NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA

By: Danna Valentina Rocha

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is an agency of the Government of Canada within the portfolio of the Canadian Heritage Department. Its principal mandate is “to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations”; but this mandate has been revised many times over the years to take into account the changing audiovisual environment and financial and social situation.

But, ¿When it was created? ¿Which are it missions and activities? ¿Why it is important for the country?

“The National Film Board has a unique role in providing Canadians with innovative, challenging Canadian content that would otherwise not be available. With increased competitiveness and market pressures and with the rapid and far-reaching impacts of the digital revolution, the private sector in Canada is unable to take the creative, financial and technological risks that must be taken for Canada to remain at the forefront of the cultural industry. By testing the creative possibilities of new technologies, tackling tough issues of concern or enabling distribution into remote communities, the NFB provides Canadians and the Canadian industry with new opportunities and contributes to a vibrant Canadian culture and heritage”.

Well, let’s talk about it history.

In 1938, the Government of Canada invited John Grierson, a British pioneer in documentary film, to study the film production of the country. Until this moment, the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau had been the major film producer. But in 1939, the National Film Commission was funded, based in the National Film Act of 1939, in which were included the results of the study of Grierson. Later, the name was changed to National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The creation of this agency is the central event in the history of Canadian cinema.

By 1945, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) had turned into one of the largest film studios in the world with more than 500 films released and 2 series about Canada in the war (1940).

In this same year, John Grierson resigned and was replaced by Ross McLean, who faced considerable difficulties. Budgets and staff was reduced and the NBF came under attack for allegedly harboring left-wing subversives and as holding monopoly that threatened the livelihoods of commercial producers. He couldn’t fix the problems, so Arthur Irwin came in 1950 to calmed the storm initiating a new National Film Act.

The National Film Act of 1950 included the mandate that I previously said. Besides, it removed any direct government intervention into the operation and administration of the NFB. Also, during the postwar decade, production expanded into new areas: dramatics films were made for the first time, new techniques were explored in animation, and the information film and production for TV were initiated.

One of these improvements was the fact of including French-speaking films. In the beginning, the NFB was an English-speaking institution and it was located in Ottawa. But, in 1947, the screenwriter Jacques Bobet was hired and he started to worked with the French Unit appointing to produce French versions films in 1951; and, in 1964, a French production branch was finally established, after many protests of young Québec filmmakers. In 1956, the NFB’s headquarters was relocated from Ottawa to Montreal.

The mandate for the National Film Board was refined in 1967 after the creation of the Film Development Corporation (Telefilm Canada) and Challenge for change; two projects that promoted the development of film productions in Canada.

In the early 1970s, the NFB began a process of decentralization, in which they opened many regional productions centers across the country helping people to make they own films wherever they are.

During 1970s and 1980s, the NFB produced many series of vignettes which became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada and because they represented its changing state. They became so popular that began airing in CBC and other Canadian broadcasters.

The NFB budget was cut again in 1996 forcing it to close some departments and to lay off some staff.

In 2006 was the 65^th anniversary of NFB animation. in October 2009, the NFB released a free app for Apple’s iPhone allowing users to watch thousands of NFB films in HD; in 2010, was released an iPad version of the app.

Beginning May 2, 2014, the NFB's 75th anniversary was marked by such events as the release of a series of commemorative stamps by Canada Post, and an NFB documentary about the film board's early years, entitled Shameless Propaganda.

One of the priorities of NFB is the animation and it has amazing productions in this field since 1941. The award winners’ animations are:

• Bob’s Birthday (1993, David Fine & Alison Snowden)
  
  
  
• The Danish Poet (2006, Torill Kove)
  
  
  
• Madame Tutli-Putli (2007, Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski)
  
  
  
• Special Delivery (1978, Eunice Macaulay & John Weldon)
  
  
  
• Gloria Victoria (2012, Theodore Ushev)
  
  
  
• Wild Life (2011, Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby)
  
  
  
• Sunday (2011, Patrick Dayan)
  
  
  
• Ryan (2004, Chris Landreth)
  
  
  
• Me and My Moulton (2014, Torill Kove)
  

All the information about the agency is in the official page https://www.nfb.ca where people can watch all the contents, the films, the documentaries, the animations and a lot of information about their productions.

REFERENCES

• http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/about-the-nfb/organization/role/
• http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/about-the-nfb/organization/mandate/
• https://www.nfb.ca/history/
• https://www.nfb.ca/animation/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Film_Board_of_Canada
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-film-board-of-canada/