NFB - About the NFB

History

1939

Production
The establishment of the NFB coincided with World War II. Since Film Commissioner John Grierson was a specialist in the psychology of propaganda, the NFB concentrated on the production of patriotic films in the early years. This gave rise to a number of documentary film series focusing on current events, notably Canada Carries On and Actualités canadiennes (which became Les reportages in March 1943), all serving the war effort in one way or another.

1940

Distribution
While production was diversifying, distribution was undergoing considerable change as well. In 1940, the NFB signed a commercial distribution agreement with Columbia Pictures for English-language films and with France-Film for the French-language versions.

1941

Awards

CHURCHILL'S ISLAND, Stuart Legg
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Organization
In June 1941, the Government of Canada merged the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau with the NFB. The NFB garnered its first laurels with Churchill's Island, the first Canadian film to win an Oscar®.
While continuing as Film Commissioner, John Grierson became director of the Wartime Information Board (WIB). WIB funds were used primarily for the production and distribution of NFB films.

Production
Scotsman Norman McLaren was hired in 1941 to organize an animation division. In 1941, Vincent Paquette , the NFB hired its first French-Canadian filmmaker. He assumed responsibility for the series Actualités canadiennes and was the first Francophone to make a film in French, La Cité de Notre-Dame which marked the 300th anniversary of Montréal.

1942

Distribution
The NFB organized travelling film circuits for rural areas, factories and unions. The NFB collaborated with university extension services beginning in 1942, and opened offices in London, Chicago and New York in 1943. NFB films were also available in over 25 diplomatic posts.

1943

Distribution
In 1943, the NFB introduced the Volunteer Projection Service as a counterpart to its travelling film circuits, to serve urban community groups not covered by the industrial or trade-union circuits.

1944

Organization
In 1944, Paul Thériault was hired as secretary of the NFB. For the next six years, he helped formulate policies for film production and distribution, and worked to have the NFB present the French-Canadian viewpoint in its films.

Production
In 1944, McLaren and his team began Let's All Sing Together, which served to diversify production. The Filmstrips Department was also established in 1944. From 1947 to 1955, the NFB produced the newsreel compilation series Eye Witness for movie theatres.

1945

Organization
Grierson resigned in November 1945. Ross McLean replaced him as Acting Commissioner.

Distribution
In 1945, the new voluntary film councils started to replace the travelling film circuits in distributing NFB films.

1946

Distribution
By 1946, there were 150 councils, and by 1955, 496. Over 600 libraries in Canada distributed NFB films to individuals and organizations.

1947

As early as 1947, the NFB asserts itself as an inventor by constructing the world's first RGB Red/Green/Blue additive light film-printing machine. One also notes the invention of an optical film sound recording noise monitor.

Organization
Ross McLean was named Commissioner in January 1947 amid growing disenchantment in the government with the way the NFB exercised its autonomy.
Production
A sign of the times, in 1947 filmmakers started to fight for screen credits, something Grierson had always discouraged. This fight represented a desire on the part of filmmakers to move away from the concept of "public service" to that of creative and artistic self-expression.

1948

Production
In 1948, production was reorganized and four studios were created, each the responsibility of an executive producer who divided the work among directors. Each studio had its own area of expertise: Studio A: agricultural, French-language, foreign-language and interpretative films; Studio B: sponsored, scientific, cultural and animated films; Studio C: theatrical, newsreel, tourist and travel films; Studio D: international affairs and special projects

1949

In 1949, the NFB launches the first Canadian optical effects printer. The same year, the NFB invents the continuous filmstrip printer, using additive light source.

Organization
In July 1949, the NFB submitted a brief to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (Massey Commission). It argued for more responsibility in the development of television programs, an increased operating budget, and Crown corporation status. It also asked for a larger staff and better working conditions. The Minister responsible for the NFB, Robert H. Winters, did not endorse the brief because it conflicted with his policy on the NFB's role in television.
Following allegations made by both the press and the Opposition in Parliament concerning Communist affiliations of certain NFB employees, the Commissioner asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to conduct security screenings of NFB personnel. The Government decided not to renew Commissioner Ross McLean's contract,which ended in January 1950.

Distribution
A French-language film distribution service was established in Ontario in 1949. In Newfoundland, which had just entered Confederation, the NFB set up the same distribution services provided in other provinces.

1950

In 1950, Gerald Graham becomes director of Technical Operations and later head of Technical Services.
That same year, the NFB introduces the use of magnetic audiotape for all recordings of original sound. Previously, sound was optically recorded.
The NFB already shows interest in cine-micro-photography. In order to preserve the life of the filmed specimens, it utilizes a Selsyn-driven 24-frame-per-second synchronized light beam shutters.

Organization
In February 1950, W. Arthur Irvin, editor of Maclean's magazine, replaced Commissionner Ross McLean.

In October 1950, Parliament passed a new National Film Act, setting forth the mandateof the NFB. The NFB was now the responsibility of a single minister; its Board comprised of five representatives of the main geographical regions of Canada and three members of the government.

1951

Technological Innovations

In 1951, researchers develop a dual 35 mm 3-D camera, inter-ocular offset printing and projection system. Using this device, Norman McLaren makes the three-dimensional films Around Is Around and Now Is the Time for the Festival of Britain.
The same year, the NFB produces the first known system for synthetic composition/recording as well as a multiple film camera control system, one of the first applications of television techniques for film.
Finally, for the first time in the world, the NFB uses the new 35 mm Eastmancolor negative film for the theatrical production Royal Journey.
To facilitate the versioning of films, in 1952, NFB technical services develop a system to accommodate two different optical sound tracks on prints, with a projector switch for version selection and modified reader modules for projectors.

Awards
Honourable Mention for Selection of Films
4th International Film Festival
Brescia, Italy

Cup for Best Group Entry
Institute of National Light
Sestrieres Ski Club Festival
Sestrieres, Italy

Production
The 1950s were characterized by a number of technological innovationsand an increase in the number of studios.

1951 saw the addition of Studio E (sponsored films) and Studio F (French-language films.) The development of a dual 35-mm 3-D camera, inter-ocular offset printing and projection system that year enabled Norman McLaren to make the three-dimensional films Around Is Around and Now Is the Time for the Festival of Britain.

At the height of the Cold War, in 1951, the government granted $250,000 to the NFB to produce films in support of democracy in the Freedom Speaks program. Neighbours was made with this money. That year, for the first time in the world, the NFB used the new 35-mm Eastman Colour negative film for Royal Journey. More than two million people saw the film during a three-month period. Up to that point, most colour films had been shot in 16 mm, whereas black-and-white films were shot in 35 mm.

1952

Awards

1,000 Bolivars for Best Creative Films, Festival of Experimental and Art Films, Caracas, Venezuela

City of Salerno Prize, Best Selection of Colour Subjects, 6th Annual Documentary Film Festival, Salerno, Italy

Production
A number of films produced throughout this decade would win prestigious awards in Venice, England, and the Cannes Film Festival, where NFB films garnered Palmes d'Or and first prizes in various categories.

Distribution
Television would also play a pivotal role in the realm of distribution. A great deal of importance would be placed on versioning in the 1950s.

To facilitate the versioning of films, in 1952 NFB technical services developed a system to accommodate two different optical sound tracks on prints, with a projector switch for version selection and modified reader modules for projectors.

1953

At the beginning of the 1950s, magnetic audiotape was introduced for all original sound recordings. Sound had been optically recorded prior to that time. In the field of animation, the introduction of the Datatablet animation stand input device in 1953 enabled the plotting of animation movements in seconds, thereby avoiding tedious hours of calculation.

In 1953, the introduction of the Datatablet animation stand input device enables the plotting of animation movements in seconds, thereby avoiding tedious hours of calculation.

Awards

NEIGHBOURS
Norman Mclaren
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

ROMANCE OF TRANSPORTATION / SPORTS ET TRANSPORTS
Colin Low
Animation award (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

Organization
Commissioner J. Arthur Irwin resigned in May 1953, and was replaced in July by Albert W. Trueman, President of the University of New Brunswick, who was serving on the Board of Governors. The NFB, which had come under a number of federal departments since its inception, was now the responsibility of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

The Quebec government under Duplessis, which had banned a number of NFB films since 1948, prohibited the use of NFB films in Quebec schools because it wanted to keep federal presence to a minimum and was convinced that NFB employees had communist affiliations. Quebec also wanted to impose censorship fees, but backed down when Ottawa intervened.

Production
he advent of television frightened many filmmakers. Although the National Film Act seemed to give the NFB exclusive rights to make all newsreels and films for government departments and the CBC, filmmakers feared they would be forced to make newsreels for television rather than be allowed to work on their own projects.

The first television series appeared in 1953, namely On the Spot (Sur le vif). This series was followed in 1954 by Window on Canada (Regards sur le Canada). During television's inaugural year in Canada, the NFB produced 66 hours of 16 mm film for the new medium.

Distribution
After 1953, the NFB's theatrical distribution declined steadily as a result of competition with television, the new wide-screen format, and renewed popularity of the double-feature program.

1955

In 1955, Chester Beachell develops a lightweight, quarter-inch portable Sprocketape^TM, the sound recorder for location shooting used on television series.

Awards
elect Group, Scholastic Teacher Magazine Annual Film Awards, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

Organization
At the end of 1955, over 400 NFB employees and their families moved to Montréal. Inauguration ceremonies were held at the new headquarters, which boasted an area of over 20,400 square metres, including laboratories and the largest shooting stage in North America outside California.

Production
By 1955, TV had drastically altered the balance of productions. Approximately half of the NFB's films were made for television, one-quarter were sponsored by various government departments, and the other quarter consisted of NFB-initiated general programming.

Distribution
Broadcasting of the half-hour TV series Perspective began in 1955. The French-language equivalent, Passe-partout, appeared in 1956.

1956

Awards
ilver Cup for High Quality of Selection, 3rd Conference of the International Union
for Sanitary Education, Rome, Italy

Plaque for Selection, International Exhibition of Electronics, Nuclear Energy, Wireless, Television and Cinema, Rome, Italy

Organization
In 1956, the NFB established a second French-language unit called Studio G under Jacques Bobet, to assume control of all French-language versions.

1957

In 1957, the NFB team invents the 16 mm Sprocketape^TM magnetic sound dubber.

Awards
old Robot for High Quality of Selection, 3rd International Review of Specialized Cinematography, Rome, Italy

CITY OF GOLD / CAPITALE DE L'OR
Colin Low, Wolf Koenig
Documentary award (short film) (for its original animation of exceptional photographs)
Cannes Film Festival, France

Organization
In March 1957, Commissioner Trueman chose a triumvirate management team: Donald Mulholland, Director of Planning and Research; Grant McLean, Director of Production; and Pierre Juneau, Executive Director. Minister J.W. Pickersgill rejected Trueman's attempt to establish a separately funded French Production wing, as Ottawa feared that two separate organizations would develop under the same roof.

In learning of the appointment of a triumvirate instead of a Francophone Deputy Commissioner, the French-language press voiced its criticism. The Francophone staff's main grievance was that they felt they were being kept in an inferior position; they wanted true French-language production in a separately funded French section.

Guy Roberge, a former Liberal Member of the Quebec National Assembly, a member of the Massey Commission and a member of the NFB Board of Governors, was appointed Commissioner in April 1957.

Distribution
In 1957, foreign markets began to capture the NFB's attention. That year, a record 55 films were translated into foreign languages such as Urdu, Sinhalese, Spanish and German to develop access to these markets.

The distribution branch expanded to South Asia, opening an office in New Delhi. It closed in 1975.

1958

Production
Studio B, headed by Tom Daly, reached the peak of its achievements in 1958 with the Candid Eye series, using the new "direct cinema" style.

With the approval of the Department of External Affairs, the NFB undertook the ambitious production of a series of 13 films called The Commonwealth of Nations in 1958. Since South Africa objected to the film on apartheid, Black and White in South Africa, External Affairs prevented its distribution abroad.

The Panoramique series, the first of which was The Promised Land (Les Brûlés), marked the beginning of fiction features at the NFB. The series Canada Carries On celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. It was shown monthly in some 600 theatres.

1959

Awards
up for best selection of films presented by any one producer, Merano Film Festival
Merano, Italy

Organization
In 1959, the Minister responsible for the NFB, Ellen Fairclough, affirmed the NFB's arm's-length status when she told Parliament that the Minister neither supervised the agency nor interfered in the actual production process.

Distribution
In 1959, the telecast of Temps présent began on Radio-Canada. This series would become the main outlet for French-language films.

1960

In 1960, the Technical Research Division develops the automated animation camera stand.

Awards
a href="../../trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?lg=fr&id=10842">UNIVERSE
Roman Kroitor, Colin Low
Award for perfection in presenting and illustrating a major scientific theme,
Cannes Film Festival (short film), France

Production
In preparation for the 1967 Centennial celebrating the birth of Canadian Confederation, the series The History Makers was undertaken by both French and English-language filmmakers.

Several co-production agreements were signed over the course of the 1960s, beginning with France in 1963, then Sweden in 1968. La Fleur de l'âge, a co-production with France, Italy and Japan, was the first NFB serial.

Distribution
In 1960, after a feasibility study, the NFB saw future possibilities for distribution of 8-mm film "loops" on cassettes, each on a different subject, especially for schools.

1961

In 1961, Norman McLaren's continuing interest in drawing directly onto blank film leads to the construction of a more sophisticated hand-drawing machine with a built-in back-projection system.
The NFB also develops an automatic pan and tilt camera mount, with 80-degree tilt, and 360-degree pan range.

Awards
irst Prize
TV Spots and Shorts Category, National Committee on Films for Safety, National Council for Safety, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Coq d'or
1st Prize Cartoon Category, Le Club de Publicité de Montréal
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Organization
In 1961, Quebec's Department of Education lifted its 1954 ban on NFB films.
The NFB opened offices in Buenos Aires.

1962

Awards
laque for NFB series of folders created to promote the Vancouver Public Library's Film in Adult Education Program
Awarded by the Direct Mail Advertising Association, 5th Annual Convention,
Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.

Gold Oak Leaf
Top Award of the Festival given to Canada for the best selection of films presented by a participating country
Festival of Films for Children
La Plata, Argentina

Special Prize for best representation of people and countries
International Film Festival
Rapallo, Italy

Certificate of Merit for the promotion material regarding RCMP Traffic Control films and Circle of the Sun
Arts Director Club
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Organization
In 1962, Montréal was chosen as the site of the 1967 World's Fair. Commissioner Guy Roberge was a member of the organizing committee.

The NFB opened offices in Paris.

1963

In 1963, the NFB introduces a small, portable multi-camera electronic slate, called the Time Index System.
It also develops self-contained cinema vans for outdoor and indoor screenings in remote locations.

Organization
In 1963, the NFB came under the responsibility of the Secretary of State.

The NFB celebrated its 25th anniversary with much ceremony, and gala showings of Canadian films were held in 60 Canadian cities. During the celebrations, the Government of Canada approved in principle the establishment of a funding bank intended to promote and encourage the development of the feature-film industry in Canada.

In response to independent film producer Gordon Sheppard's report commissioned by the federal government on its cultural policy and activities, the NFB took its first steps towards regionalization of English production. Producers were appointed in Vancouver, Toronto and later in the Prairie provinces and the Maritimes. The report also recommended that the NFB contract out more of its production to the private sector.

Production
In 1963, the first feature-length films were made at the NFB: the fictional drama Drylanders and the documentary The Moontrap (Pour la suite du monde), which drew a television audience of half a million viewers on Radio-Canada.

Distribution
In 1963, the NFB developed self-contained cinema vans for indoor and outdoor screenings in remote locations. At the instigation of the NFB, Canada donated 17 of these vans to seven African nations in the following year. Eighteen others were shipped to five more African countries in 1966.

1964

In 1964, the NFB introduces a lightweight 16 mm film camera, completely battery-operated and crystal-controlled, for shooting the feature Nobody Waved Good-bye.

Awards
laque "Institute nacional de cinematografia" awarded to Canada for the best selection of films presented and for the quantity and quality of its films
Fourth International Children's Film Festival
Necochea, Argentina

Production
In 1964, the NFB restructured production along linguistic lines. Pierre Juneau was appointed Director of French Production, and Grant McLean Director of English Production. English-language filmmakers asked McLean to end the rigid system under which executive producers carried all the authority and filmmakers could not work outside their units. McLean agreed and introduced the "pool" system, which turned most powers of the executive producers over to the directors.

Also in 1964, the NFB undertook an impressive 23-film French-language series entitled ARDA, dealing with the development of rural areas and agriculture in eastern Quebec.

1965

In 1965, the NFB develops a multi-image screen system for Expo '67, including five-camera remote control and five-screen editing and projection systems for five simultaneous films. It can be seen as the forerunner of the IMAX system.
The same year it introduces a cue-triggered overhead projector and film transport, forerunner of the Rythmoband, a system used by actors in sound re-recording. The text to be spoken is written in ink on blank 16 mm film.

Awards
laque awarded by the City of Cardiff
Citation: "Presented by the Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff to the National Film Board of Canada for its leadership and development of Commonwealth films.
Commonwealth Film Festival
Cardiff, Wales, U.K.

To the Promotion Division
Jubilee Maple Leaf Emblem
Art Directors' Show of Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Production
In 1965, Ottawa launched its program to fight poverty, which included a film component. The Privy Council and the NFB shared the cost of the first film on the subject, The Things I Cannot Change, produced in 1966. Its success led to the Challenge for Change program. In 1968, English Production started a training program for Native filmmakers, in conjunction with the Department of Indian Affairs. In 1969, the Challenge for Change program became autonomous by ministerial order and thereafter included a French component, Société nouvelle.

Distribution
From 1965 on, instructional films, which still constituted a significant industry segment, were made available in 8-mm "loop" format. Usually three minutes in duration, they would soon be made into series.

Also in 1965, the NFB closed the film depots it had established in several Canadian centres in order to begin distributing its own films in 21 cities across the country. This marked the beginning of the decline of the film councils.

The relationship between the NFB and schools was strengthened. To encourage more teachers to use audiovisual materials in the classroom, the NFB organized the Aid to Education Program in collaboration with the Audio-Visual Program Committee of the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada in 1966. The NFB also added transparent slides (a base slide with others superimposed), for use with overhead projectors, to its numerous multimedia products for the educational sector. Furthermore, in 1967, the NFB made 111 reels of 8-mm "loop" instructional films.

1966

In 1966, we witness the development of a lightweight synchronous stereo-sound recorder.

Organization
In 1966, the NFB began to defend its annual budget before the Parliamentary Committee on Broadcasting, Film and Assistance to the Arts.

Production
In 1966, the French Animation Studio was created, with René Jodoin as its first director.

1967

Awards
est National Selection of Sports Films
Grand Prix du Prince Rainier de Monaco
International CIDALC Week of Sports Films
Grenoble, France

Special Prize to Canada for the Best Selection of Films
Festival of Films for Children
La Plata, Argentina

Special Citation to the NFB of Canada for pioneering and excellence in the production of labour films over the last decade
5th International Labour Film Festival
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Organization
In May 1967, Hugo McPherson, a professor at the University of Western Ontario and a supporter of the theories of Marshall McLuhan, was appointed Commissioner.

An unfortunate event that marked this decade was the 1967 fire in Kirkland, Québec, which destroyed the NFB film storage depot. Over 60,000 cans of film material were lost.

Following the Centennial celebration spending spree in 1967, Lester B. Pearson's federal government announced austerity measures. The cuts were expected to curtail production of sponsored films, which represented about 25 percent of Film Board productions. In 1969, however, the NFB opened the Ottawa Services Branch to encourage production of film work sponsored by government departments.

Production
The first feature-length co-productions with the CBC were produced in 1967: The Ernie Game, followed by Waiting for Caroline. The NFB undertook more and more features for television or theatrical release.

Distribution
Another important aspect of NFB activity was the distribution of NFB tourist films in the United States and Europe. This activity reached an all-time high in 1967.

1968

1968 brings the design and construction of the first computer-controlled animation stand, a breakthrough for the industry since it eliminates 65% of the manual operations.

Awards
Special Award to Gerald Graham and the Technical Services Branch of the National Film Board, for "Labyrinth"
Award for Technical Development and Innovation
Canadian Film Awards
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Special Award to Canada
Statuette "for its contribution to the Festival"
25th International Festival of Sports Films
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Special Award to the National Film Board of Canada
Gold Plaque for
Best Selection of Films in competition
International Festival of Films for Children
La Plata, Argentina

Organization
The NFB opened offices in Tokyo.

Production
In 1968, French Production filmmakers established a program committee, which NFB directors agreed to in principle. Jacques Bobet was elected by his peers as its first director and reported directly to the Commissioner. The French and English production directors were ex officio members of their respective program committees.
A number of animation films produced throughout this decade won prestigious prizes; in addition, documentaries were particularly well received in Europe, and feature films also did very well.

1969

Organization
In 1969, three task forces on the future of the NFB submitted their proposals. They recommended the merger of production and distribution functions, the creation of an automated film-booking system and the production of prestige films.

In August 1969, Prime Minister Trudeau announced his austerity policy. An across-the-board 10 percent cut was expected at the NFB, and employees took action. A crisis committee was formed under union president John Howe, and its proposals would lead to the reinstatement of the studio system and the expansion of regional production.

In 1969, the new NFB logo, "Man Seeing / L'homme qui voit", was adopted. Designed by Georges Beaupré, it symbolized a vision of humanity.

Distribution
To cope with the austerity policy announced by Prime Minister Trudeau in August 1969, the NFB decided towards the end of the year to charge rental fees for its films. The public reacted so negatively that the fees were abolished just nine weeks after their introduction.

1970

In 1970, the NFB develops wide-range hydrophones (20 Hz to 150 kHz) for underwater sound recording.
It also perfects the Wobble Lens, enabling the automatic exposure of drop-shadows in titles.

Organization
The beginning of the 1970s was characterized by opposition to the austerity measures announced by the Trudeau government, culminating in the resignation of Commissioner Hugo McPherson.
In August, Sydney Newman was appointed Film Commissioner.
In response to the October Crisis, Commissioner Newman banned several controversial films: Cap d'espoir, Cotton Mill, Treadmill (On est au coton) and 24 heures ou plus.

The ban would be lifted in 1976.

Production
In honour of Manitoba's Centennial, the NFB produced a multimedia show in 1970, entitled Of Many Peoples, based on a story by Gabrielle Roy.

Distribution
The video explosion would be the most significant characteristic of the 1970s. Robert Forget initiated Vidéographe, a video production and screening facility combined with a video consultation library open to the public in downtown Montreal.

The first small projection facility for the public was opened in 1970 at NFB offices in downtown Montreal.

1971

Production
In 1971, following the introduction of the federal government's multiculturalism policy, the NFB began producing 60 films to promote the learning of the official languages. The three main series in this endeavour were Toulmonde parle français, Filmglish and Adieu Alouette.

In 1971, the composer Maurice Blackburn created L'Atelier de conception sonore to produce soundtracks with the help of acoustic instruments.

After an initial experience in training a native Indian film crew, English Production formally undertook the training of native filmmakers with the assistance of the Department of Indian Affairs.

The NFB produced its first computer-animated NFB film, entitled Metadata. Mon oncle Antoine won a number of prestigious prizes and garnered eight Canadian Film Awards. It would be proclaimed the Best Canadian Film of All Time at the Toronto Festival of Festivals in 1984. It would be voted number one among the ten best Québecois films by film critics and professionals in a 1992-1993 survey conducted by Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québecois.

Distribution
In 1971, the first self-serve 16-mm film library was opened to the public in Calgary.

1972

Sound engineers once again focus their attention on underwater filming. In 1972, they develop an underwater intercom system for stations under Arctic ice, which they use while shooting Sub-Igloo.
One notes also the development of an underwater area lighting system that serves the same purpose.
In the same year the NFB introduces the Chronocode time index system to synchronize 16 mm and 35 mm film dailies with sound, the first-ever use of machine-readable coding on film.

Awards
ilver Boomerang for Best National Entry
21st Film Festival
Melbourne, Australia

ZIKKARON
Laurent Coderre
Award from the Commission technique (short film),
Cannes Film Festival, France

Organization
Founder and first Film Commissioner John Grierson died in England on February 19, 1972 at the age of 73.

Production
In 1972, a new series, En tant que femmes, produced by Anne Claire Poirier, was begun as part of the Société nouvelle program. In English production, Kathleen Shannon began the short film series Working Mothers, as part of the Challenge for Change Program
In the Labyrinth, presented at Expo 67, was adapted for IMAX® format and screened at the Cinesphere pavilion at Ontario Place in Toronto.

Also in 1972, the Vancouver office under Peter Jones became the Vancouver Production Centre, resumed its activities and launched the Pacificanada series for the CBC.

Distribution
In 1972, the NFB adopted a 50 percent discount policy for public libraries buying 16-mm films to make them available to the public. Within two years, 57 new film collections within libraries would be created.

1973

In 1973, researchers again devote their time and effort to underwater filming equipment. They create an underwater stereo sound recording system, carried completely by the diver, and develop an underwater television system, allowing the diver a range of 175 metres from the point of entry.

Awards
strong>BALABLOK
Bretislav Pojar
Palme d'Or (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

Organization
The John Grierson Building at NFB headquarters in Montreal was inaugurated by the Minister responsible for the NFB, Secretary of State Hugh Faulkner.

Commissioner Sydney Newman travelled to China to sign a Canada-China accord, which would allow filmmakers to shoot films in both countries.

Production
1973 saw the beginning of the regionalization program in Quebec, known as Aide au cinéma artisanal et à la formation. This activity helped independent filmmakers by providing them with different production-related services. Jean Roywas put in charge of the program.

The Halifax Production Centre opened under the direction of Rex Tasker. The series Atlanticanada was one of its first projects.

Distribution
The NFB achieved unprecedented commercial success in 1973, when Cry of the Wild opened in 500 American theatres. Its gross box-office earnings were $4.5 million.

The Ciné-Participation network was established in 49 Quebec locations to make films a more integral part of the community.

The NFB reached agreements with the departments of education in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, authorizing them to reproduce NFB films on video. The price varied according to the population served.

1974

In 1974, they add an underwater Fernseh colour television camera housing developed for the CBC.

Awards
strong>HUNGER / LA FAIM
Peter Foldes
Special Jury Award (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

Production
Studio D, a unit focused on the production of films by and for women, was created in 1974 under the direction of Kathleen Shannon.

French Production opened its first regional production centres outside Quebec, in Moncton and Winnipeg.

English Production created the Environment Studio under the supervision of Roman Bittman.

English Production opened regional production centres in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Distribution
1974 saw the distribution of The Light Fantastick, a film presenting the history of animation at the NFB.

1975

For the upcoming Olympics, the NFB adopts, in 1975, a Chronocode system to synchronize several cameras and sound recorders.

Awards
Certificate of Merit in grateful recognition of outstanding services performed by Canada
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Organization
Assistant Commissioner André Lamy was appointed Film Commissioner in 1975.

Production
In 1975, the Ontario Regional French Production Centre opened in Toronto.

English Production launched its Drama Development Program, for the production of fiction films, under James de B. Domville.

Distribution
In 1975, the NFB opened a distribution centre in Sydney, Australia. It would close in 1983.

The NFB began the transfer of films onto 3/4-inch videocassette format for distribution. Several video centres were also opened.

In collaboration with the Department of Health and Welfare, the NFB opened a library of captioned and subtitled films for the hearing-impaired.

The NFB introduced a computerized film-booking service as a pilot project in the Atlantic region.

1976

Organization
In 1976, the NFB developed its first five-year plan.
Secretary of State John Roberts, appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Broadcasting, Films and Assistance to the Arts, announced that Canada would contract out more than 50 percent of its sponsored films to the private sector. This would naturally affect the NFB, which created a review committee for sponsored films.

The NFB participated as audiovisual consultant in the National Museums of Canada's Discovery Train exhibition.

Production
In 1976, the NFB established a program to assist in the production of educational films in collaboration with educational television authorities in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec.

The NFB signed a co-production agreement with Mexico (Cine Diffusion SEP.) Two features were to be made by the NFB (Tierra y Libertad, and Première question sur le bonheur) and three by Mexico (Etnocidio, Jornaleros and Le Deal mexicain)

For the first United Nations conference on housing, Habitat 1976, the NFB helped participating countries produce some 250 films and audiovisual exhibits.

In July of that year, the NFB began work on the largest group project in Canadian film history: the official film of the Games of the XXI Olympiad. 32 crews comprising 168 persons under the supervision of Jean-Claude Labrecque shot some 100,000 metres of film.
The NFB released Cap d'espoir, Cotton Mill Treadmill and 24 heures ou plus, films that had been banned for six years.

Awards
ertificate of Merit
University of San Fransisco International Short Film Festival
San Francisco, U.S.A.

METAMORPHOSIS
Barry Greenwald
Palme d'Or (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

1977

In 1977, a computer-animation film recorder is developed in cooperation with the National Research Council.

Awards
est Selection of Films from a Country
11ièmes Journées Internationales du cinéma d'animation
Annecy, France

Special Award for the consistently high quality of its entries (for the 1977 participation)
25th Melbourne Film Festival
Melbourne, Australia

Original Graphic presented to the National Film Board of Canada in recognition of the prize-winning films The Street and Climats
First Annual High Plains Film Festival
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.A.

J.A. MARTIN, PHOTOGRAPHE
Jean Beaudin
Award for best actress – Monique Mercure (tied with Shelley Duval, THREE WOMEN)
Ecumenical Award,
Cannes Film Festival, France

Production
In 1977, shooting began on Santé-Afrique, a series of 30 films on public health in Africa, financed by the Canadian International Development Agency with support from the World Health Organization.

Initial production began on the Canada Vignettes series, which would eventually comprise over 100 films of one to five minutes each.

Following a co-production agreement signed a few years earlier, an NFB delegation travelled to China. A number of films on that country followed, including North China Commune and the Gui Dao - On the Way trilogy.

1978

In 1978, subtitling and time-code systems are developed for the hearing impaired. In later years, especially with the coming of videocassettes, this system will be expanded. By 1990, all new productions in video format will include closed captions.

Awards
nd Annual Jean Renoir Humanities Award.

"Because its films have provided us an impetus toward the spiritual and have uplifted the hearts of those who have seen them, the Los Angeles Film Teachers' Association presents the 2nd Jean Renoir Humanities Award to the National Film Board of Canada."
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Certificate of Appreciation for generous professional and educational services to students of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Syracuse University, State of New York, U.S.A.

I'LL FIND A WAY, Beverly Shaffer
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Production
Three films would win Oscars® in 1978 and 1979: I'll Find a Way, directed by Beverly Shaffer, for best documentary short and The Sand Castle, directed by Co Hoedeman, and Special Delivery, directed by John Weldon and Eunice Macaulay, for best animated film. d'animation réalisé par John Weldon et Eunice Macaulay .

1979

Organization
In January of 1979, Deputy Commissioner James de Beaujeu Domville was appointed Film Commissioner.
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the NFB opened its doors to the public. Some 15,000 people visited the Montreal headquarters over five days.

Production
1979 concluded with the first co-production with American companies: an OMNIMAX® film entitled Atmos.

Distribution
In 1979, a cost-recovery program was introduced for sponsored films distributed by the NFB.

The Vidéotron cable company offered its customers on the South Shore of Montreal a selection of over 500 NFB titles for viewing-on-demand.

Awards
rand Prix 1979
The Interfilm Festival Award
Kranj, Yugoslavia

Public's Award given to Canada for the best selection
12ièmes Journées internationales du cinéma d'animation
Festival d'Annecy
Annecy, France

Certificate of Appreciation - "In recognition and appreciation of efforts to improve the psychosocial care of children in health care settings."
ACCH 14th Annual Conference
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Certificate of commendation "In recognition of 40 years of superior artistry in motion pictures; of leading the way in the development of the documentary film; of guidance and inspiration to a generation of young filmmakers who now are among the world's leading professionals; and of entertaining the world with cinema images of beauty, grace and intelligence."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A

SPECIAL DELIVERY, John Weldon/Eunice Macaulay
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

1980

Organization
In 1980, the NFB Board of Trustees ratified five essential objectives of the NFB mandate.

The same year, the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee, co-chaired by Louis Applebaum and Jacques Hébert, was set up primarily to study the role of the NFB. The Applebaum-Hébert Report was published the year after. It recommended that the NFB stop producing and distributing films and become a research and training centre. The NFB rejected this recommendation but accepted the cultural thrust of the report.

Production
In 1980, the NFB collaborated with the Inuit Tagramiut Nipingat Association to produce films in Inuktitut for satellite broadcast across the Canadian Arctic.

To cope with the increasing cost of films and to come into line with departmental policies, the NFB co-produced more and more with the private sector. English Production began the Program to Assist Films and Filmmakers in the Private Sector (PAFFPS), called since April 1996 the Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP). Within three years, 74 English-language projects would benefit from the NFB's help, largely in the form of production services. While PAFFPS continued, it paved the way for a new co-production program with the private sector, through which the NFB would take part in a number of major films in the 1980s, including The Decline of the American Empire.Every Child/Chaque enfant, directed by Eugene Fedorenko, won an Oscar® for best animated film.

The NFB ended the Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle program, which had been an ideological mainstay of the NFB's policy on the social documentary.

Distribution
In 1980, The Image Makers, a film highlighting NFB achievements, was released to commemorate the Board's 40th anniversary.

Brossard, Quebec became the first public library to offer preview facilities for NFB videos. In one year, 15,078 clients used this service. This experience would eventually lead to the development of a network of public library partners with major video collections to complement the NFB's own audiovisual centres.

Awards
a href="../../trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?lg=fr&id=12604">EVERY CHILD/CHAQUE ENFANT, Eugene Fedorenko
Oscar® Award, Animation
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

THE PERFORMER
Norma Bailey
Special Jury Award (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

1981

1981 marks the official opening of the Computer Animation Centre, which provides facilities for research on all aspects of computer-assisted animation.

Awards
pecial recognition to all Canadian films entered in the 3rd International Festival of Films for Children and Young People, as declared by the jury of the press
Lausanne, Switzerland

Award for best foreign participation given to the National Film Board by the Mayor of Salerno
11th International Film Festival for Youth and Children
Salerno, Italy

Production
In 1981, the Federal Women's Film Program was launched, with the purpose of producing films that reflect the point of view of women and creating an awareness of the real-life situation of women in Canada. The program was administered by the NFB's Studio D.

The NFB announced a major change in its mandate: most sponsored films for government departments, which formerly represented 25 percent of the Board's activities, would be made by the private sector, with the NFB acting as executive producer.
The Computer Animation Centre officially opened, providing facilities for research on all aspects of computer-assisted animation.

Distribution
Following feasibility studies in the late 1970s, the NFB launched the Canadian audiovisual database known as Film and Video Canadiana in 1981. Several cultural agencies agreed to contribute to the database: the National Archives of Canada, the National Library of Canada and the Cinémathèque québécoise. The database was intended to promote the use of Canadian films and videos by providing information via catalogues and on-line systems.
A document entitled "Videoculture and Institutions" was presented to the meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). The document promoted the concept of circulating video collections in public libraries and was instrumental in the growth of this trend.

In January 1981, an eight-month retrospective of 300 NFB films opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The NFB Videotheque, a video preview library, opened in downtown Montreal.

1982

Awards
ecognition Award
"Westfield State College recognizes the efforts of Denise Nadeau and the National Film Board for their outstanding contributions to International Communications."
Westfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Certificate of Merit for a series of posters produced by the Still Photography Division entitled Sights of History/Vos photos...notre histoire.
Art Directors' Club
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

Distribution
The NFB opened an office in Beverly Hills under the name Film Canada Centre. In September 1984, the office would be turned over to the CFDC, soon renamed Telefilm Canada.

The NFB sold several films to pay television. It also signed an agreement with the Canadian Satellite Communications group to offer audiovisual programs to isolated areas.

The NFB restructured its catalogue, which was published from its computerized database. Hereafter films would be listed alphabetically, with a comprehensive subject index.

In a presentation of Canadian films in Berlin and Paris, the NFB played a major role, showing 68 films in Berlin and 70 in Paris.

1983

The NFB develops the matrix timecode system for film in collaboration with AATON of Grenoble, France. By 1990, all NFB productions will have adopted this system.

Awards
laque awarded to the National Film Board for its contribution to cinema
11th International Contest of Short Films
Huesca, Spain

IF YOU LOVE THIS PLANET, Terre Nash
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Production
In 1983, the NFB film If You Love This Planet, directed by Terre Nash, won an Oscar® for best documentary short.

In early 1983, under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, the United States Justice Department labelled the NFB's If You Love This Planet and the non-NFB films Acid Rain: Requiem or Recovery and Acid from Heaven as "propaganda films by agents of a foreign government" and placed restrictions on their distribution.

The NFB opened video preview facilities in several of its regional offices.

Distribution
During the 1983-84 fiscal year, non-theatrical distribution of NFB videos reached an all-time high. Video rentals predominated. Purchase prices were reduced; a one-hour film which had once cost over $400 was now available on video for a fifth of that amount.

1984

Oganization

In January 1984, Deputy Commissioner François N. Macerola was appointed Acting Commissioner, then in May, Film Commissioner.

Minister of Communications Francis Fox released his National Film and Video Policy, redefining the NFB's mandate as a cultural essayist. He asked the Film Commissioner to produce a five-year operational plan to implement this mandate. The five-year operational plan proposed by Film Commissioner Macerola was adopted in the fall. The restructuring that followed would bring about substantial changes in production and distribution activities, with savings from distribution reinvested in production. The plan also suggested a reduction in permanent personnel and the increased use of freelance filmmakers.

Production
In the fall of 1984, French Production celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, using as its theme "Twenty-five years of images in our image," and the director Gilles Carle made the film Cinéma, cinéma, a compilation of the best moments from NFB French-language productions.

Distribution
In 1984, a pilot project called Vidéo-Biblio, designed to promote the loan of NFB videos in public libraries for home viewing, was carried out in three cities in Quebec. Following the success of this project, other public libraries would add circulating video collections to the services they offered.

One notes the development of an electronically controlled 3D 65/70 mm IMAX® camera support system.

Awards
strong>FLAMENCO AT 5:15, Cynthia Scott
Oscar® Award, Documentary
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Piemontese Region Award for Best National Selection
40th International Festival of Sports Films
Turin, Italy

Honourable Mention : The NFB Canada Map
Category : Geographical Maps, 1984 Gallery of Superb Printing Contest
The International Association of Printing House Craftsmen
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

1985

Production
In 1985, English Production began the Alternative Drama program to foster the making of films dealing with current social issues. The Masculine Mystique directed by John N. Smith and Giles Walker, was its first production.

French Program's Regards de femmes, designed to promote the production of films by women, was set up under the direction of Josée Beaudet.

The Federal Women's Program was redefined to include both the English Program's Studio D and the French Program's Regards de femmes.

The NFB achieved a major objective of its five-year operational plan: freelancers accounted for 70 percent of production.
The federal Department of Communications announced $200 million in new funding over five years for the Canadian feature-film industry, including $25 million for the NFB to undertake co-productions with independent producers.

Distribution
In 1985, the NFB signed a distribution agreement with the Quebec City public library entailing the deposit of its film collection. Over the next five years, the NFB would reach similar arrangements with public libraries across Canada.

The Feeling Yes, Feeling No series, which dealt with sexual abuse of children, became the best-selling videocassette in NFB history, thanks to a promotional insert in 3.2 million family allowance cheques as well as an attractive price.
NFB videos were available from a Videomatic Teller^TM dispensing machine developed by Technical Research in co-operation with Tertec Enterprise of Markham, Ontario. Distribution Services were testing it for marketing.

The NFB opened a new theatre in Montreal at the Guy Favreau Complex. It was officially inaugurated in January 1985.

Awards
tudio D is proclaimed a National Treasure by the Canadian Institute for Women's Culture
London, Ontario, Canada

PARADISE / PARADIS
Ishu Patel
Silver Bear – Best Short Film
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

1986

Organization
In 1986, the NFB introduced a new logo signature, created by animator Ishu Patel, to precede all its films.

Cine-text^TM, a low-cost electronic LED display for subtitles, prompted by time codes on the film print, is introduced.
NFB videos are now available from a Videomatic Teller^TM dispensing machine developed by the Technical Research and Development Division in cooperation with Tertec Enterprises of Markham, Ontario.

Awards
pecial Jury Prize to NFB "for its exemplary work in developing documentary film"
18th International Film Festival
Nyon, Switzerland

Prize for technical literature awarded to Perforations by
UNIATEC (Union internationale des associations techniques cinématographiques)
Budapest, Hungary

LE DÉCLIN DE L'EMPIRE AMÉRICAIN
Denys Arcand
FIPRESCI Award (Fédération internationale de la presse cinématographique) Directors' Fortnight
Cannes Film Festival, France

ANNE TRISTER
Léa Pool
Third Prize given by the Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Jury
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

1987

Organization
1987 began with the establishment of the Employment Equity Program to ensure a balance in the hiring of men and women and to create better training opportunities for women in film, with an emphasis on non-traditional occupations.

Distribution
In 1987, the NFB signed its first special video sales agreement with a public library, which provided a substantial reduction in price in return for a commitment on the part of the library to buy at least 150 videos in the following three years. More than 75 similar agreements would be signed across Canada by the end of 1989.

The NFB signed an agreement with the Department of Education of the Northwest Territories to improve access to videos for northern residents through schools and public libraries.

The NFB, in partnership with Softhansa GmbH of Berlin, Tigertec Electronics of Montreal and Integration Inc., develops the Animaster^TM animation-stand control system. This stand facilitates the definition and execution of multiple complex functions.
The NFB also develops CleopatraTM, an interactive video work station for layout of various source materials and efficient authoring by non computer programmers. It is specially designed for authors or editors of educational and instructional films.

Awards
roducer's Award presented to the NFB for the Daughters of the Country series, and for its efforts on behalf of the Native peoples of Canada
12th Annual American Indian Film Festival
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

1988

Organization
Film Commissioner François Macerola resigned in 1988 and Deputy Commissioner Joan Pennefather was appointed Acting Commissioner, and Commissioner in September. She was the first woman to hold the position.

The NFB headquarters building in Montreal was named the Norman McLaren Building, in honour of the distinguished creator of animated films who died in 1987.

To mark the start of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the NFB hosted an Open House for the public at its Montreal headquarters.

50 ans, a compilation film directed by Gilles Carle, received the Palme d'Or (out of competition) at Cannes in honour of the NFB's anniversary and its role in promoting Canadian film.

The Board hosted a major international conference, A Salute to the Documentary, in which nearly 350 films were presented in various Montreal theatres to some 1,200 participants. A seminar program provided the opportunity for a debate on the future of the documentary.

The NFB collaborated in the presentation of Cités-Cinés, held at the Palais de la civilisation in Montreal.

For the first time ever, UNIATEC (Union internationale des associations techniques cinématographiques) held its annual conference in North America. Hosted in Montreal by the NFB under the direction of Marcel Carrière, UNIATEC commemorated the NFB's 50th anniversary and presented it with a prize for excellence.

Production
1988 was the year of the giant screen. The First Emperor of China, the first IMAX®-OMNIMAX co-production with China, was made for a cost to the NFB of $6.7 million.

The NFB co-produced Emergency/Urgence, directed by Tony Ianzelo and Colin Low, with Lavalin Industries for Expotec 88 in Montreal.

To mark the NFB's 50th anniversary, the French Program Animation Studio made a computer animation film entitled Anniversary (L'Anniversaire), using research conducted at its Computer Animation Centre.

Distribution
In 1988, the NFB reached an agreement with the company Videosmiths for distribution of 100 NFB features in video format to the American market.

The NFB introduced rental charges for use of 16 mm films. This policy would encourage the use of video.

The Brain^TM, a sophisticated special effects motion control system for camera, dolly and object movement planning, memorization and execution, is developed by the NFB with Tigertec Electronics of Montreal.
During the same year, the NFB, in co-operation with Tertec Enterprises of Markham, Ontario, develops the Rotary Digital Audio Tape (R-DAT), a robotic Sound Genie^TM for digital sound-effects storage, retrieval, auditioning, remote ordering and duplicating.

Awards
utenberg Award (First Prize) given to the NFB for Le Manuel de l'Homme de papier, by the International Association of Graphic Arts Craftsmen
Galerie internationale de l'imprimerie par excellence 87
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Certificate of Recognition given by the Cooperative Education Department of the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal to the NFB for its contribution towards the education and training of students as they face the challenges required for the world of work.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

LES PORTES TOURNANTES
Francis Mankiewicz
Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury, OCIC,
Cannes Film Festival, France

1989

Organization
An honorary Oscar® was awarded to the NFB in 1989 "in recognition of its fiftieth anniversary and its dedicated commitment to originate artistic, creative and technological activity and excellence in every area of filmmaking."

Distribution
In 1989, the NFB began automation of its stockshot library, one of the most important of its kind in North America.

The NFB, in co-operation with Research in Motion Limited of Waterloo, Ontario, launches DigiSyncTM, a digital footage, frame and time counter/calculator, compatible with all film formats and all types of film synchronizers. By 1990, it already captures a substantial portion of the world market for film handling automation, using barcode film stocks.
DigiSoundTM is developed in cooperation with a consortium led by Barringer Research of Rexdale, Ontario. One of the world's first prototype systems for digital sound on 35 mm film, DigiSoundTM is a system for the recording and playback of conventional and digital optical sound on 35 mm film.

Awards
onorary Oscar "in recognition of its 50th anniversary and its dedicated commitment to originate artistic, creative and technological activity and excellence in every area of filmmaking."

Special Achievement Award
1989 Genie Awards
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Crystal vase awarded to the NFB to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation
Special Homage to the NFB
Statens Filmsentral (National Film Board of Norway)
Oslo, Norway

Award of Excellence given to the NFB for its 50th Anniversary
AMTEC '89 Media Festival
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Don Quichotte Prize awarded to the NFB for 50 years of unrelenting support to creation and fruitful collaboration with the film societies' movement for the popularization of Canadian films throughout the world.
International Jury of the Fédération internationale des ciné-clubs
Festival international du cinéma d'animation
Annecy, France

Rockie Award given to the NFB for its 50th Anniversary
Banff Television Festival
Banff, Alberta, Canada

Commemorative plaque awarded to the NFB for its valuable contribution to world film over the past 50 years.
Plaque presented by Michel Mouillot, Mayor of the City of Cannes at the 42nd International Film Festival
Cannes, France

Plaque:
"The Vermont World Peace Film Festival salutes the 50th anniversary of the NFB and its contribution to films related to peace, nuclear disarmament and environmental issues."
3rd World Peace Film Festival
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.A.

Outstanding Achievement Award "in recognition of 50 years of outstanding contribution to social programs and humanitarian goals in Canada."
Canadian Council for Social Development
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

1989 Summer Institute of Film and Television Plaque presented to the NFB on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary in recognition of the continuing development of the talents of Canadian filmmakers.
Algonquin College/Cinémathèque Canada
Ottawa-Hull Film and Television Association
Ottawa-Hull, Canada

Trophy presented by the Mayor of Saint-Laurent, Marcel Laurin. The accompanying message read as follows: "The local community is taking the opportunity presented by the NFB's 50th anniversary to honour its intrepid artists, who have brought the Board the international recognition as a home of the seventh art."
Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada

Camério of Honour awarded to the NFB to mark the occasion of its 50th anniversary
7th Carrousel international du film
Rimouski, Quebec, Canada

Trophy awarded to the NFB to highlight the 50th anniversary of its foundation
Frame by Frame/Image par Image
Retrospective of NFB animated films and tribute to the NFB on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
Assolo, Italy

Trophy awarded to the NFB to highlight 50 years of quality productions
6th FESTRIO - 6th International Film, Television and Video Festival
Fortaleza, Brazil

Prize for excellence awarded to the NFB to commemorate the Board's 50th anniversary (UNIATEC)

Commemorative Plaque and poster presented to the NFB in honour of its 50th anniversary by Mr. Ron Keast, President of Vision TV

50 ANS
Gilles Carle
Palme d'Or (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

JÉSUS DE MONTRÉAL
Denys Arcand
Jury Award and Ecumenical Jury Award
Cannes Film Festival, France

1990

Production
In 1990 Co Hoedeman worked on The Sniffing Bear, an animated short based on an idea from a group of Aboriginal inmates at the La Macaza Institution who wanted to get young people to think about the harm caused by drugs and solvents.

The French Program, in conjunction with the Animation Studio, focused on the production of a series of films for its young audiences: Droits au coeur/Rights from the Heart. This collection of short animation films was inspired by the articles contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The NFB is proud to have produced Momentum, the official film for Canada's Pavilion at the 1992 World Fair in Seville. Thanks to a new, and at the time untried IMAX® format at 48 frames per second, the spectators saw on a huge IMAX screen the strikingly beautiful and varied Canadian landscape unroll.

Studio D launched New Initiatives in Film (NIF), an innovative program to provide filmmaking opportunities for Women of Colour and Women of First Nations.

The Company of Strangers was universally acclaimed. After receiving a standing ovation at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival, it attracted audiences for five months at a Toronto cinema. It also had a good run in the United States and was broadcast several times on many PBS stations.

Two productions paid tribute to two filmmakers who left their stamp on the NFB: Brittain on Brittain and Creative Process: Norman McLaren.

The first one, a 13-part series assembled by the NFB North West Centre and Alberta's Access Network, brings together a comprehensive collection of works by the master documentary filmmaker as well as revealing interviews with Donald Brittain, in which he recounts his experiences and shares his insights. The second production is directed by a longtime associate of Norman McLaren, Donald McWilliams.

It combines rare film sequences from unreleased or unfinished experimental films found in McLaren's private collection, excerpts from award-winning films and interviews.

The French Program produced Portrait d'un studio d'animation, a film directed by Isabelle Turcotte, illustrating the rich legacy of creativity that continues to provide inspiration to animators.

Distribution
During the 1990-1991 fiscal year, television, in all its forms, provides the NFB with its largest audiences : 440 million worldwide.

In December 1990, the NFB Ontario Centre moved to downtown Toronto. The new quarters featured a public repertory cinema devoted to Canadian film and video, a women's film resource centre and enhanced postproduction facilities for English and French independent filmmakers.

An elaborate version of Cine-textTM is demonstrated in New York at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers conference. This electronic film subtitling system allows for the subtitling of films without the physical alteration of film prints.
The world premiere of Cine-text takes place the same year, in Montreal, at a gala screening of the restored 1925 classic silent film The Phantom of the Opera, organized by the Cinémathèque québécoise.

1991

Organization
1991 witnessed the publication of a reference work The NFB Film Guide: The Productions of the National Film Board of Canada from 1939 to 1989/Le Répertoire des films de l'ONF - La production de l'Office national du film du Canada de 1939 à 1989. This encyclopedic work places fifty years of production in a historical and social context.

In 1991, the NFB celebrated a double anniversary. The English and French animation studios were created respectively by Norman McLaren in 1941 and René Jodoin in 1966. Many special presentations and film retrospectives underlined the event in Canada and abroad.

Momentum was seen by close to two million people at the Canada Pavilion at Expo 92 in Seville. It won an award for the technical quality of the image at the FIAV Large-Screen Film Festival held at the universal exposition site. It subsequently started a career in a number of IMAX theatres across Canada.

The NFB held a roundtable on the situation of women in film and television. Chaired by Joan Pennefather, it served as a pre-conference to the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Institute of Communications (IIC) and was attended by women from 17 countries and five continents.

The NFB received the Employer of the Year Award from Canadian Women in Radio and Television (CWRT) in recognition of its program of employment equity.

Production
In 1992, director Gary Marcuse and three Native educators approached the NFB to develop a unique package of classroom versions of NFB documentaries on First Nations issues. First Nations, the Circle Unbroken became the year's top-selling production to the education market.

At the Banff Television Festival, the NFB announced the creation of four craft internship awards to help women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities to further their filmmaking careers.

Distribution
In 1991/1992, the NFB signed an agreement with new television networks such as TV Northern Canada. A weekly series of NFB documentaries was aired on Vision TV.

In 1991-92, close to 18,000 units of Growing Up, a series of films for kids and parents, was sold to Canadians via a Family allowance cheque stuffer.

The wealth of information about more than 23,000 Canadian audiovisual productions contained in the NFB database FORMAT was transferred to CD-ROM.

The French Program achieved a real success with the sale of 3,610 video copies of the series Pour tout dire. This series is produced in collaboration with the Secretary of State and the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers Inc.

Awards
Eacute;vian Award given to the NFB to honour its animation cinema
World Film Festival
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Special Award to the NFB for 50 years of animation
L.A. Film Critics Association
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

1992

The NFB Montreal Centre inaugurates the CineRobotheque, the first large-scale audiovisual server in Canada, with a handling capacity of fifty simultaneous requests from inside or outside the Centre.

Awards
old Ribbon Award given by the American Film and Video Association
"In recognition of its outstanding service and many contributions to the field."
34th Annual American Film and Video Festival
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Employer of the Year Award
(tied with City TV of Toronto)
"In recognition of its program of employment equity."
Canadian Women in Radio and Television (CWRT)
Vancouver, Canada

Blue Ribbon Award awarded to The NFB Film Guide - The Productions of the National Film Board of Canada from 1939 to 1989
Publications Contest
34th Annual American Film and Video Festival
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Outstanding contribution award given to the NFB's French Program Animation Studio and its director Yves Leduc
Children's Television Awards of Excellence Competition
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

THE SAND CASTLE
Vira Award for Best Kid Vid release of 1991
1992 Vira Awards
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

1992 Ministry to Women Award given to Studio D
"In recognition of Studio D's unique role in bringing women's perspectives to films and providing opportunities for women filmmakers since 1974."

1993

The CineRobotheque opens to the general public.
A state-of-the-art computer animation console is developed.
A service is established to do digital titling and special effects for film.

Awards
old Medal
Poster by Pierre Pratt for the Rights from the Heart series
Gala Gutenberg 1993
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Golden Statuette
"For successfully making and presenting educational films and showing some of them at the festival."
23rd International Educational Film Festival
Roshd, Teheran, Iran

THE ORANGE / L'ORANGE
Diane Chartrand
UNICEF Special Prize – Best Short Film
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

LORD OF THE SKY
Eugene Spaleny, Ludmila Zeman
Special Mention given by the Children's Jury
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

Organization
In January 1993, Mon oncle Antoine and Opening Speech: McLaren opened Les Cinémas du Canada, a four-month retrospective of films from five regions of Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, West Coast and Atlantic) at the Georges Pompidou Centre, in Paris. NFB films accounted for 40 percent of the total screening time. The NFB produced the publicity clip for the event.

The NFB held a seminar in Toronto called "Le Cinéma documentaire et le grand écran" bringing together some 200 professionals from around the world.

Filmmakers Terre Nash, Eunice Macaulay, Cynthia Scott and Beverly Shaffer were invited to an evening in honour of women Oscar® winners in Los Angeles.

The NFB launched its re-vamped logo.

A retrospective of Norman McLaren films and an exhibition entitled Hommage à Norman McLaren were presented in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

NFB Montréal was officially inaugurated by Montreal Mayor Jean Doré and Multiculturalism and Citizenship Minister Sheila Finestone. The four-day open house attracted several hundred people.

Distribution
In 1993, the NFB launched its new NFB Video and Film Catalogue comprising over 550 more titles than the previous edition.

44 NFB films were aired by the BBC and Channel Four in England, reaching a total audience of 34 million viewers.

A major retrospective of NFB films was held at the Canadian Embassy and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

1994

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, in Los Angeles, presents the NFB with an Emmy Plaque for "outstanding achievement in engineering development" for the design and development of DigiSyncTM, the film edge barcode reader and decoder that permits digital display in feet/frames, frames or time.
CineRoute-0 is launched in co-operation with Vidéotron Télécom. This first prototype of the service transmits analogue audiovisual signals on demand over fibre optic cable to three Quebec universities (UQAM, UQAC and McGill).

Organization
In 1994, the CineRobotheque received a great deal of coverage in the newspapers and on television. During the year it also received Kodak Canada's Prix Livernois in honour of its innovation, creativity and leadership in the field of imaging.

Sixteen NFB employees were presented with the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in recognition of their unique contribution and dedication in the Public Service of Canada.

In connection with the Canadian Heritage Standing Committee's study on the convergence of satellite, cable and telephone technologies, technological developments and the information highway, the NFB appeared before the Committee to describe its views on the information highway and on the impact these new technologies will have on the institution, the Canadian audiovisual industry and the cultural sector in general.

The NFB participated in the 50th anniversary of D-Day in and outside Canada, in a variety of ways (posters, screenings of NFB films, retrospective of Canadian films on World War I and II, etc.).

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, in Los Angeles, presented the NFB with an Emmy Plaque for "outstanding achievement in engineering development" for the design and development of DigiSyncTM, the film edge barcode reader and decoder that permits digital display in feet/frames, frames or time.

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission presented the NFB with an award for advancing the cause of human rights in its films and for its unflagging support for public awareness programs.

Distribution
At INPUT 94, a conference bringing together over 1,000 film and television professionals from around the world, Alanis Obomsawin's film Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance was the hit of the day and triggered a discussion on the leading part of public institutions like the NFB, which provide a space for such films to be made.

The Japanese version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead was broadcast twice on NHK in Japan to 16 million viewers and 23 million viewers respectively, the highest ratings ever received for an NHK broadcast.

The Boys of St. Vincent, directed by John N. Smith, was launched on home video throughout Australia and New Zealand and televised on the national commercial networks, Channel Ten in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand. In the United States, it was a phenomenal hit and was rated among the 10 best films of 1994 by the magazines Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and USA Today. In Canada, the film garnered five million viewers with its national network telecast.

1995

Awards
strong>BOB'S BIRTHDAY, Alison Snowden & David Fine
Oscar® Award, Animation
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.

Organization
In 1995, the NFB celebrated the centenary of cinema in various ways, including the production of three trailers highlighting Quebec cinema, and the feature documentary The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché.

Studio D topped the bill in Hollywood on the occasion of its 20th anniversary. The American Cinematheque and the International Documentary Association, in association with the Canadian Consulate General, screened eight Studio D films.

Bob's Birthday by Alison Snowden and David Fine, co-produced by Snowden Fine Animation and the NFB for Channel Four Television in England, won the Oscar® for best animated short film. This was the NFB's 60th nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the 10th Oscar win, the 5th for an animated film, and its 89th award in 1994-1995.

In February 1995, when the federal government brought down its budget, it informed the National Film Board of Canada, along with Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, that their mandates would be redefined during the course of the year.

In April 1995, Sandra M. Macdonald began her mandate as Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB. Mystery of the Maya, an IMAX film co-production with the NFB, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Mexican Film Institute, had its world premiere at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

In October 1995, the NFB put in place the NFB 2000 committees including employees from all sectors to find ways to deal with the budget cuts and to restructure the organization.

Production
To mark the centenary of cinema, Josée Beaudet produced Marquise Lepage's feature documentary The Lost Garden: The Life and Cinema of Alice Guy-Blaché (Le Jardin oublié - La Vie et l'Oeuvre d'Alice Guy-Blaché), which toured Canadian cities and towns in the fall of 1995.

Ex-Child/Ex-enfant, directed by Jacques Drouin, one of the seven films in the Rights from the Heart series - Part 2, was awarded the UNICEF prize at the 20th International Animation Film Festival at Annecy, France. Bob's Birthday, an animated short by Alison Snowden and David Fine, won Annecy's top prize for best short film, and Ishu Patel's Divine Fate won Special Distinction for its message.

French Program has contributed to the Centenary of Cinema celebrations by producing three of the 11 trailers in honour of Quebec cinema, co-producing the CD set entitled Maurice Blackburn Filmusic/Filmopera, and collaborating with the Pointe-à-Calliere museum on an exhibition about the early days of film in Montreal, the growth of the film industry in Quebec and the special role played by the NFB. It also provided the Cinémathèque québécoise with technical support for the exhibition Illuminating the Story of Projection presented at the National Museum of Science and Technology.

Distribution
In September and December 1995, Famous Players theatres screened Christopher Hinton's Oscar-nominated Blackfly and Beth Portman and Susan Crandall's Cactus Swing. Audience figures totalled 150,000.

1996

Awards
oomerang Awards in the Corporative Web site Category
Éditions Info Presse
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The miniseries The Boys of St. Vincent won a Peabody Award in New York.

Organization
In March 1996, the Board of Trustees approves the Action Plan - A New Charter for a New Century. This comprehensive restructuring plan includes the following major measures: preserving production, providing efficient marketing and distribution services, making technical services cost effective and reducing administration to a minimum level.

To mark the centenary of cinema, Canada Post created a series of 10 commemorative stamps, three of which honoured NFB classics: Norman McLaren's animated short Hen Hop (1942), Pierre Perrault's and Michel Brault's documentary Pour la suite du monde (1963), and Claude Jutra's dramatic feature Mon oncle Antoine (1971).

John Grierson's homeland saluted his contributions to the first 100 years of cinema by erecting a plaque in his honour in the foyer of the MacRoberts Arts Centre at the University of Stirling in Stirling, Scotland. It reads "John Grierson (1898-1972), pioneer of the documentary film, founder of the National Film Board of Canada."

In September 1996, English Program's Ontario Centre kicked off its 20th anniversary celebrations with the launch of NFB Showcase, a 13-week series on TVOntario. The series aired Thursday evenings and featured some of the best documentary and drama productions of the Centre's first two decades.

In November, Les Journées cinématographiques d'Orléans in France paid tribute to the filmmaking career of Pierre Perrault. Several of his films were screened and noted filmmakers Bertrand Tavernier and Michael Lonsdale attended and participated in discussions following the presentation. In addition, the Musée du Jeu de Paume held a retrospective of Perrault's work.

Doris Girard was appointed Director General of French Program in mid-November. Formerly French Program's Assistant Director General, Production, Ms. Girard had previously served as Executive Producer in French Program's drama studio and worked in the private sector.

In December, retired NFB filmmaker Jacques Giraldeau received the 1996 Albert Tessier Award for his body of work. During his career, most of which was with the NFB, Giraldeau produced 165 short, medium-length and feature films.

The NFB enhanced its reputation for technological innovation and improved its service to the public by launching a Web site in 1995. Completely redesigned in 1996, the site contained 78 sections and over 104,000 pages and received an average of 2,000 visitors a day. At an interactivity day organized by Les Éditions Info Presse in co-operation with Vidéotron, Apple and Quebecor Multimedia, the site was awarded the 1996 Boomerang Grand Prize in the Corporate Internet Site category.

Production
French Program launched its Aboriginal Filmmaker Training Program at the Festival du film et de la vidéo autochtones de Montréal. Joséphine Bacon, a Montagnaise from Betsiamites, was selected from the 12 candidates for a one-year apprenticeship during which she will direct her first documentary film..

NFB films were toasted at the Sunny Side of the Doc festival in Marseilles, France, where more than 2,000 industry professionals from around the world gathered for the 7th Euro-Canadian Co-Production Forum.

Launching of the Aboriginal Filmmaking Program: English Program created a team of cultural diversity producers. Attached to the English Program documentary program, these producers help ensure that NFB filmmakers and productions reflect the diversity of Canadian society.

Major Canadian honours were given to several NFB productions and co-productions. Place of the Boss: Utshimassits, directed by John Walker and produced by NFB Atlantic Centre in co-production with John Walker Productions and Triad Films, won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's Donald Brittain Award for Best Documentary Program, and The Mind of a Child, directed by Gary Marcuse and produced by Face To Face Media in co-production with the NFB Pacific Centre, won the Academy's Canada Award.

At the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, Pierre Hébert's La plante humaine, the first feature-length animation film produced by the NFB, was awarded the prize for Best Feature Film. The Gémeaux Award for Best Documentary was won by Marquise Lepage's Le jardin oublié – La vie et l'oeuvre d'Alice Guy-Blaché, and for his work on Le sort de l'Amérique, Jacques Godbout collected the Hot Docs! award for Best Direction of a Documentary.

English Program launched the NFB Kids Web site as an adjunct to the main NFB site. The main attraction is The Prince and I, a fun, interactive production that encourages children to improve their literacy skills.

The NFB participated in two particularly interesting bilingual television events. The film Référendum – Prise deux/Take 2, a unique production created through the collaboration of 23 filmmakers from both English and French Programs, was broadcast on CBC Newsworld and Canal D. The productions were released one year after the 1995 Quebec referendum on whether Quebec should remain in Canada or negotiate nationhood.

Distribution
NFB films made a strong impression in Canadian theatres this year. The NFB agreed with Famous Players theatres and various feature film distributors to screen NFB animated shorts in Canadian theatres. Several NFB feature documentaries had extended runs, such as Peter Lynch's Project Grizzly, Ann Kennard's The Powder Room and Anne Claire Poirier's final NFB film, Tu as crié LET ME GO.

The NFB made available, for the first time on home video, six acclaimed films by the late NFB filmmaker Bill Mason. The collection included the Oscar-nominated Paddle to the Sea.

International Program completed a major sale of more than 50 NFB animation titles to the U.S. Cartoon Network, which boasts a subscriber base of some 40 million homes. The NFB also closed a major sale of 29 animation titles to Britain's Channel 4.

1997

Awards
a href="../../trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php?lg=fr&id=33131">DINNER FOR TWO / DÎNER INTIME
Janet Perlman
UNICEF Jury Award – Best Short Film
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

Organization
NFB Paris participated in the official inauguration of the Canadian Cultural Centre in the French capital on January 22, 1997. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, NFB Chairperson and Government Film Commissioner Sandra Macdonald and representatives from various other cultural institutions attended the event.

On February 11, the NFB celebrated its 61st Oscar® nomination: Best Animated Short Film for Richard Condie's comic opera La Salla, produced by the Prairie Centre. The NFB took advantage of this increased visibility to pair the animated short with three commercial feature films, Marvin's Room (non fonctionnel), Secrets & Lies and Shine,(which also in the running for Academy Awards®.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien spotlighted the NFB on June 28 when he premiered its new rendition of the national anthem, O Canada, at a state dinner in honour of Queen Elizabeth. Guests were given CD-ROM copies as souvenirs. The music track is a stunningly evocative arrangement by Claude Desjardins and Eric Robertson, performed by a 57-piece orchestra. The film was produced in partnership with Canadian Heritage and several other departments and agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office. Pandora's Box of Toronto produced the CD-ROM, with the support of Chrysler Canada.

In December 1997, one of the NFB's most distinguished filmmakers, Colin Low, became the first Anglophone to receive Quebec's Albert Tessier Award. The award recognizes Low's outstanding career in animation and documentary and salutes his role in developing the IMAX large-screen concept. Low officially ended 52 years' service at the NFB with his retirement in November.

Production
French Program announced its Documentaristes résidents program, under which experienced independent filmmakers were invited to submit two documentary proposals. Three "residents" were chosen in the first round, and three more in the second. Each will work with the NFB for a three-year period.

In the second year of English Program's Aboriginal Filmmaking Program, Forgotten Warriors and No Turning Back, both carry-ins from Studio One, were released. In addition, three other productions by Aboriginal directors were released as part of the regular program: Spudwrench – Kahnawake Man, Totem Talk and Half a World Apart… and a Lifetime Away.

French Program welcomed Bobby Kenuajuak to the Program's team under the auspices of the Cinéaste autochtone competition. Only 21 years old, he is the first Inuk to work with the Program and will spend 18 months developing and directing his first professional film.

French Program launched Le Prince et moi, the French adaptation of the kids' Web site The Prince and I, which has been an outstanding success.

French Program, in co-operation with partners in the cultural, municipal and educational sectors, launched Les Week-ends de l'ONF (NFB Weekends), an initiative designed to showcase the year's productions and provide direct contact between the NFB and audiences. Response was exceptional. The Weekends began with screenings at the NFB Cinema in Montreal, then were extended to Quebec City, Chicoutimi, Trois-Rivières, Ottawa, Sherbrooke and Rimouski.

Distribution
Jacques Godbout's Le sort de l'Amérique and Pierre Hébert's La plante humaine enjoyed a theatrical release in France.

Cinéma, cinéma Prise 1, a collection of the 25 most popular French Program titles, including such classics as J.A. Martin, photographe and Mourir à tue-tête, plus new favourites such as Une vie comme rivière and Le sort de l'Amérique, chalked up terrific sales. Through an agreement with Vidéoglobe, about a hundred video clubs offered the collection in their retail outlets throughout Quebec. This distribution arrangement also solidified the NFB's presence in a network of about 50 bookstores.

In October, the specialty channel History Television premiered a major new NFB series, The Way We Were, 68 half-hours of "cinematic gems" from the NFB vaults, which recall the ordinary and extraordinary moments of the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
The growth in specialty services also boosted sales outside Canada. Locomotion Channel, a new satellite television network serving Latin America, acquired 83 NFB titles; Media Park in Spain acquired 49 hours of animation, 58 documentary films and nine dramas. An agreement was signed with the Japanese firm Maruzen for distributing a hundred hours of NFB programs in the non-theatrical and home video markets.

International sales were also strong in the educational sector. France's Ministère de l'Éducation nationale acquired 1,500 units of Mon corps, c'est mon corps with the intention of providing every educational media centre with at least one cassette of this title.

1998

The NFB enters into a partnership with CANARIE (Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organization) and RISQ (Quebec's scientific computer network) to develop the CineRoute pilot project, Canada's first online cinema-on-demand service.
A significant part of the NFB collection is digitized using technology developed for the CineRobotheque. From the videodiscs, the robot digitized over 800 films in MPEG-1 format in real time (1.6 Mbps). These films are then stored on a high-capacity server to be transmitted at the request of CA*net 3 users.

Organization
The year 1998 began sadly with the sudden death of Kathleen Shannon, the feminist filmmaker who founded the NFB's Studio D in 1974 and served as mentor for a generation of women filmmakers. During the 12 years she headed Studio D, she oversaw production of such noteworthy and controversial films as Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography, I'll Find a Way, To a Safer Place, Behind the Veil: Nuns, and If You Love This Planet.

The Gemini Awards honouring the best in Canadian English-language television programming presented the Canada Award to Selwyn Jacob's The Road Taken on March 1 at a gala ceremony in Toronto. The Canada Award "honours excellence in mainstream television programming which best reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." Four NFB productions or co-productions have won the Canada Award or its Prix Gémeaux equivalent (Le Prix du Multiculturalisme) since 1994.

In 1998-1999, NFB productions and co-productions garnered a total of 65 international and 36 Canadian awards. The NFB also received its 63rd Oscar® nomination for Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square by director Shui-Bo Wang.

The Albert Tessier Award, the Quebec government's highest honour in cinema, was presented to retired NFB filmmaker Georges Dufaux. It was the third year in a row that the award went to an NFB filmmaker.

Production
National re-release for restored French and English prints of a Canadian classic, Mon oncle Antoine. The Southern Film Circuit, a project of the Toronto International Film Festival, collaborated with the NFB to send Claude Jutra's glorious film on a cross-Canada tour. Film reviewers cheered the return of this "favourite uncle," who made stops in Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg and Halifax.

The Game of Her Life, directed by Lyn Wright and produced by Silva Basmajian, follows the Canadian Women's Hockey Team's progress during the months before the Nagano Olympics. The documentary aired on CBC to widespread critical praise. Lyn Wright followed the team to Nagano and updated the film, showing the Canadians' defeat in the final against the U.S. team. The combined ratings from the pre-Olympic and post-Olympic telecasts pushed total audience well past the one million mark.

To encourage documentary development and production by Quebec filmmakers and technicians working outside the Montreal region, French Program created a new position, Producer responsible for Quebec Regions. Jacques Turgeon became the first NFB producer to be based in Quebec City.

The CD-ROM Making History: Louis Riel and the North-West Rebellion of 1885 won the prestigious Best Interface Design Award at the 4th annual International Digital Media Awards.

English Program's equity budget was earmarked for training people of colour. A variety of production training and apprenticeship opportunities were provided. A total of 53 short-term projects in such crafts as non-linear picture editing, sound editing, sound and music recording, production management, line producing, documentary writing, film budgeting and animation were funded.

Distribution
The NFB granted world rights of four IMAX productions to Motion International, including two NFB productions, Mystery of the Maya/Le Mystère des Mayas and The First Emperor of China/Le Premier Empereur de Chine).

The documentary Chile, Obstinate Memory/Chili : la mémoire obstinée was licensed to the theatrical distributor First Run — Icarus in the U.S. and went on to very lucrative theatrical runs in New York and Chicago.

The NFB is continuing the transfer of its film collection to laser videodisc to ensure its conservation and provide easier access to more films from the collection. At the end of fiscal 1998-1999, 2,832 French-language productions and 3,260 English-language productions had been transferred, making a total of 6,092 titles available through the CineRobotheque, that is, an 11.3% increase over the previous year.

The NFB made its first sale to a Chinese broadcaster. The Qingdao channel's Film and Television International Cultural Exchange Centre in Beijing purchased 13 animated shorts, totalling 2½ hours of programming.

Awards
he Gemini Awards honouring the best in Canadian English-language television programming presented the Canada Award to Selwyn Jacob's The Road Taken on March 1 at a gala ceremony in Toronto. The Canada Award "honours excellence in mainstream television programming which best reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." Four NFB productions or co-productions have won the Canada Award or its Prix Gémeaux equivalent (Le Prix du Multiculturalisme) since 1994.

Five NFB films by Aboriginal filmmakers were winners at the 3rd annual Aboriginal Film Awards presented during the 1998 Dreamspeakers Festival in Edmonton.

1999

The university version of the CineRoute pilot project is officially inaugurated at the Capital Infocentre in Ottawa in December. College and university students and teachers and members of Canadian research centres connected to the CA*net 3 network can now view a selection of over 800 films for free online.

Awards
echnical Achievement Academy Award for NFB
Two National Film Board scientists (Ed H. Zwaneveld and Frederick Gasoi) along with two industry colleagues received the Technical Achievement Academy Award for the design and development of the DigiSyncTM Film Keykode Reader.

WHEN THE DAY BREAKS
Wendy Tilby, Amanda Forbis
Palme d'Or (short film)
Cannes Film Festival, France

Director Maurice Bulbulian received the prestigious Chalmers Documentarian Award for Film and Video for his film The Nitinaht Chronicles, produced by Jacques Vallée.

The animated film When the Day Breaks, co-directed by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby and produced by David Verrall, won the Palme d'or for Best Short at Cannes and the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. The NFB's English and French Programs are undertaking joint projects with impressive results and winning many awards. Examples are Cinéma vérité : le moment décisif/Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment by Peter Wintonick, the first film to capture all the excitement of a revolution that changed movie-making forever, and Frenchkiss : La génération du rêve Trudeau/Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation, by Catherine Annau, a lively and humorous examination of the dream of a bilingual country cherished by Canadians of the Trudeau generation

Organization
At the end of February 1999, NFB scientists Ed H. Zwaneveld and Frederick Gasoi (retired), along with two colleagues from a private-sector company, received a Technical Achievement Academy Award for developing a post-production technology known as the DigiSync™ Film Keykode Reader.

On April 29, 1999, the NFB announced celebrations to be held during the year to highlight the 60th anniversary of its founding on May 2, 1939. Below are some of the events organized:

The anniversary video clip 60, directed by Charles Binamé and jointly produced by Peter Starr and Éric Michel of the NFB's English and French Programs, was screened.

Thanks to a partnership with the NFB, Air Canada devoted an entire channel on its flights to NFB classics.

Many Canadian and international festivals presented special retrospectives as a tribute to the NFB.

New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honoured the NFB with retrospectives.

The NFB had a high profile on television: on RDI, the national French-language television news network, Bernard Derome hosted the series Toute une époque... vue par l'ONF, while Télé-Québec aired its second season of Le Présent du passé.

Souvenir compilations were created, including those in French Program's Mémoire collection and English Program's Best of the Best series.

The Commissioner and directors of the French and English Programs toured Canada's major cities to present the next year's new releases.

The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa hosted an exhibition entitled A Canadian Document, while the National Gallery in Ottawa featured NFB animators and their work. Free viewing sessions were offered at the CineRobotheque at NFB Montreal.

In partnership with RISQ (Réseau interordinateurs scientifique québécois) and CANARIE (Canada's Advanced Internet Development Organization), the NFB launched CineRoute, a pilot project to make some 1,000 NFB films available on demand over the Internet.

In August, Andréanne Bournival was appointed Director General of French Program.

In November, the NFB hosted the 9th Annual Conference of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA).

On November 9, Veterans Week kicked off in Ottawa with a screening of Robert Duncan's John McCrae's War: In Flanders Fields, co-produced with the International Documentary Television Corp.

French Program's Acadia Documentary Studio celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Production
In 1999-2000, the NFB completed production of 128 films, videos and multimedia products. Of these, 96 were NFB productions, while 32 were co-productions with outside partners. The NFB entered films in 246 Canadian and international festivals, garnering 132 awards.

Forest Alert, the hard-hitting documentary by Richard Desjardinsand and Robert Monderie on the state of forests in Quebec, premiered at the 17th Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois.

RDI, the national French-language television news network, aired a fascinating 40-part series based on almost a hundred films, entitled Toute une époque... vue par l'ONF

Co Hoedeman was awarded the Klingsor Prize in recognition of the quality of his work and his important contribution to children's animation at the Biennale of Animation in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The NFB gives young filmmakers an opportunity to gain experience in the professional filmmaking milieu through a variety of programs and competitions, such as the Libres courts program, under which seven young filmmakers each get to make their first documentary short, the Cinéastes autochtones competition, and the Reel Diversity program for visible minority filmmakers, under which six filmmakers are each making a half-hour film.

Distribution
Launch of the first box set devoted to the work of Pierre Perrault, La Trilogie de l'Île-aux-Coudres. Pierre Perrault's name is inextricably linked with that of the NFB; French Program's Mémoire collection brings together the complete film works of this filmmaker/poet recognized since the 1960s a master of direct cinema and the ethnographic documentary.

Two important sales were made to the cable broadcaster Bravo!, which bought the broadcast rights for Shylock and Show Girls.

Retail sales of the documentary The Rocket exceeded 30,000 copies. This is the first time a documentary has achieved such records. The Rocket, directed by Jacques Payette based on an original idea by Roger Otis, and produced by Éric Michel, is an exclusive document of the exceptional career of hockey icon Maurice Richard, who became, almost despite himself, the symbol of a nation.

The NFB announced a unique partnership with Air Canada: the airline will devote an entire channel in its business class to NFB classics and, in its economy class, to shorts from the NFB's rich archives.

2000

The NFB starts digitizing its collection in MPEG-2 format, which offers near-broadcast quality image, thus entering a new phase in the development of online cinema-on-demand.
The multimedia catalogue is launched on the NFB Web site and CineRoute. This dynamic tool for managing the NFB's audiovisual heritage contains a wealth of information on the collection compiled by means of the Electronic Rights Management System (ERMS) and Synchrone, a project to integrate different databases on films and audiovisual productions.

Awards
mployer of the Year Award (tied with CITY-TV of Toronto) "in recognition of its program of employment equity"
Canadian Women in Radio and Television (CWRT)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

CINEMA VERITE: DEFINING THE MOMENT
Peter Wintonick
Special Ecumenical Award – Forum Section
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

On February 22, two NFB productions, Mon oncle Antoine and Voisins/Neighbours, were honoured as "Masterworks" by the AV Preservation Trust of Canada program, which every year recognizes 12 Canadian classics taken from the archives of the Canadian film, radio, television and sound recording industries.

In June, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Village of Idiots by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove, won the Special Jury Award, and Michèle Cournoyer's Le chapeau/The Hat received a Special Distinction from the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI Award).

Through a Blue Lens by Veronica Alice Mannix won two important awards in the Japan Prize Contest held by Japanese broadcaster NHK, including the grand prize, the Japan Prize.

Organization
In January 2000, the NFB garnered two Genie Awards: Best Documentary Feature for Just Watch Me – Trudeau and the '70s Generation/Frenchkiss - La génération du rêve Trudeau produced by Yves Bisaillon and Gerry Flahive, and Best Short Film for When the Day Breaks directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, produced by David Verrall.

In February, two NFB films were in the race for the Oscars®, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When the Day Breaks, by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, and My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, by Torill Kove, were nominated in the “Best Animated Short” category.

Production
More than a quarter of our annual production consisted of works by young first-time filmmakers.

The NFB has strengthened its commitment to reflect changes in Canadian society – not only on screen but behind the camera as well. Accordingly, our English and French Programs have further developed their production structures to help Aboriginal people and people of colour express their reality through film.

We are implementing a system of high-speed connections and high-capacity servers to link all our production centres across the country, making it possible to work together in real time and eliminating the delays normally inherent in remote operations.

Michèle Cournoyer's animated short Le chapeau/The Hat screened as part of International Critics' Week at the Cannes International Film Festival. During the year, Le chapeau/The Hat
won nine major awards.

Several NFB productions films were featured at the Walter Reade Theater in New York as part of the Blame Canada! Cinema from the North Country special series. They included Catherine Annau's Just Watch Me – Trudeau and the '70s Generation/Frenchkiss - La génération du rêve Trudeau, and When the Day Breaks, by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, as well as such classics as Pour la suite du monde by Pierre Perrault and Michel Brault, and Claude Jutra's Mon oncle Antoine.

The documentary by Marquise Lepage Des marelles et des petites filles… ( Of Hopscotch and Little Girls), co-produced by Les Productions Virage inc. and the NFB, was awarded a special Grand Prize in recognition of its outstanding merit by the jury of Communications et Société. Since its launch, the film has won numerous awards and was screened in New York at the United Nations General Assembly's special session Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century.

The CineRoute pilot project was demonstrated at INPUT 2000, an international conference on innovative programming by public broadcasters, in Halifax, and at the Net 2000 conference in Ottawa. The project, conducted in partnership with CANARIE, permits the streaming of a selection of 800 NFB films to some 50 Canadian universities and colleges over the Internet; the service will be extended in future.

French Program launched its Libres courts collection, consisting of seven documentaries by young filmmakers making their first NFB film.

We are beginning to digitize our film collection in MPEG-2 format.

Distribution
The NFB entered into a partnership with Corus Entertainment, the CBC and four independent producers to establish The Canadian Documentary Channel.

The CineRobotheque in Montreal had in excess of 100,000 visitors, up 7% over the previous year.

We developed a new version of the NFB's multimedia catalogue, a dynamic listing of 7,000 films containing a synopsis, credits and stills, along with an advanced search engine.

With the launch of the first specialty channels, such as the new Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), telecasts of our films multiplied. In addition, conventional networks are giving our productions more airtime, particularly in prime-time slots.

The NFB maintains a network of 51 partner libraries to provide access to its productions in cities across Canada. This year, 208,660 loans were made through these libraries, an increase of almost 10,000 over the previous year.

A major agreement with American DVD publisher Image Entertainment increased our non-theatrical revenues by 12% compared with the previous year. Revenues in the home consumer market more than doubled.

2001

Organization

Jacques Bensimon was named Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada.

Tom Perlmutter was named Director General of English Program. A veteran of private TV production and international co-production and children's advocacy work, he has also served as writer and editor for Cinema Canada.

Martine Chartrand's animated film Âme Noire/Black Soul won the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear award for Best Short.

NFB filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin won a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. She achieved further recognition as the first winner of the Dr. Bernard Chagnan Assiniwi Award, presented at the First Peoples' Festival in Montreal.

Sandra Macdonald was honoured by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) with the prestigious Jack Chisholm Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The NFB continued the digitization of its collection, thanks to financial support from the Canadian Content On-line Program, specifically the Canadian Memory Fund.

Postcards from Canada (Cartes postales du Canada) a breathtaking multimedia tour of Canada narrated by writer and broadcaster Peter Gzowski, opened programming on the Discovery Channel on July 1, Canada Day.

Two NFB films, Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment/Cinéma Vérité : le moment décisif and Manufacturing Consent – Noam Chomsky and the Media, were selected for the launching of the new Documentary Channel on September 7, 2001. The NFB provides about 100 hours of programming annually to the digital specialty channel, The Documentary Channel.

In September, CBC-TV paid tribute to the NFB's pioneering filmmakers of the 1960s in the series NFB Classics, hosted by Jacques Bensimon.

This year saw a number of first-time major achievements for original Web productions including an animated short, Being Ben, and Twang, an original sequence. Dog Run, La Mission/The Mission and Ludovic are amusing and educational sections for children. Creation of the new home page, online stores, the Animation and Documentary portals and Kids Destination were all large-scale projects.

Production
SALT, the critically acclaimed NFB “filmzine,” was launched on the Web and shown on the big screen during International Women's Week. SALT, directed by four young women from a Montreal high school, takes a refreshing look at youth culture today, as seen from the inside.

The NFB is experimenting with new production formats. Tableaux d'un voyage imaginaire by Chedly Belkhodja and Jean Chabot, produced by Diane Poitras, is the first NFB film shot in high definition (HD).

English Program launched its new season of films, videos and Web sites with the event Preview 2001. Journalists, broadcasters and filmmakers in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Halifax and St. John's were offered a glimpse of exciting productions to come and given an opportunity to meet the Program's directors, producers and executive producers.

French Program's Studio Animation/Jeunesse launched, on Radio-Canada TV, Une minute de science S.V.P.!, a series of 26 one-minute clips for 9- to 12-year-olds which explain different scientific phenomena.

Eighteen NFB titles took to the screens at the Atlantic Film Festival, including one produced by the Acadia Documentary Studio and five produced by the NFB's Documentary East Studio in Halifax.

Distribution
Following the tragic events of September 11, international sales were hampered by a major global economic downturn. However, demand remained encouraging in the non-theatrical market, especially in the US, where buyers wanted titles on social issues and health.

Awards
lison Duke's Raisin' Kane: A Rapumentary collected the HBO Documentary Prize at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York. This documentary feature gives an inside view of the urban music industry in Canada by following independent hip-hop artists, particularly the group Citizen Kane.

NFB filmmaker Stéphane Drolet won a Chalmers Award for his film À l'abri du temps.

Honorary Euro FIPA presented to the NFB in recognition of its outstanding production and for always remaining true to an ideal of quality and innovation.
Festival international de programmes audiovisuels (FIPA)
Biarritz, France

ATANARJUAT THE FAST RUNNER
Zacharias Kunuk¸
Caméra d'Or for director of a first feature
Cannes Film Festival, France

The first feature film ever made in Inuktitut, this NFB co-production has enjoyed great critical and public acclaim. The Inuit filmmaker also won a Genie Award for Achievement in Direction and the Claude Jutra Award for best first feature.

BLACK SOUL / ÂME NOIRE
Martine Chartrand
Golden Bear – Best Short Film
Berlin Film Festival, Germany

2002

The NFB opens the Mediatheque in Toronto, a high tech storefront offering the public an interactive window onto Canadian culture and cinema,
Films are converted to MPEG-4 format to prepare for making the collection available on the commodity Internet.

Awards
ay and Pat Browne Award for oustanding contribution to American culture.
American Culture Association
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Distinguished Achievement Award
Itinerant - HeSCA Film Festival
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

THE STONE OF FOLLY
Jesse Rosensweet
Jury Award for best short film
Cannes Film Festival

Organization
Jacques Bensimon, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB, presented his 2002-2006 Strategic Plan. The NFB's goals are as follows:

To define and position the NFB in its essential role in the Canadian audiovisual landscape in the context of a new global reality;
To connect Canadians with the NFB of today and their audiovisual legacy;
To make the NFB a more relevant reflection of Canadian society;
To confirm the NFB's role as an incubator of creative excellence and innovation;
To maintain and nurture the NFB's human resources;
To demonstrably increase the NFB's return on investment.

In March, the NFB signed the Entente pour le développement des arts et de la culture de la francophonie canadienne, a multipartite co-operation agreement between Government of Canada agencies and the Fédération culturelle canadienne française. The agreement, which was also signed by Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts and Radio-Canada, indicates the government signatories' intention to become even more actively involved in the cultural life of Canada's Francophone communities.

The NFB created the International Co-production Unit (ICU). Coming under the English and French Programs, the ICU is responsible for international co-production and enables the NFB to make optimum use of its financial, technical and creative resources in carrying out large-scale projects.

The NFB won a Distinguished Achievement Award at the International Conference on Health and Science Communications (HeSCA).

The Ray and Pat Browne Award for Outstanding Contribution to American Culture was given to the NFB by the American Culture Association in recognition of the NFB's contribution to popular culture in the Americas.

André Picard was named Director General of French Program. An experienced producer and seasoned manager, André Picard has worked in film and television production for more than 20 years and served as executive producer of many successful documentaries and television series.

The Toronto Mediatheque opened in November. Offering the public an interactive window on Canadian culture and film, this high-tech facility includes individual viewing stations, in which NFB shorts and features can be viewed on demand, a theatre, a conference room and a multi-purpose area used mainly for animation workshops.

The NFB's new logo, designed by Paprika Communications, made its debut appearance on the cover of the 2001-2002 Annual Report.

Production
English Program's Reel Diversity competition, which used to be regional, is now Canada-wide. The competition gives emerging filmmakers of colour the opportunity to make documentaries, which will be televised on CBC/CBC Newsworld.

We're continuing to find innovative ways to nurture emerging filmmakers: the Hothouse project gives young filmmakers the chance to create a short work at the Montreal English Animation Studio; Picture: this is a short documentary competition organized jointly with BC Film; and the Momentum pilot program in Ontario offers a novel way to produce high-quality, low-budget films.

French Program welcomed three emerging filmmakers, winners of the Nouveaux regards contest open to Francophones of colour: Hind Benchekroun, Hyacinthe Combary, of Burkina Faso, and Michka Saäl. French Program also established its Equity Training Program for members of visible minorities interested in improving or fine-tuning their technical knowledge through an internship or training.

Paul Driessen was honoured for his overall work by the World Festival of Animated Films in Zagreb. At the International Animation Festival in Hiroshima, his short The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg/Le garçon qui a vu l'iceberg received the Special International Jury Prize.

Cordell Barker's Strange Invaders/Tombé du ciel, which was honoured with eight awards last year, won another eight this year and was nominated for an Oscar®.

The NFB entered into a partnership with France 2 to call for proposals for two feature-length France/Canada documentary co-productions.

Distribution
The American Library Association included five NFB films in its “Notable” list of videos for different age groups: Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room!, A Hunting Lesson (Une leçon de chasse), Âme Noire/Black Soul, One of Them and Strange Invaders (Tombé du ciel).

CineRoute delivered 8,000 screenings of NFB productions to Canadian institutions.

The NFB launched an online store aimed at the US market. Individuals and institutional clients from that countrywill now be able to buy NFB videos and DVDs via the Internet.

2003

Organization
The NFB played a leadership role in July 2003, creating the Cultural Diversity Alliance (CDA), which brings together heads of Department of Canadian Heritage organizations. The purpose of the CDA is to share skills, resources and exemplary practice models and to implement common initiatives.

The Aide au cinéma indépendant – Canada (ACIC) program celebrated its 30th anniversary.

The NFB signed memoranda of understanding with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), SIPRO (Seoul Industry Promotion Foundation), and KOFIC (The Korean Film Commission of the Republic of Korea). These agreements aim to encourage co-operation among partners with a view to working together on co-productions, and to promote the exchange of information, technical knowledge and know-how.

Production
Between April 2003 and March 2004, the NFB made 146 films, videos and multimedia products, of which 93 were NFB productions and 53 were co-productions with private-sector partners. Thirty percent of these productions were by emerging filmmakers.

Vikram Jayanti's Game Over, Kasparov and the Machine, the first film made under the aegis of the World Doc Fund, which was set up in partnership with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the UK Film Council, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Arctic Mission
The prestigious series, produced by the International Co-production Unit, French Program and English Program, screened at the ninth Kyoto Protocol Conference of the Parties (CoP 9), an international meeting that brought together some 3,000 experts from governments and environmental organizations. One of the films in this series, Lords of the Arctic/Les seigneurs de l'Arctique, received the Earthwatch Award at the Environment Film Festival in Washington, the highest distinction for any environmental film.

The Mediatheque in Toronto launched Ciné-Jeudi, a series of French-language screenings presented on the first Thursday of every month. The program is aimed mainly at the Francophone community in Toronto and operates in partnership with Cinéfranco, Alliance Française and the Bureau du Québec.

The Ultrabug Cliposcope and The Mission Web sites tied for a MIM d'Or at the Marché international du multimédia de Montréal.

The NFB launched Parole citoyenne, an online platform for creators, thinkers and citizens providing a place for self-expression and fostering debate and citizen involvement. Parole citoyenne is part of Projet citoyen, an NFB initiative intended to revive democratic participation by citizens.

Distribution
The partner library network has been extended to include the Nunavut library, where a film collection has been placed for circulation among regional facilities. The NFB now has 49 partner libraries in all provinces and territories.

In its first full year of operation, the NFB's Mediatheque in Toronto welcomed 75,407 visitors.

To forge strong and sustainable links with community stakeholders, groups and organizations, the NFB has boosted outreach development activities by screening its films during local and regional events.

The U.S. and European television markets were up significantly this year, with U.S. revenues topping the $1.4 million mark.

2004

In March, the public version of CineRoute is offered to 2,000 members of the NFB Film Club, who are thus able to view a selection of 250 NFB films in their entirety directly on their personal computers.
The NFB undertakes Phase 2 of the MADIS research project, in partnership with the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM) and McGill University, with financial assistance from CANARIE. The goal of the project is to improve the audio-visual indexing of NFB films so they can be searched and retrieved by content cues like facial recognition, movement, voice recognition and semantic groupings.

Awards
Honorary Mention for its outstanding contribution to the promotion of French
Office québécois de la langue française
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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