Keywords Film

Cronenberg, David
Cronenberg's film Crash shook up the Cannes Film Festival in May 1996, as Videodrome had in 1980 (courtesy Maclean's).

Expansion and Production
The growth of Canadian nationalism around World War I promoted Canadian production and other aspects of the industry. The first widely released Canadian newsreels appeared, feature film production expanded, as did the Canadian-owned Allen Theatres chain and associated distribution companies, and motion picture bureaus were established by the Ontario government (1917) and the federal government (1923). This optimistic period of expansion was led by such producers as George Brownridge, principal promoter of studios at Trenton, Ontario, and producer of 3 features including The Great Shadow (1919); Ernest Ouimet, producer, exhibitor and distributor, who had also opened the world's first luxury movie theatre in Montréal in 1907; Blaine Irish, head of Filmcraft Industries, producer of the feature Satan's Paradise (1922) and of 2 successful theatrical short film series; Ben Norrish, first head of the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau and later head of Associated Screen News; Charles and Len Roos, producers, directors and cameramen of many films, including the feature Self Defence (1916); and A.D. "Cowboy" Kean, cameraman and producer since 1912.

The most successful producer was Ernest SHIPMAN, who had already established his reputation as a promoter in the US when he returned to Canada in 1919 with his author/actress wife, Nell SHIPMAN, to produce Back to God's Country in Calgary. This romantic adventure story of an embattled heroine triumphing over villainy was released worldwide and returned a 300% profit to its Calgary backers. During the next 3 years Shipman established companies in several Canadian cities and made 6 more features based on Canadian novels and filmed not in studios, as was then common, but on location. Though these films - eg, God's Crucible (1920), Cameron of the Royal Mounted (1921), The Man from Glengarry (1922) and The Rapids (1922) - were not as profitable as his first, they were not failures. Only his last film, Blue Water (1923), made in New Brunswick, was a disaster. Shipman left Canada and died in 1931 in relative obscurity.

Shipman's departure also marked the end of a minor boom in Canadian production that had begun during WWI. Only 2 features were in production in 1923 (there had been 9 in 1922) and even the production of short films showed a sharp decline. But the number of Hollywood films with Canadian plots increased markedly. At this same time Canadian box-office receipts began to be included under domestic receipts for the US, and distribution companies and theatres came under direct Hollywood control. The takeover of the Allen Theatres chain (1923) by Famous Players Canadian Corporation gave Famous Players control of the Canadian exhibition market. European film industries also faced the threat of Hollywood domination in the 1920s, but most governments moved quickly to protect their domestic industries by controlling ownership of exhibition and distribution companies, or by stimulating national production. Canada took no comparable action. Throughout the 1920s, production in Canada was mainly restricted to inserts for American newsreels, sponsored short films, and documentaries produced by government motion picture bureaus and a handful of private companies.

There was one brief resurgence in 1927 when private investors contributed $500 000 to produce Carry on Sergeant!, a drama about Canadians in WWI written and directed by British author and cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather. Though well received by critics, it died within weeks of its release. Apart from the work of Associated Screen News and government production (which also suffered funding cutbacks during the Depression), the Canadian film industry in the 1930s became virtually a branch plant of Hollywood. Feature production was restricted to the making of "quota quickies" for the British market under a British law requiring that a certain number of British or Commonwealth films be shown in British theatres.

Hollywood Domination
"Quota" companies, legally Canadian but financed by Hollywood, were established in Calgary, Montréal and Toronto, but the most active was Central Films of Victoria, which produced 12 films from 1935 to 1937. Several of these low-budget adventure films were not even set in Canada and none can be considered Canadian in a cultural sense. Even this level of production ended in 1938 when the British excluded Commonwealth production from protection, mainly because of the way the Canadian government had allowed Hollywood to circumvent the intent of the original law.

The only memorable feature of this period is The Viking, a dramatic depiction of the hazardous life of Newfoundland's seal hunters, produced in Newfoundland in 1930-31 by the American Varick Frissell (and, technically, not a Canadian production). It is a key example of what was to become a characteristic Canadian genre: documentary dramas and films blending fiction and nonfiction, often rich in a sense of place and connotation, which explore the relationship between people and their environment. This approach emerged early in Canadian film and distinguished many later Canadian features.

But in the 1930s this approach was scarcely evident. The commercial industry had died, the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau had been closed down, and even the federal Motion Picture Bureau had lapsed into sterility. Only in the work of a few individuals (especially Bill Oliver in Alberta and Albert Tessier in Québec) and at Associated Screen News (founded 1920, active until 1958) was there any continuing sense of creative vitality. Though this Montréal company's mainstay was newsreels and sponsored films, it did produce 2 widely released short-film series: Kinograms in the 1920s and the Canadian Cameo series from 1932 to 1953. Supervised and usually directed by Gordon SPARLING, these films showed flair and imagination, and were almost the only film representation of Canada either at home or abroad. This arid scene began to change in the late 1930s. New film companies were established, Odeon Theatres emerged to compete with Famous Players, and John GRIERSON wrote a report (1938) that led to the creation of the National Film Board (NFB).

PETER MORRIS

Film in English Canada
The history of English-Canadian cinema has been one of sporadic achievement accomplished in isolation against great odds. It has existed within an environment where access to capital for production, to the marketplace for distribution, and to theatres for exhibition has been extremely difficult. It has largely been a concurrent history of a struggle against an entertainment monopoly (Hollywood) and a search for an audience that is still largely unaware of an indigenous industry. The lack of production can only be understood against this economic backdrop, where the major distribution and exhibition outlets have been owned and controlled by foreigners. Without access to the marketplace, any industry will have to remain underdeveloped.

World War II brought significant changes due to the establishment of the NFB, which naturally began to train and develop Canadian filmmakers. The NFB acted as a kind of film school and it was only natural that with time these people would turn their energies to the more complex form offered by the fiction feature film, which commanded the greatest popular attention. There is evidence that in the immediate postwar period this was beginning to happen. However, these visions remained unrealized for 2 decades as Hollywood moved to protect its interests.

The problem was complex and involved the Hollywood hegemony in Canada. After the war, Canada, like many other countries, experienced a balance of payments problem with the US. The government restricted imports on a large number of goods in 1947. Money made on films was also discussed, and there were rumours that some kind of quota system would be conceived to force Hollywood to invest part of its box-office profits in Canada. This never happened. Instead, an arrangement was made and formalized into the Canadian Co-operation Project. In return for the uninterrupted flow of dollars out of Canada, the American film lobby attempted to boost tourism to Canada by (among other things) placing Canadian references in American films. The nationalistic lobbying on behalf of Canadians was successfully defeated, and the chance to create a pool of capital by taxing US dollars was lost. The NFB, which had lobbied for fiscal restrictions on Hollywood money, was also thwarted. This episode is important because it helps us to understand the 20 years after the war, in which there was virtually no production in Canada.

Only one English-Canadian feature film was made outside Québec in the 1940s - Bush Pilot (1946), an imitation of Hollywood's Captains of the Clouds (1942). A half dozen or so English feature films were made in the 1950s. Tyrone GUTHRIE, who was instrumental in establishing the Shakespearean theatre at Stratford, Ontario, directed a production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex (1956). A young Canadian, Sidney FURIE, directed 2 films of considerable promise, dealing with young people in rebellion against society. Both A Dangerous Age (1957) and A Cool Sound from Hell (1959) attracted international critical attention, especially in Britain; but the neglect the films suffered in Canada persuaded Furie to immigrate to Britain in 1960, and he has never returned to Canada to direct. Furie is typical of the emigration of talent from Canada at this time.

The 1960s started in much the same way as the previous decade had ended, with pedestrian films occasionally appearing, one of which employed the fashionable 3-D process - The Mask (1961). However, times were about to change and a new optimism was apparent. Ottawa filmmaker and producer F.R. "Budge" CRAWLEY turned his limitless energies towards features and produced Amanita Pestilens (1963) and the gritty story of an immigrant, The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964).

The NFB, although primarily focusing on documentary films, produced 2 features in the early 1960s that were a harbinger of things to come. Drylanders (1963) turned to history for its subject matter, and Nobody Waved Good-bye (1964), directed by Don OWEN, followed the problems of 2 teenagers in contemporary Toronto.

Production also began to flourish in other ways. The aesthetic advances made by the French "New Wave" of filmmakers led to a more "personalist" cinema, and the development of the cheap, mobile 16 mm camera allowed more access to a medium that had hitherto been the preserve of few. A wave of low-budget feature production swept Canada, much of it from university campuses. The first film made by Larry KENT, while he was studying at UBC, created the most controversy. The sex scenes in his The Bitter Ash (1963) turned it into an overnight sensation. Kent went on to direct 2 more features on the West Coast before moving east.

Many other student features were made, some by one-time directors, others by people who continued to work in the industry. Films such as Winter Kept Us Warm (1965), Slow Run (1968), The Columbus of Sex (1969), The Plastic Mile (1968) and Great Coups of History (1968) are a few examples. An important figure was David CRONENBERG, who made 2 experimental, futuristic films as a student before turning his talents to commercial production.

The emerging filmmakers of the 1960s, both English and French, looked to government to protect their fledgling interests. In 1967 the federal government took a significant step by creating the Canadian Film Development Corporation, now TELEFILM CANADA, funded with $10 million to develop a feature film industry that would last. However, the CFDC was only to concern itself with production, and not with commercial distribution or exhibition.

At first the CFDC gave money to some of the student filmmakers. Many of the subsequent films were artistic and commercial failures. A few attempts to imitate American models of filmmaking were supported, but with a similar lack of success. However, 2 films indicated future directions. Paul ALMOND, without CFDC money, directed Isabel (1968), a story set in the Gaspé starring Geneviève BUJOLD. In 1970, Toronto filmmaker Don SHEBIB appeared with the landmark GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD, an artistic and commercial success that received national distribution and attracted large audiences. Both films were unmistakably Canadian, using regional landscapes and characters with sensitivity. They spawned a number of films such as Paperback Hero (1973), The Hard Part Begins (1973), Wedding in White (1972), The Only Thing You Know (1971), Montreal Main (1973) and The Rowdyman (1972). The first fiction feature made by a woman, Madeleine Is ... (1971), was made on the West Coast during this vibrant period.

Most of these films were made on modest budgets; none of them were major commercial successes. The CFDC was pressured to raise the visibility of the material it was funding, either by legislating the marketplace so the distribution and exhibition of Canadian films would be guaranteed, or by employing foreign talent in conjunction with Canadians. In 1973 a voluntary quota on Canadian films was negotiated with the 2 theatre chains. The quota was not successful, but it was the furthest the federal government would go. Instead, foreign stars and directors were used with increasing regularity, a number of them employed on co-productions.

The government did act decisively to provide financial incentives for investment in the domestic film industry through tax benefits and the Capital Cost Allowance program, which resulted in a massive increase in the amount invested in Canadian production. This policy shift marked a new aggressiveness within the industry, and within government agencies responsible for film. Priorities shifted from the low-budget, cultural film to high-budget, commercial projects. At the CFDC a shift in management was made (1978) to reflect the new orientation. The emphasis was placed on film as an industry, not as an art form. Producers, not directors, were given priority.

Initially the use of foreign talent was fortuitous, producing 2 films of high quality that went on to become commercial hits: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) and Lies My Father Told Me (1975). Unfortunately, these films were the exception and not the rule. The string of international co-productions and films using international stars in trite commercial vehicles littering the second half of the 1970s was an almost complete disaster.

Though the majority of Canadian films in the late 1970s suffered from identity crises, a few worthy films emerged from this commercial period. Why Shoot the Teacher (1976) and Who Has Seen the Wind (1977), both adapted from Canadian novels, retained their integrity and did well at the box office. David Cronenberg's horror films Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979) and Scanners (1980) established his reputation at home and abroad. As attrition depleted the number of opportunists attracted solely by the financial benefits of the film industry, those producers who had something to contribute began to prosper. In 1983 the CFDC changed its name to Telefilm Canada, reflecting its new orientation. Projects were geared more for potential television release, as opposed to theatrical distribution, but it proved impossible to suppress those brave individuals who kept insisting on making feature films for theatrical exhibition. Regional CO-OPERATIVES sprinkled across the country began to train young filmmakers who remained committed to the concept of a cultural cinema, and a generation of talented producers began to emerge.

Phillip BORSOS's The Grey Fox (1982) restored pride to an industry and again gave Canadians the sense that they could produce indigenous material of high quality. In hindsight, it was a key film - a beacon of light amidst the bleak years of tax shelter films. Others quickly followed his example as a new generation of filmmakers eagerly took advantage of some enlightened government policies which provided money for their first films.

Further initiatives were taken to assist in the marketing and promotion of our own films, an area always perceived as our Achilles heel. In 1987, the Ontario Film Development Corporation was created, and this provincial agency acted as a model for other provinces that followed Ontario's lead. A newfound confidence led to a resurgence, much of it low-budget independent production from every region of the country. This in itself was a significant development for previously production had largely been limited to the metropolitan centres of Montréal and Toronto with a few notable exceptions. Now, production emerged from every region.

British Columbia has been the third-most important production centre in the country. In the mid-1980s Sandy Wilson emerged with a charming coming-of-age story set in the 1950s, My American Cousin (1985), and followed this with its sequel, American Boyfriends (1989). Her features, following hard on the heels of Borsos's The Grey Fox, did much to inject new energy into Vancouver filmmaking. Patricia Gruben, an experimental filmmaker of considerable originality, directed 3 idiosyncratic features: Low Visibility (1984), Deep Sleep (1990) and Ley Lines (1993). Other prominent women filmmakers emerged with their own highly distinctive visions. Mina Shum's delightful Double Happiness (1994) captured the dilemma of a Chinese-Canadian teenager trying to escape the traditions of her rapacious family, while talented newcomer Lynne Stopkewich managed a highly successful adaptation of a Barbara Gowdy short story with her debut feature, Kissed (1996), a film that focusses on a young female necrophiliac. John Pozer made a highly original feature debut, the offbeat The Grocer's Wife (1991), followed by The Michelle Apartments (1995). Bruno Pacheco, another filmmaker from BC, achieved modest success with the Traveller (1989), a finely crafted debut film.

The prairies were also witness to a number of highly engaging films. Most prominently, Anne WHEELER debuted with her powerful family drama, Loyalties (1986), and followed this with her glorious WWII tale about a young woman singer, Bye Bye Blues (1989). The most original production emanated from Winnipeg Film Group alumni, who after getting their feet wet in short films, graduated into the longer form. John Paizs led the way with the zany Crime Wave (1985), but it was Guy MADDIN who created an international reputation. His highly individualistic style combines silent movie conventions, ironic humour and a postmodern taste for the incongruous. Tales of Gimli Hospital (1988), Archangel (1990), the brilliant CAREFUL (1992) and Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997) constitute a remarkably coherent body of work which has made Maddin the darling of the cult crowd.

On the East Coast the most singular vision belongs to Bill MacGillivray, who consistently draws on his Nova Scotia roots. His work is a tribute to his integrity and intelligence. His first drama, the hour-long Aerial View (1979), was a prelude to the more ambitious studies undertaken in Stations (1983), Life Classes (1987), Vacant Lot (1989) and Understanding Bliss (1990). Mike Jones, based in Newfoundland, drew on a comic tradition of local humour in The Adventures of Faustus Bidgood (1986) and Secret Nation (1992). The other filmmaker of note in the region is Paul Donovan, who has carved out a successful career by making a number of more commercially oriented films.

However, it was Toronto that still provided the critical mass when it came to English-Canadian cinema. The 2 key filmmakers were undoubtedly David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan. Cronenberg acted as both a mentor and an example. He proved once and for all that a Canadian filmmaker could stay in Canada, make the films he wanted to make, and become a major player on the international scene. Furthermore, he did all this without compromising his vision. Indeed, if anything his work became more personal as his growing reputation allowed him to investigate his most personal fears. Cronenberg's career, from the experimental features with which he began his career in the 1960s (Stereo 1968, Crimes of the Future 1969), through his commercial period where he worked within the science-fiction and horror genres (Shivers 1975, Rabid 1976, The Brood 1979, Scanners 1980, VIDEODROME 1981), to his adaptations based on the work of other artists (The Dead Zone 1983, The Fly 1987, Naked Lunch 1991, M. Butterfly 1993, Crash 1996, and the remarkable Dead Ringers 1988, his masterpiece, which stands outside the above categories, constitute a remarkably cohesive world view - fear of the destructive power of the mind and the fragility of the body, a pervasive paranoia about scientific notions of progress, a fascination with sexuality and gender.

Second only to Cronenberg and deeply influenced by his example has been Atom Egoyan, who has also steered a singular path. Unlike Cronenberg, Egoyan has never worked within the Hollywood system, choosing instead to work with regular collaborators on low-budget films. His career has been built slowly but deliberately, from his first feature, the precocious Next of Kin (1984), through Family Viewing (1987), Speaking Parts (1989), The Adjuster (1991) and Exotica (1994), to the highly acclaimed, award-winning The Sweet Hereafter (1997). Egoyan's world shares many of the same attributes as Cronenberg's. Both are concerned with the transformative power of technology, perhaps a uniquely Canadian obsession largely influenced by McLuhan. Egoyan's universe is one of uncertainty, where dysfunctional families and psychologically damaged individuals struggle with their murky pasts. Felicia's Journey (1999), based on a novel of the same name by Irish author William Trevor, is the first of Egoyan's films to be set outside Canada and the first which was not independently produced.

There is a much larger group of Toronto-based filmmakers, many of whom emerged along with Egoyan in the mid-1980s. Patricia ROZEMA achieved great initial success with her acclaimed I'VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING (1987), and followed this with White Room (1990) and When Night is Falling (1995). Bruce McDonald exploited his interest in rock-and-roll to create the rambunctious Roadkill (1989), Highway 61 (1991) and Hard Core Logo (1996), along with the quieter Dance Me Outside (1994). Peter METTLER, a highly gifted cinematographer, moved with equal ease between fiction and documentary, directing while a student the surprisingly achieved Scissere (1982), and the ambitious but flawed The Top of His Head (1989). Jeremy Podeswa turned Eclipse (1994) into an auspicious debut while Darryl Wasyk provided audiences with a harrowing portrait of the drug world in H (1990).

Significantly, a cinema emerged in the 1990s which began to reflect the diverse ethnicity of the country. Srinivas Krishna drew on his Indian roots in the carnivalesque MASALA (1991) and followed this with his second film, Lulu (1996), which centred on a Vietnamese refugee. Deepa Mehta, also of Indian extraction, delved into her background with Sam and Me (1990) and Fire (1996), the latter set entirely in India. Black filmmakers began to reflect their reality: Clement Virgo directed the highly accomplished Rude (1995) before following it up with The Planet of Junior Brown (1997), while Steven Williams appeared with Soul Survivor (1995). Along with the previously mentioned Mina Shum, Keith Lock, another filmmaker of Chinese background, produced his first fiction feature, Small Pleasure (1993), after an extensive career in short filmmaking.

The CANADIAN FILM CENTRE, founded by Norman JEWISON in 1988 as the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies, began to produce an impressive body of work by the mid-1990s. Virgo and Williams were graduates of this program and a number of other highly accomplished filmmakers began to appear. David Wellington has directed 2 highly polished features: I Love a Man in Uniform (1993) and a beautifully realized adaptation of the Stratford production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, while Laurie Lynd, Holly Dale and Vincent Natali all produced features under the auspices of the CFC's Feature Film Project.

While various forms of ethnic cinema flourished, gay filmmakers also came to the fore in the 1990s. A CFC graduate, who began his career in video, has quickly established himself as one of the most original of our talents. John Greyson, who produced one of the most astonishing shorts ever produced in this country, The Making of Monsters (1991), followed this with some very innovative work, most notably Zero Patience (1993) and Lilies (1996). Underground filmmaker Bruce LaBruce has also made a distinctive contribution; his No Skin off My Ass (1990), Super 8 ½ (1994) and Hustler White (1996) delve into the gay underground.

Funding cuts at all levels of government have taken their toll recently. Telefilm Canada has been cut, numerous provincial agencies have either been disbanded or cut back, and arts councils, most notably the Canada Council, have also seen their activities severely curtailed. Established filmmakers like Egoyan and Cronenberg will continue to make their films but it remains to be seen whether the new generation of filmmakers will thrive. They are being forced to raise their money from non-government sources; typically Canada has been undercapitalized and lacked an entrepreneurial class prepared to take the risks inherent in feature film production. Some successful production companies are diversifying, producing both television and film, and owning distribution arms to release their films, but there are very few of these. Most production is still relentlessly independent with producers living from project to project. Recent world trade talks have threatened to remove state subsidies from our production system entirely although in our free trade agreement with the US culture was kept off the table. Whether we can resist the pressure from our southern neighbour in the future remains to be seen.

PIERS HANDLING

Dancing in the Dark
Still from the film Dancing in the Dark, starring Martha Henry (courtesy Library and Archives Canada).

Dead Ringers
David Cronenberg (right) is shown directing Jeremy Irons in the film Dead Ringers (photo by Attila Dory, courtesy Library and Archives Canada/MISA).

Pinsent, Gordon
Gordon Pinsent, writer and star of The Rowdyman, produced by Lawrence Dane and directed by Peter Carter (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/MISA-6535).

Highway 61 (Film Still)
Don McKellar as Pokey Jones, Peter Breck as Mr. Watson, and Valerie Buhagiar as Jackie Bangs (l to r), in "Highway 61, a film by Bruce McDonald (courtesy Telefilm).

Adjuster (Film Still)
Arsinee Khanjian staring as "Hera" in Atom Egoyan's "The Adjuster" (courtesy Telefillm).

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (Film)
Anne-Marie MacDonald and Paule Baillargeon in "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing," a film by Patricia Rozema (courtesy Telefilm).

Film in Québec
In 1939, when the Canadian government founded the NFB, Québec films consisted of the work of a few enthusiastic amateurs, most of them priests, such as Maurice PROULX and Albert Tessier. These works today, in addition to their undeniable cinematic qualities, contribute valuable ethnographic documentation. The early filmmakers found a natural outlet in the Service de ciné-photographie, founded in 1942 by the Québec government. Its mandate was to meet certain propaganda and educational needs, but it was ill equipped to do so with a minimum of staff, and working only in 16 mm. The NFB did not have these constraints, but in the early years it was primarily an anglophone organization.

Dubbed versions of English-language films were made for Québec, and little thought was given to French-language production. Under the circumstances, Vincent Paquette, Jean Palardy and a few others did heroic work. After the war they were joined by Roger Blais, Raymond Garçeau and Bernard Devlin. A francophone team took shape and encouraged the emergence of Québec filmmaking within the NFB. In its infancy it was not always differentiated from anglophone production, and sometimes it even produced in English. It achieved its best results when reacting to some specific event: Les Reportages was a noteworthy series that began offering biweekly newsreels in French in September 1941.

After WWII there was a period of active feature film production in Québec. The war caused a scarcity of French-language films, and sent some French filmmakers into exile in Québec. As a result, feature filmmaking awakened in 1944 with Le Père Chopin. This film helped create a new, vertically integrated (from production to exhibition) industry, with international contacts and religious support (financial and ideological). Other Québecois were eager to produce films, hoping to recoup their expenses on the local market and find distribution abroad. In 1947 Québec-Productions brought out Whispering City/La Forteresse, in English and French versions.

This psychological thriller did not achieve the commercial success for which the producers had hoped. The US film industry at the time was in poor shape, and QP had to modify its aspirations and be content with local markets. The company therefore drew on the highly popular subject matter of RADIO DRAMAS for its next 3 films (1949-50). Another company, Renaissance, wanted to make Catholic films and finally brought one out in 1949.

Both companies tried to break out of the strictly domestic market by arranging co-productions with French companies, but these efforts failed, and they reverted to Québec themes. Their relative success did inspire several other smaller outfits to produce a total of 7 feature films, 2 of them in English and most of them adapted from theatrical dramas. Paradoxically, 2 of these became the most famous of the era: La Petite Aurore l'enfant martyre (1951) by J.Y. Bigras, the story of a child tortured to death by a stepmother destined to be hanged, and Tit-Coq (1953) by G. GÉLINAS, the drama of an illegitimate orphan, Tit-Coq, whose fiancée is persuaded to marry another man while Tit-Coq is overseas during the war.

In 1954, after 19 films, the feature-film industry collapsed. Television dealt a fatal blow to an industry made vulnerable by its mediocrity. Today, the quality of these films is not important, but they have great value as social documents. In the 1940s and 1950s, Québec transformed from a traditional, agricultural society to an urban one. Its films seem to defend the traditional social order, especially the role of the clergy, but a closer look reveals the contrary. The characters and themes of these films, despite the negative impressions of Québec society that they evoke, depict a society in transition, a society in which the traditional Catholic values were being questioned, and thus contradict the surface message of the plot.

Throughout the next decade, feature films and private production were virtually nonexistent, although a few semiprofessionals produced work for the Québec government. Thus, the only place where Québec film survived was within the NFB. A number of brilliant filmmakers joined the NFB during the 1950s: L. Portugais, M. BRAULT, G. GROULX, C. JUTRA and others. They, and the NFB "old-timers," finally had opportunities worthy of their talents. This explosion was the result of 3 developments. First, the NFB moved from Ottawa to Montréal (1956), which meant that Québec filmmakers could live and work in Québec. Second, in 1957 public attention focused on francophone filmmakers who were not being given the same opportunities as their anglophone colleagues; the result was that French and English productions were separated administratively and financially, leading ultimately to the creation of a distinct francophone service. Third, TV demanded large amounts of material; this meant that both popular entertainment and artistic innovation received as much support as films for government departments and educational institutions (eg, 39 films in the Passe-Partout series, 1955-57; 26 dramatic episodes of Panoramique, 1957-59, a landmark for Québec fictional cinema; Temps présent, late 1950s and early 1960s).

Filmmakers were also pushing the technological limitations, trying to improve their equipment and its capacity to capture natural sound and images while mobile on location. In 1958 Brault and Groulx produced Les Raquetteurs, which was important technologically as a key step in the development of direct cinema, and socially as a statement of the nation's awakening.

The period was one of profound social change. Duplessis died in 1959; the Liberals came to power in 1960 and the QUIET REVOLUTION began. French Canadians became Québecois, and film met the need to give expression to the change. Les Raquetteurs went beyond picturesque scenes to stress membership in a national community. The early 1960s accelerated the development of Québec cinema, both within and outside the NFB. People such as Brault, Pierre PERRAULT, Jutra, P. Patry and F. Dansereau were eager to try new directions.

In 1963, a new era began with 2 categories (documentary and fiction) and 2 films: Pour la suite du monde, by Perrault and Brault; and À tout prendre, by Jutra. The first, through its technique and the importance it gave to the spoken word, marked another major step in the development of direct cinema. The second was an example of films being produced by nationalistic filmmakers throughout the world and was a personal statement by Jutra. Groulx's Le Chat dans le sac (1964) was one of the best films to that time about petit-bourgeois youth. J.P. LEFEBVRE, a prolific filmmaker, brought out Le Révolutionnaire (1965), a fable/commentary on society. Gilles CARLE, who had been with the NFB since 1961, was working on his first feature, a comedy, La Vie heureuse de Léopold Z (1965).

Coopératio, a private company, tried to get the film industry moving again. Its director, P. Patry, made Trouble-fête in 1964 and then, in the space of just over a year, 3 more films. Others also tried feature films, working privately or for the NFB or the Québec government (A. LAMOTHE, D. ARCAND, R. Lavoie, A.C. POIRIER, J. GODBOUT, B. Gosselin, G. Dufaux, C. Perron, J.C. Labrecque and others). Ferment and change were occurring in all aspects of the arts, and film forms evolved to meet the needs of the filmmakers. Direct cinema in all its variations, auteur films (documentary or docudrama) and every genre of commercial film were attempted.

Perrault dominated direct filmmaking of these years with his saga of the people of Île-aux-Coudres. With his cameramen Brault and Gosselin, he wanted not only to observe and record the awakening of the Québec nation but to play a part in that awakening as well. Yet direct cinema was not limited to nationalistic subjects. Some producers wanted to use the techniques for social action films. A number of these efforts took place within the framework of the NFB program Société nouvelle (francophone equivalent of Challenge for Change), which made its début in 1968 with St-Jérôme by F. Dansereau and lasted more than a decade. Others at the NFB concentrated on workers, eg, Denys Arcand, whose extraordinary On est au coton (1970) was the victim of political censorship for 6 years. Others (including Dansereau and, most notably, A. Lamothe) left the NFB in order to work more freely. Lamothe's Le Mépris n'aura qu'un temps (1970) gave us an economic, social and political analysis that film had not previously offered.

Between Perrault's approach and that of the activist films arose many other forms of direct cinema, united only by their technique and their methods. This kind of film moved steadily to the forefront. Another significant figure in the late 1960s and early 1970s was Labrecque, particularly with his La Visite du général de Gaulle au Québec (1967) and La Nuit de la poésie (1970).

But the movement began to falter at the beginning of the 1970s, partly because some of its practitioners (Labrecque, Gosselin and, especially, Brault and Groulx) were attracted by the possibilities of fiction film. Brault made his first solo feature film in 1967, Entre la mer et l'eau douce, which showed the marks of his long apprenticeship as a cameraman/producer. In 1974, with Les Ordres, Brault once again put documentary skills at the service of fiction and, with his reconstruction of Québec under the WAR MEASURES ACT in 1970, made the perfect synthesis of the flexibility, improvisation and attention to detail of direct cinema with the dramatic progression and structured narrative of fiction. Groulx went exactly the opposite way in both style and content. He offered a clear personal statement for discussion and criticism. Three features illustrate his methodology: Où êtes-vous donc? (1969), Entre tu et vous (1969) and 24 heures ou plus (1972). His films integrated documentary and fiction at the editing stage, a technique in which he still leads.

Fiction moved away from direct cinema and won new adherents for a second reason. In 1967 the CFDC was born, and with it avenues of financing. The next year D. HÉROUX brought out Valérie, Quebec's first erotic film and commercial success. These 2 factors opened the way for commercial filmmaking and explain the 1970s production boom. Québec had its various waves - erotic films (including C. Fournier's box-office hit Deux femmes en or, 1970), subtle comedies and thrillers. But this boom in commercial films soon ran into trouble, made even worse by foreign control of the key sectors of distribution. Some commercial films surmounted the problems of quality versus commercial viability. Gilles Carle, essentially a storyteller, knew how to lace his films with humour and sex, ideology and social colour, showmanship and stars, making them much more interesting than most of the others in his field. With his fifth feature, La Vraie Nature de Bernadette (1972), Carle won lasting international acclaim.

Others also knew how to combine quality with commercial success. The best known is probably Denys Arcand, whose Réjeanne Padovani (1973) and Gina (1974) blended social observation and colour with perfect artistic harmony; or Claude Jutra, who won acclaim for his NFB film Mon oncle Antoine (1971), one of the finest Québec films ever made. Unfortunately, he did not have the same commercial success with Kamouraska (1973), a period film based on the celebrated novel by Anne Hébert, and an expensive co-production. A number of other NFB producers (M. Carrière, C. Perron, J. Godbout, etc) made films that could scarcely be distinguished from private ones. The trailblazer of this kind was J. BEAUDIN's tender and simple period film, J.A. Martin, photographe (1976).

J.P. Lefebvre dominated the field of the more personal statement for 15 years, with 18 very important features to his credit. His work evolved from 2 fundamental approaches to filmmaking: the first, social, concrete, reflective and critical; the second, abstract, symbolic and intimate. Jacques LEDUC, who concentrated on nondramatic moments of daily life and the state of the soul, belonged to that same generation. Leduc's work, marginal yet high profile, belonged both to the school of direct cinema (On est loin du soleil, 1970) and to fiction (Chronique de la vie quotidienne, 1973-78).

A group of women filmmakers within the NFB produced En tant que femmes (1973-74), a series of films, some direct and some fictional, about issues that concerned women. Women had very recently found their voice in Québec film with the appearance of the first feature made by a woman in Québec (De mère en fille, by A.C. POIRIER, 1968), followed in 1972 by the first feature privately made by a woman, La Vie rêvée, by M. DANSEREAU.

The NFB series encouraged film production by women. Dansereau now has several films to her credit, as does Poirier (including the famous Mourir à tue-tête, 1979, about the psychological, social and political implications of rape). Filmmakers such as L. Carré, P. Baillargeon, M. Lanctôt and L. Pool explored new and unexpected paths in fiction. Direct films moved onto uncharted ground (eg, sexism, domestic work, the couple, violence, racism) with the work of L. Guilbeault, H. Girard, D. Létourneau, T. Rached and others. The work done was much more important than its numerical output would indicate, and was a sign of awakening, renewal and dynamism.

Another kind of dynamism in the 1970s originated with young producers who concentrated more on individual, even marginal, problems than on social ones. Some excelled in film for children (A. Melançon); others went happily from fiction to direct (J. Chabot and R. Frappier). Some were more traditional, more narrative, one of the best being F. MANKIEWICZ (Les Bons Débarras, 1980). Three names dominated the ironical fringe: M.A. FORCIER (4 features, including Bar salon, 1973), J.G. Nöel (3 features, including Ti-cul Tougas, 1976) and P. Harel.

These filmmakers had in common that several of their films were produced or co-produced by the Association coopérative de productions audio-visuelles, which receives funding from the INSTITUT QUÉBÉCOIS DU CINEMA for shorts and first films. This production by young people assures Québec film a vitality and creativity that otherwise would be lacking - especially in fiction, since this field has been dominated for some years by large established companies. An exception to this is the astonishing Les Plouffe (1981) by G. Carle, in which historical authenticity is matched by emotional accuracy.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, direct films once again become the best part of Québec cinema. This is primarily because of the work of the veterans: Perrault, with his 2 major film cycles on Abitibi and the MONTAGNAIS-NASKAPI (including Pays de la terre sans arbre ou le Mouchouânipi, 1980); Gosselin, Brault, André Gladu and a few others with films that mix ethnology, pop culture and nationalism; M. Moreau's pedagogic and ideological films; A. Lamothe's 2 social and political series about Indian life and culture (Carcajou et le péril blanc, 1973-76; Innu asi, 1979-80; Mémoire battante, 1983); and G. Dufaux, a director/cameraman of sensitivity and humanity whose subjects have included everything from old age to education to China.

As the 1980s began, Québec film was again in crisis. The number of private productions was declining dangerously; even the NFB faced cutbacks. Filmmakers with high hopes for the 1975 Loi sur le cinéma were disillusioned. The IQC's 5-year plan also closed down some possibilities. The CFDC and the Société générale du cinéma were interested in a profitable, commercial film industry based on international markets, and this is not always compatible with filmmakers' definitions of a national film industry. Direct and documentary filmmaking decreased, even at the NFB.

The genre which most clearly reflected the conflict between commercial interests of the industry and the artistic and political concerns of filmmakers was the documentary. Some documentarists explored the latest trends, such as combining non-fiction and fiction (Paul Tana, Tahani Rached, Richard Boutet), sliding towards autobiography (Jacques Leduc, Jean Pierre Lefebvre, Marilu Mallet, Jean Chabot, Sylvie Groulx), or taking an experimental approach (Fernand Bélanger). Others, such as Jean-Claude Labrecque, André Gladu, Serge Giguère, Marcel Simard, Jean-Daniel Lafond and Richard Lavoie - to name only a few - took a standard approach to cultural and social topics.

Fewer productions, money problems, higher costs, unemployment for competent producers, technicians and artists, and huge productions with international content were elements of Québec filmmaking in the early 1980s. Just when fiction films were hitting a low, a low that some associated with the post-referendum depression, a few films came on the scene to reverse the tendency. The huge success, at home and abroad, of D. Arcand's THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE and Jésus de Montréal are the most striking examples. The emergence of new directors breathed life into production. To be singled out are Yves Simoneau (Pouvoir intime, 1981, Dans le ventre du dragon, 1989), Léa Pool (Anne Trister, 1986), Jean-Claude Lauzon (Un zoo, la nuit, 1987, Léolo, 1992), Jean Beaudry et François Bouvier (Jacques et Novembre, 1984, Les Matins infidèles, 1989), Pierre Falardeau (Elvis Gratton, 1985, Octobre, 1994). Inspired by Arcand, older filmmakers caught a second wind. Consider Jacques Leduc, who reached a new maturity with Trois pommes à côté du sommeil (1988) and Marc-André Forcier, who better than ever mixed realism, poetry and magic (Kalamazoo, 1988, Une Histoire inventée, 1990, Le vent du Wyoming, 1994.

Recent years have also confirmed a new genre - films for children - thanks to the series, Contes pour tous, which involved such notable directors as André Melançon, Michael Rubbo and Jean Beaudry. Certain films in this series were co-productions, an approach which is also being applied to feature films by the NFB, private industry, the IQC, the CFDC and TV. Since the crisis in Québec film has not been primarily one of creativity or quality but of production, this multiple participation may provide the means for continuing growth in the industry.

Commercial practices in the 1980s and 1990s go off in all directions. Francophones direct in English hoping to penetrate the international market, and television becomes a regular, if not committed, partner. This explains the production of several telefilms and long feature films that have been turned into series, namely, Les Plouffe (Gilles Carle, 1981), Bonheur d'occasion (Claude Fournier, 1982) and Le Matou (Jean Beaudin, 1985). Increasingly one finds film directors making popular television series.

The high level of film creation which has earned a reputation for Québec cinema for more than 20 years faces challenges but remains a living force in the 1980s and 1990s despite the loss of names from the preceding generation. Animated films maintain their high quality thanks to the work of Frédéric BACK, Co HOEDEMAN, Jacques Drouin, Suzanne Gervais and Pierre Hébert, who made his first feature film in 1997, La Plante humaine.

As regards films by women, Micheline Lanctôt (Deux actrices, 1993), Mireille Dansereau (Le Sourd dans la ville, 1992), Paule Baillargeon (Le Sexe des étoiles, 1993) and Léa Pool (Mouvements du désir, 1994) occupy an important place between Anne Claire Poirier, who rediscovered her inspiration in the moving Tu as crié Let Me Go (1997), and the new wave (Marquise Lepage, Catherine Fol, Michka Saäl, Manon Briand, Helen Doyle).

A new generation is arising among male directors who pursue personal and bold formal innovations, encouraged by video and other arts. Consider André Turpin (Zigrail, 1995, Cosmos, 1996), François Girard (Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould, 1993, The Red Violin, 1998) Robert Morin (Requiem pour un beau sans coeur, 1993, Windigo, 1994), Michel Langlois (Cap Tourmente, 1993). Even the famous dramaturge Robert Lepage has added films to his creative range (Le Confessional, 1995, Le Polygraphe, 1996, Nô, 1998).

The 1990s have seen the NFB radically transformed by several occurrences, such as the retirement of the filmmakers who brought it renown, the role played by TELEFILM in granting huge amounts to television production, SODEC's increasing reliance on industry and its preoccupation with distribution abroad, and the means adopted by independent filmmakers who try to survive in a world where video seems often the only practicable solution. Québec cinema now finds itself at a major turning point where it must redefine its goals and outlook.

PIERRE VÉRONNEAU

Authors contributing to this article:

Léolo
Maxime Collin starring in "Léolo", a film by Jean-Claude Lauzon (courtesy Telefilm).

Les bons Débarras
Still from the 1978 film by Francis Mankiewicz, starring young actress Charlotte Laurier (courtesy Library and Archives Canada).

Decline of the American Empire
Still from Denys Arcand's award-winning film "The Decline of the American Empire" (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/MISA/15419).

Author PIERRE VÉRONNEAU, PETER MORRIS, PIERS HANDLING

Suggested Reading
Louise Carrière, Femmes et cinéma québécois 1983); Michel Coulombe et Marcel Jean, eds, Le dictionnaire du cinéma québécois (1991); Joseph I. Donohoe Jr., Essays on Québec Cinema (1991); Douglas Fetherling, ed, Documents in Canadian Film (1990); Sylvain Garel and André Pâquet, Les cinémas du Canada (1992); M. Knelman, Home Movies (1987); Yves Lever, Histoire générale du cinéma au Québec (1988) and Le cinéma de la Révolution tranquille (1991); Peter Morris, Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema 1895-1939 (1978); Pierre Véronneau and Piers Handling, eds, Self Portrait: Essays on the Canadian and Québec Cinemas (1980).

Links to Other Sites
National Film Board of Canada
Watch full-length films, clips, and trailers - all free for home viewing. Scroll down the page to see all of the available online features. Kids of all ages can direct their own movie clips and more in NFBKids.ca. From the National Film Board of Canada.

David Cronenberg
A profile of celebrated Canadian writer and film director David Cronenberg. From the Toronto International Film Group.

Toronto International Film Festival
The website for the Toronto International Film Festival. Check out the latest film news and links to the Bell Lightbox, the Film Reference Library, Cinematheque Ontario, Sprockets, Reel Learning, Film Circuit, Canada's Top Ten, and related features.

Nat Taylor
Historica’s acclaimed one-minute movies about Canadian history.

IMAX
Check out the latest giant screen film productions from the IMAX Corporation.

Patricia Rozema
This website offers a profile of talented Canadian writer, director and producer Patricia Rozema. Also features synopses of her internationally acclaimed feature films.

Glossary: Film Terms
A glossary of terminology related to film production. From the National Film Board website. A Microsoft Word document.

Canadian Film Institute
The CFI website profiles notable Canadian filmmakers and showcases various film genre. Also provides information about Canadian film festivals.

Telefilm Canada
The Corporation provides financial assistance and strategic leverage to the industry in producing high-quality works - e.g. feature films, drama series, documentaries, children's shows, variety/performing arts programs, and new media products - that reflect Canadian society, including its linguistic duality and cultural diversity.

Canadian Retrospective: The Films of Nell Shipman
This online brochure offers an overview of the life and career of pioneer film producer and star Nell Shipman. From the Film Reference Library of the Toronto International Film Festival. A pdf file.

Nell Shipman's Films
Lists credits for some of the films Nell Shipman wrote, directed or appeared in. A University of Toronto website.

Nell Shipman
This site is dedicated to Nell Shipman, Canadian-born author, actress, and pioneering director of outdoor cinematography. From the Howard Anderson Idaho Film Archive.

NFB Online Photogallery
View production photos from your favourite NFB films.

Back to God’s Country
This website provides a brief synopsis of Nell Shipman’s “Back to God’s Country,” Canada’s first English language feature film. Check out the colourful movie poster. From the Canadian Heritage Film Festival.

Nell Shipman: a Case of Heroic Femininity
This article about Canadian pioneer film maker Nell Shipman provides a detailed analysis of Shipman's place in the history of women in films and filmmaking. The author, Kay Armatage, states that “Nell Shipman is an exemplary figure, for her story parallels the entry, participation and finally exclusion from cinema that was experienced by women filmmakers as a group in the first stage of film history.” A University of Toronto website.

Allan King: Apprenticeship
Allan King’s reminiscences about his early years in television and film production offer a distinctively Western perspective on the emergence of television broadcasting in Canada. From the website for the Film Reference Library.

Double Happiness
This study guide for the film "Double Happiness" also focuses on the history of "women in film." From the website for Vancouver's Pacific Cinémathèque. A PDF file.

Portraits
Check out the biographies of the many outstanding filmmakers and other professionals who have been associated with the National Film Board.

Documentary Lens
The purpose of "Documentary Lens" is to show how National Film Board documentaries have portrayed Canada and the world since the founding of the Film Board in 1939. Click on the "View Entire Film" link to watch films online.

Stories from Ontario's Movie Theatres
Raise the curtain on this illustrated history of Ontario’s movie theatres. From the Archives of Ontario website.

Catherine Russell
The website for Catherine Russell, Professor of Film Studies at Concordia University. Check out her current projects, course descriptions, and synopses of previous publications.

Glossary: Motion Picture and Television Terms
A glossary of motion picture and television terms. From the website for the Calgary Background Club.

Florence Lawrence
A photo gallery featuring silent film star Florence Lawrence. From the Silent-Movies.com website.

Florence Laurence
A brief video clip from a 1909 film featuring Florence Laurence. From the gettyimages website.

Historica: Florence Lawrence
A Historica "Screen Legends" video dedicated to silent film era actress Florence Lawrence.

Florence Lawrence
An article about the life and career of early film star and inventor Florence Lawrence. From the website for the Lemelson-MIT Program.

The Silent Treatment Ends for Actress Florence Lawrence
A profile of Florence Lawrence, described as "the very first movie star." From the Los Angeles Times website.

Writers Guild of Canada
The Writers Guild of Canada represents about 2,000 professional screenwriters working in film, television, radio, and digital production.