193 movies
Nanook of the North
June 11, 1922This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it vividly shows how its resourceful subjects survive in such a harsh climate, revealing how they construct their igloo homes and find food by hunting and fishing. The film also captures the beautiful, if unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Great White North, far removed from conventional civilization.
Wintertime
September 17, 1943Nora and her uncle get railroaded into spending the night at a broken-down hotel in Canada. After Nora falls for the handsome owner, she convinces her uncle to invest in the inn and modernize it. After the hotel opens, Nora's uncle faces financial ruin and her romance hit a snag in the form of pretty reporter.
Quebec in Summertime
April 9, 1949This Traveltalk series short takes the viewer to Quebec, the city that was called the "New France".
Quebec
March 15, 1951Story of a revolt against England in 1830s Canada.
Little Aurore's Tragedy
December 5, 1952A little girl wittness the death of her mother- expressly killed through negligence by the woman supposedly nursing the invalid mother back to health. The coniving nurse in turn marries the child's father thereby taking the dead woman's place and becoming the little girl's stepmother. After unwisely revealing to the stepmother that she knows the reason for her mother's death; Arore is abused by her stepmother who hopes that in torturing the child she can keep her silent. The father, who is absent during the day farming the land, closes his eyes or refuses to believe his new wife is abusive when confronted by the sight of his miserable burnt and beaten child.
I Confess
February 28, 1953Unable, due to the seal of the confessional, to be forthcoming with information that would serve to clear himself during a murder investigation, a priest becomes the prime suspect.
Canadian Carnival
November 25, 1955Carnival time in Quebec, Canada, is also time for racing with sled-dogs, horse-drawn sleighs, hockey, curling the carving of ice-statues, obstacle races by youngsters, fireworks, and also the selection of a Carnival Queen.
Washed Hands
January 1, 1958An efficiency expert is called in to downsize a trucking company and the employees fight to establish a union to save their jobs.
A Day in June
January 1, 1958This short documentary profiles Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal in 1959. The annual parade takes place every June 24th in memory of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the patron saint of Québec. Candid shots of youngsters preparing their costumes for the festivities are partnered with a lively jazz soundtrack. All the Montrealers and out-of-town tourists featured in this film avidly participate in a public festivity that is dear to their hearts.
The Snowshoers
January 1, 1958This short documentary records the celebration and ritual surrounding a snowshoe competition in Sherbrooke in the late 1950s. The film marked the beginning of a new approach to reality in documentary and prefigures the trademark style of the NFB's newly formed French Unit. Today, Les raquetteurs is considered a precursor to the birth of direct cinema.
Morning on the Lièvre
June 1, 1961This short film offers a picturesque tour through the maple-wooded hills alongside Québec's Lièvre River in autumn to the accompaniment of acclaimed poet Archibald Lampman’s poem Morning on the Lièvre. Trees are ablaze with colour, and their splendor is reflected in the mirrored surfaces of the water, offering a glimpse of the landscape Lampman knew so well through the poet’s eyes and words. Lampman’s poem is read by broadcaster and poet George Whalley, with accompanying score by composer Eldon Rathburn.
September Five at Saint-Henri
January 1, 1962This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father's enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying - the unposed quality of daily life.
Visit to a Foreign Country
March 31, 1962They come in high-powered convertibles, with cameras and curiosity, to look at French Canada and French-Canadians. Their usual objective is Québec City, where they can soak up a bit of French culture without a trip to France. With an eye for humour, VISIT TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY shows the people of Québec taking a look at American tourists who have come to Québec to take a look at them.
For the Ones to Come
August 4, 1963At the instigation of the filmmakers, the young men of the Ile-aux-Coudres in the middle of the St-Lawrence River try as a memorial to their ancestors to revive the fishing of the belugas interrupted in 1924.
Percé on the Rocks
January 1, 1964This quirky little short by Gilles Carle was filmed on the pierced rock that stands near Quebec’s Gaspé peninsula. It is perhaps the most photographed natural phenomenon on Canada’s East Coast. Shot in the 1960s, the film has a very psychedelic feel to it, with animation, special effects, and a trio of women to guide us through.
The Merry World of Leopold Z
November 19, 1965A worker, called in a hurry to remove the snow in the city street, try to buy his remaining gifts in the tumult of Christmas eve without quitting his work.
Beluga Days
January 1, 1968From the lower St. Lawrence, a picture of whale hunting that looks more like a round-up, with a corral, whale-boys and all. In 1534, when he stopped at the island he named l'Île-aux-Coudres, Jacques Cartier saw how the Indians captured the little white beluga whales by setting a fence of saplings into off-shore mud. In the film, the islanders show that the old method still works, thanks to the trusting 'sea-pigs,' the same old tide, and a little magic.
Un pays sans bon sens!
November 26, 1970Essay-film on a crucial issue: the notion of belonging to a country. Lingered sentimentalism or deep psychological reality if one believes it is rooted in the heart of man? The action here takes place in the context of a nation that seeks: the French Canadians, and other people without a country: the Indians of Quebec, the Bretons of France. And here is the fundamental question posed: what are the "viable" peoples whose "maturity" allows them to "give" the autonomy and territory? And what is the environment that people can call "their country"?
Christmas at Moose Factory
January 1, 1971This short animation by acclaimed First Nations filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin creates a charming study of life at Christmas time in Moose Factory, an old settlement mainly composed of Cree families on the shore of James Bay. Composed entirely of children's crayon drawings and narrated by children, the film illustrates incidents big and small with childish candor, conveying to the viewer a strong sense of being there.
Master Cats
June 9, 1971An example of 1970's Maple Syrup cinema from Quebec, this whimsical and sexy tale revolves around two trickster roommates and the women in their lives who want to see them settle down.