To help mark #Canada150, the NFB is offering up special online programming and public events across the country that put Canadians in touch with their nation’s stories. Our third installment, What We Seek, celebrates our thirst for knowledge and discovery, and celebrates the intrepid expeditions and great Canadian inventions.

>> Explore What We Seek now<<

A scientist peers for God in the electrical activity of our brains. A 73-year-old prospector searches for gold in the remote wilderness of the north. An Ojibway man with advanced diabetes looks to his people’s past to find a way forward.

As Canadians, we have a long and rich history of searching: for answers, for cures, for riches, for a deeper sense of self. In the third installment of our series, we’ve done some digging of our own to unearth what, exactly, we seek—and what we find along the way.

Great Explorers

In William Pettigrew’s The Vinland Mystery (1984), watch as researchers unearth the only known Norse settlement in North America, at l’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.

The Vinland Mystery, William Pettigrew, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Gold Rush

A 73-year-old prospector searches for a legendary gold deposit in Northwest Territories, in Donald Wilder’s Nahanni (1962).

Nahanni, Donald Wilder, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Arctic Exploration

Arctic IV (1974) is James de B. Domville’s early look an underwater pioneers beneath the polar ice.

Arctic IV, James de B. Domville, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Great Discoveries 

Stanley Jackson’s The Quest (1958) recreates Frederick Banting and Charles Best’s discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto, profiling one of Canada’s greatest scientific breakthroughs.

The Quest, Stanley Jackson, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Beyond the Limits of Art

In the field of cinematic discovery, Creative Process: Norman McLaren (1990) is Donald McWilliams’ stunning journey into Norman McLaren’s artistic and technical innovations.

Creative Process: Norman McLaren, Donald McWilliams, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Spiritual Quest

Brion Whitford, an Ojibway man with advanced diabetes, is on a deeply personal quest into his people’s past to find a way forward in The Gift of Diabetes (2005), co-directed by Whitford with Genie Award-winning Winnipeg filmmaker John Paskievich.

The Gift of Diabetes , O. Brion Whitford & John Paskievich, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Out-of-this-world playlist

As a featured part of What We Seek, the NFB is also showcasing a new playlist, Conquest of Space.

On September 29, 1962, Canada joined the space race with the launch of Alouette 1, a satellite designed and built entirely in this country. This Canadian first made us only the fourth country to operate a satellite, after the USSR, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Discover more about this and other extra-planetary events in our playlist of films on space and space exploration:

• Satellites of the Sun (1974) by Sidney Goldsmith
• Mirrors of Time (1990) by Jean-Jacques Leduc
• Universe (1962) by Roman Kroitor and Colin Low
• Moon Man (2004) by Paul Morstad
• Shadow Chasers (2000) by Carlos Ferrand, Jean Marc Larivière, Fadel Saleh, and Eileen Thalenberg
• Cosmic Zoom (1968) by Eva Szasz
• Death of Kao-Kuk (2015) by Luc Chamberland
• Hubert Reeves, Star Teller (2002) by Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol
• Scientifiq Piqniq (2013) by Paloma Dawkins

Previous chapters

What We Call Home, the first installment of 1 Nation. 4 Lenses, was launched online at NFB.ca on February 20, followed by What We Protect (April 20). The final chapter, What We Fight For, will go online in September.

Follow the conversation or add to it on social media by using the hashtag #Canada150.