Canadian Film History

Question 1

What is the CFDC?

When was it established?

Answer 1

Canadian Film Development Corporation (established by the Government of Canada) in 1967

Question 2

When was the CDFC formed??

Answer 2

Formed in 1967 (gov. funding)

Question 3

Why was the CFDC established?

Answer 3

to support Canada’s film industry - independent film funding

Question 4

What was the CFDC renamed to?

When was it renamed?

Answer 4

CFDC was renamed Telefilm in 1984.

Question 5

What was the NFB?

When was it established?

Answer 5

National film board of Canada - 1939

Question 6

Under whose direction was the NFB established?

Answer 6

John Grierson

Question 7

By 1945 how many movies was the NFB producing a year?

Answer 7

300

Question 8

What did the NFB concentrate on producing?

Answer 8

Propaganda machine: pro-ally

Emphasis on documentaries & animation for non-theatrical distribution over narrative fiction.

Question 9

Did the NFB try to compete with Hollywood?

Answer 9

No - establish an alternative tradition: (documentary & animation)

Question 10

What three Canadian film directors does Wexman mention?

Answer 10

David Cronenberg
Atom Egoyan
Guy Maddin

Question 11

What did early Cronenberg films depict? Or what were they concerned with?

Answer 11

the interplay of technology and the human body

Question 12

List three prominent Cronenberg films (and years)

Answer 12

Videodrome (1983)
The Fly (1986)
Crash (1996)

Question 13

What does Wexman sort-of identify as the ‘Canadianness’ of Canadian films? What do they explore?

Answer 13

Expression of experience shaped by its location: on the edge of the vast northern wilderness.

“you can’t but be aware of space and what it means to live on the fringe of this unexplored territory and of possibility”

Question 14

Who was James Freer?

Answer 14

‘first’ Canadian filmmaker - filming rural scenes:

i.e landscapes & trains

Question 15

James Freer immigrated from where and to where?

What year?

Answer 15

1888: Emigrates from England to Manitoba.

settles down in Brandon.

Question 16

When did James Freer begin filming? What was his contribution to Canadian cinema?

Answer 16

1888 - emigrates…
1897 - begins filmmaking rural scenes (i.e: landscapes, trains)
CPR notices his films and funds Freer’s “10 years in manitoba” - toured throughout the UK to promote immigration to Canada.

Question 17

When was the ‘Exhibits and Publicity Bureau’ formed?

What was it renamed to? And remand again to?

Answer 17

1918 - Exhibits & Publicity Bureau
1923 - Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau
1939 - replaced by National Film Board (present)

Question 18

When did James Freer migrate to Canada? When did he die?

Answer 18

1888 - emigrates

1855-1933 (life)

Question 19

Who coined the term documentary??

Answer 19

John Grierson

Question 20

When did the Canadian Government hire Grierson?

Answer 20

1938

Question 21

When was the National Film Board created?

Answer 21

1939

Question 22

Which influential filmmaker did Grierson hire under the NFB?

Answer 22

Norman McLaren

Question 23

When did canadian government funding for independent filmmaking begin?

Answer 23

1967

Question 24

List 3 conditions that a film must meet in order to qualify for funding under the CFDC (Telefilm corp)

Answer 24

1) Secure 50% of budget elsewhere,
2) Address Canadian content on-screen.
3) approx. 2/3rd of crew members employed must be Canadians.

Question 25

During what years was the ‘Tax Shelter’ program implemented?

Answer 25

1970’s (largely late 70’s & early 80’s)

Question 26

What was the Tax Shelter program?

Answer 26

system of tax write-offs for investors in feature film productions

Question 27

What were four results of the Tax Shelter program?

Answer 27

• increase in production and investment
• competitive marketplace
• focus on commercial gains over art
• reliance on popular/genre cinema…

Question 28

What movement ‘began’ in Hollywood 1975?

Answer 28

exploitation films

Question 29

List some Cronenberg films mentioned in class.

Answer 29

Shivers (1975)
Rabid (1977)
Videodrome (1983)
The Fly (1986)

Question 30

What two corporations funded Cronenberg’s ‘Shivers’?

Answer 30

CFDC & Cinepix (softcore porn company)

Question 31

What were tax shelter movies?

Answer 31

Canadian Movement during the 80’s… created opportunities for emerging directors.

Question 32

What were the ‘video nasties’?

Answer 32

degree of ritual that accompanied the emergence of VCR
limiting access & providing censorship (MPPA)
Access of exploitation/snuff films
BANNED films
Anxiety - access to anything - gonna ‘rot peoples’ brains’

Question 33

When did the VCR come a household item?

Answer 33

80’s

Question 34

When did the NFB begin producing narrative films?

Answer 34

1960’s

Question 35

How many films a year were being produced by 1945? What kind of films were they?

Answer 35

300 films a year. Short documentaries and newsreels focusing on regions and national landscape/topography, as well as various animations

Question 36

Other than documentaries and infomercial style films about the country, what kind of films were produced? Who was the noteworthy filmmaker?

Answer 36

An animation unit was also set up; Norman McLaren won an Oscar in 1952 for “Neighbors”

Question 37

Under whose direction was the NFB first set up? Who was he? How did this affect Canadian film culture at the time?

Answer 37

National Film Board under John Grierson’s direction, a notable documentarian. As such, his interests greatly affected the direction of Canadian film; most films were not fiction, but of a documentarian nature focusing on the Canadian landscape.