? Is it psychological or environmental - or...
Directed by Hart Snider • Animation • 2011 • 5 minutes
In 1983, nine-year-old Hart attends Jewish summer camp for the first time, while in a nearby Alberta town a social studies teacher makes headlines after it's discovered he's been teaching anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. In the aftermath,...
Directed by Theodore Ushev • Animation • 2014 • 2 minutes
A sharp knife cuts the hand of filmmaker Theodore Ushev. A thin stream of his blood comes to life on a white page.All over the world, idealist revolutionaries shed their blood to denounce injustices. Yet blood is also the very symbol of l...
