Documentary - Archives - NFB Blog

Documentary

Explore the world of documentary—including biography, history, social and political issues, global cultures, and aboriginal topics.

Expanding the Origin Story of Canadian Cinema

Expanding the Origin Story of Canadian Cinema

A Return to Memory is a fascinating, carefully woven, loving and playfully crafted tribute to a generation of women filmmaking pioneers working at the NFB in the 1940s who most people have never heard of.

Three Suggestions for Celebrating Black History Month | Curator’s Perspective

Three Suggestions for Celebrating Black History Month | Curator’s Perspective

For a good 10 years now, we’ve offered special programming on the NFB website every February to celebrate Black History Month. The Black Voices in Cinema channel features some 30 films—but where to start? Here are three suggestions.

How Documentaries Foster the Transmission of Knowledge for Generations to Come

How Documentaries Foster the Transmission of Knowledge for Generations to Come

My practice as a storyteller, educator and filmmaker has moved to centre on intergenerational healing and taking time to transmit stories, knowledge, skills and ceremonies to the next generation.

Malartic: The Story of a Mine | Curator’s Perspective

Malartic: The Story of a Mine | Curator’s Perspective

The issues raised by Nicolas Paquet’s Malartic are wide-ranging and complex. To help you better understand some of them, this blog post will discuss three NFB films about mining.

Embracing Vulnerability: A Personal Reflection on Arab Women Say What?!

Embracing Vulnerability: A Personal Reflection on Arab Women Say What?!

The idea of representing the Arab identity is tricky. There are 22 Arab countries across Africa and Asia with a smorgasbord of traditions and cultural heritage.

A Quiet Girl Takes On the Difficult Work of Exhuming Family Secrets

A Quiet Girl Takes On the Difficult Work of Exhuming Family Secrets

Filmmaker Adrian Wills travels to Newfoundland in search of the story of his birth mother, who gave him up for adoption when he was a baby.

Afterwards: Production Diary

Afterwards: Production Diary

Afterwards represents two years of my life. Two years in the shadow of violence. Two years of struggling with something I’m desperately trying to grasp, but will never understand: violence against women.

Alanis Obomsawin’s New DVD Box Set Amplifies the Voices of Many Nations, Teaches Uncomfortable Truths

Alanis Obomsawin’s New DVD Box Set Amplifies the Voices of Many Nations, Teaches Uncomfortable Truths

To research this very piece I’m writing now, I watched The Spirit of the Tŝilhqot’in People Is Hovering Over the Supreme Court, one of the world premieres included in the...

Charles Officer: Poet of the Screen

Charles Officer: Poet of the Screen

There are some artists whose untimely death we find particularly upsetting. We reflect on what’s been lost. How many other projects might they have completed? Charles Officer was one such artist.

Is Collaborating with Your Film Subjects Worth the Risk? The Directors of Conviction Think So

Is Collaborating with Your Film Subjects Worth the Risk? The Directors of Conviction Think So

It’s difficult for many of us to understand how anyone could return to prison after being set free. What the documentary Conviction makes clear is that we can’t possibly understand the cycle until we’re in it, so it shows us what “in it” means.

Finding the Emotional Centre of a Hard-to-Watch Film

Finding the Emotional Centre of a Hard-to-Watch Film

There are many reasons to watch Nisha Pahuja’s To Kill a Tiger, but its subject matter is difficult. So focus on the film's heart.

How Chosen Families and COVID Came Into Sharp Relief During Lay Down Your Heart

How Chosen Families and COVID Came Into Sharp Relief During Lay Down Your Heart

Marie Clements and Niall McNeil are interviewed about their film, Lay Down Your Heart, and about theatre's chosen families.