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Art
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The Colour of InkBrian D. Johnson 2022 1 h 49 minInk is our primal medium. It has always been with us, inscribing the evolution of humanity. The Colour of Ink uncovers the medium’s mystery and power through the eyes of Jason Logan, a visionary Toronto inkmaker. Working with ingredients foraged in the wild—weeds, berries, bark, flowers, rocks, rust—he makes ink from just about anything. Jason sends custom-made inks to an eclectic range of artists around the world, from a New Yorker cartoonist to a Japanese calligrapher. As the inks take on a life of their own, his playful alchemy paints a story of colour that reconnects us to the earth and returns us to a childlike sense of wonder. -
The Geographies of DARMonique LeBlanc 2023 1 h 13 minA visually stunning film on acclaimed author David Adams Richards and his connection to one of Canada’s most overlooked yet breathtaking regions.
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Bill Reid RemembersAlanis Obomsawin 2021 24 minBill Reid Remembers is a beautiful tribute from Alanis Obomsawin to her friend’s remarkable life and rich legacy. Despite spending his early life away from his nation’s culture, renowned Haida artist Bill Reid always kept Haida Gwaii close to his heart. While working for CBC Radio, he started learning how to make jewelry, then later sculpture, using Haida techniques and images, a move that would forever change his life and the Canadian artistic landscape. Reid’s powerful narration in the film—interspersed with Obomsawin’s own—recounts his complex childhood, his emergence as an accomplished artist, and his profound connection to his homeland. Decades after his passing, Bill Reid remains an enduring force and one of Canada’s greatest artists.
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Theodore Ushev: Unseen ConnectionsBorislav Kolev 2022 1 h 17 minTheodore Ushev, the auteur behind a number of renowned animated shorts, reveals his inner universe, formed by a half-century of personal experience acquired in a constantly changing world.
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Lay Down Your HeartMarie Clements 2022 1 h 5 minAn intimate look into the mind of Niall McNeil, an artist and performer with Down syndrome, and his unique chosen family. In Lay Down Your Heart, Niall introduces us to his many “family members,” his multiple “children,” his renowned “ex-wife” and director of the film Marie Clements, and other bonds forged through open-hearted creativity.
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Dear AudreyJeremiah Hayes 2021 1 h 29 minAcclaimed activist-filmmaker Martin Duckworth has devoted his life to peace and justice. But now he’s put down his camera to fight for the most important cause he’s ever faced. While caring for his wife through the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Martin’s love deepens as he looks back on an epic life and career.
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Open Sky: Portrait of a Pavilion in VeniceKaterine Giguère 2020 25 minAn intimate portrait of the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, an architectural gem designed by Milan’s famous Studio BBPR and recently restored, along with its gardens, by the National Gallery of Canada.
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Luben and ElenaEllie Yonova 2019 1 h 15 minLuben & Elena is a modern day love story that travels across continents and cultures in pursuit of what makes a place a home. Renowned artists, Luben Boykov and Elena Popova, whose formative years were in the midst of intellectual communist Bulgaria, entered adulthood in the “new world” of Newfoundland. Their work came to intimately define the culture and landscape of the province, underscoring in a very real and visual way how the immigrant experience shapes and defines place. Twenty five years later, they embrace transformation in Sicily. A timely immigration story, Luben & Elena is an expression of the imperative of inclusion and a poignant reminder of the impermanence of everything.
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The MuseumKenton Vaughan 2008 1 h 30 minThis feature documentary follows William Thorsell as he sets out to renovate Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. He thinks big, opting for a bold architectural gesture that will inject a shot of amphetamine into the staid and sensible veins of Canada's biggest burg. Enter Daniel Libeskind, the celebrity architect linked to the Ground Zero site and other prestigious building projects. Smartly tuned to contemporary debates on public architecture, The Museum charts their grand scheme in an entertaining tale of ego, art and steel beams.
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RiopelleMarianne Feaver 1984 27 minThe paintings of Jean-Paul Riopelle are known around the world. But the painter himself remains private, inaccessible. This documentary attempts to learn more about the man behind the artist, the creative genius behind the work. As we follow him in his day-to-day activities, we see him working in his studio, relaxing with his friends, attending an exhibition of his paintings, and hunting and fishing in the heart of the Quebec wilderness--a source of deep and continuing inspiration for him.
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Finding MacphersonSerge Giguère 2014 1 h 17 minThis feature doc tells the story of the improbable friendship between acclaimed Quebec singer Félix Leclerc and the intriguing Frank Randolph Macpherson. A chemical engineer from Jamaica, Macpherson immigrated to Quebec in 1917 and was the inspiration for the popular song that Leclerc named after him. But this is also a story about memory: it was animator Martine Chartrand’s memory of this song that compelled her to create the striking animated short MacPherson, made by filming paintings on glass using 35mm film. A sympathetic look at an artist at work, Finding Macpherson takes audiences on a personal journey, exploring the imperceptible yet powerful connections that bind us to each other.
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Norman McLaren: Animated MusicianDonald McWilliams 2014 26 minNot only did Norman McLaren create his own film imagery, he also made his own music by drawing, etching and photographing patterns directly onto the sound track area of the film, becoming a pioneer of electronic music long before the invention of the synthesizer. Norman McLaren: Animated Musician celebrates this exploration and presents much never-before-seen work by this master of cinema.
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Shameless PropagandaRobert Lower 2014 1 h 11 minThis feature documentary examines its own genre, which has often been called Canada's national art form. Released in the year of the NFB's 75th birthday, Shameless Propaganda is filmmaker Robert Lower's take on the boldest and most compelling propaganda effort in our history (1939-1945), in which founding NFB Commissioner John Grierson saw the documentary as a "hammer to shape society". All 500 of the films produced by the NFB until 1945 are distilled here for the essence of their message to Canadians. Using only these films and still photos from that era, Lower recreates the picture of Canada they gave us and looks in it for the Canada we know today. What he finds is by turns enlightening, entertaining, and unexpectedly disturbing.
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Subconscious PasswordChris Landreth 2013 10 minIn this short animation, Oscar®-winning director Chris Landreth uses a common social gaffe—forgetting somebody’s name—as the starting point for a mind-bending romp through the unconscious. Inspired by the classic TV game show Password, the film features a wealth of animated celebrity guests who try to prompt our beleaguered protagonist to remember his old pal's name. Finally, he realizes he must surrender to his predicament and jump head-first into his subconscious to find the answer.
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ORAPhilippe Baylaucq 2011 15 minORA is a stunning meeting between the artistic worlds of choreographer José Navas and filmmaker Philippe Baylaucq. It is the first film to use 3D thermal imaging, producing visuals like none that have ever been seen before: the luminous variations of body heat seen on skin, bodies emitting a multitude of colours, a space filled with movement that transforms itself.
Warning: Although this film was shot in 3D, the streaming and downloadable versions are available in 2D only. -
A Museum in the CityLuc Bourdon 2011 52 minIn A Museum in the City, filmmaker Luc Bourdon invites us on a tour of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). A backstage discovery of the institution and its 150-year history, the documentary reveals the remarkable dedication of its staff and explores the contemporary penchant for music in the world of art exhibitions.
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AssemblyJenn Strom 2012 4 minThis experimental short animation is inspired by the NFB's Studio D (1975-1994), a production department aimed at creating filmmaking opportunities for women in Canada. Featuring a rhythmic soundscape and paint-on-glass animation, Assembly shows a woman’s hands cutting and editing a reel of film on a flatbed editing table as fragments of women walking in chains, protesting with placards, and speaking at podiums are inter-cut. We hear bursts of words and the percussive whir and click of the Steenbeck—until a “message” is finally revealed. The film is dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Shannon, a prominent editor and one-time Executive Producer of Studio D.
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RiP! A Remix ManifestoBrett Gaylor 2008 1 h 26 minJoin filmmaker Brett Gaylor and mashup artist Girl Talk as they explore copyright and content creation in the digital age. In the process they dissect the media landscape of the 21st century and shatter the wall between users and producers. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow also come along for the ride.
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Night MayorGuy Maddin 2009 13 minThis short Guy Maddin film tells the story of inventor Nihad Ademi, who harnesses the power of the aurora borealis in Winnipeg in 1939. Ademi uses this power to broadcast images of Canada to its own citizens from coast to coast, but in the process angers he the government.
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Bone Wind FireJill Sharpe 2011 30 minThis Emmy-nominated feature film is an intimate and evocative journey into the hearts, minds and eyes of Georgia O’Keeffe, Emily Carr and Frida Kahlo - 3 of the 20th century’s most remarkable artists. The film uses the women’s own words, taken from their letters and diaries, to reveal 3 individual creative processes in all their subtle and fascinating variety.
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Reel InjunNeil Diamond , Catherine Bainbridge , … 2009 1 h 28 minIn this feature-length documentary, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining and insightful look at the portrayal of North American Indigenous people throughout a century of cinema. Featuring hundreds of clips from old classics as well as recent releases, the film traces the evolution of the “Hollywood Indian.” Diamond guides the audience on a journey across America to some of cinema’s most iconic landscapes and conducts candid interviews with celebrities like Clint Eastwood, Robbie Robertson and Jim Jarmusch. The film is a loving look at cinema through the eyes of the people who appeared in its very first flickering images and have survived to tell their stories in their own way.
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Nollywood BabylonBen Addelman et Samir Mallal 2008 1 h 13 minA feature documentary on Nigeria’s successful movie industry. The creative duo of Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal – the same team who made Discordia – profile the Lagos-based dream machine. Operating on low budgets and tight schedules, “Nollywood” specializes in a unique form of African B-movie that draws upon both traditional voodoo stories and contemporary urban themes.
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Examined LifeAstra Taylor 2008 1 h 28 min
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” —Socrates
Examined Life pulls philosophy out of academia and classrooms and puts it back on the streets.
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.
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Capturing Reality: The Art of DocumentaryPepita Ferrari 2008 1 h 37 minIn this feature-length film on the art of the documentary, director Pepita Ferrari interviews 33 leading documentarians and shows clips from over 50 films. From cinéma-vérité pioneers like Albert Maysles and Michel Brault to mavericks like Errol Morris and Nick Broomfield, it explores the challenges of capturing reality on film. Directors as diverse as Pakistani feminist Sabiha Sumar and new media guru Peter Wintonick reflect on ethical issues and the contested status of the “truth.”
Featured interviews include German iconoclast Werner Herzog; Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán; British director Kim Longinotto and Alanis Obomsawin, the First Lady of First Nations cinema.
