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Challenge for ChangeActivist Documentary at the National Film Board of Canada |
eBook Available
An examination of the radical politics and cinema of the legendary documentary film program devoted to social change.
The activist documentary program Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle, which ran from 1967 to 1980 and produced films in both French and English, stands out as a particularly influential and original part of the National Film Board of Canada's critically acclaimed body of work. The films produced by this program were among the first to add portable video to the tested arsenal of 16mm, and challenged audiences, subjects, and filmmakers to confront sexism, poverty, and marginalization in the hope of developing community as well as political awareness and empowerment.
Pioneering participatory, social change-oriented media, the program had a national and international impact on documentary film-making, yet this is the first comprehensive history and analysis of its work. The volume's contributors study dozens of films produced by the program, their themes, aesthetics, and politics, and evaluate their legacy and the program's place in Canadian, Québécois, and world cinema. An informative and nuanced look at a cinematic movement, Challenge for Change reemphasizes not just the importance of the NFB and its programs but also the role documentaries can play in improving the world.
Pioneering participatory, social change-oriented media, the program had a national and international impact on documentary film-making, yet this is the first comprehensive history and analysis of its work. The volume's contributors study dozens of films produced by the program, their themes, aesthetics, and politics, and evaluate their legacy and the program's place in Canadian, Québécois, and world cinema. An informative and nuanced look at a cinematic movement, Challenge for Change reemphasizes not just the importance of the NFB and its programs but also the role documentaries can play in improving the world.
Details
574 Pages, 6.25 x 9.25
69 b&w photos
ISBN 9780773536623
February 2010
Formats: Cloth, eBook
"Was Challenge for Change too early? And was the same true for public access cable shows? Will the digital age produce media that is more democratic -- and creates real change? This monumental book allows us to look back at a rich past, which will help to inform our future." Marc Glassman, Documentary.org
"Challenge for Change seamlessly integrates the history of this classic National Film Board program with present day initiatives. It sets the stage for further exploration on the subject and deals comprehensively with the complex interrelation of English and French production. The first of its kind, this book is ambitious, accessible, and superbly informed." Darrell Varga, Division of Historical and Critical Studies, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
"Challenge for Change is amongst the most exciting, bold, and innovative moments in the history of film. Now we are fortunate to have the perfect chronicle of this distinguished series through a stunning collection of documentation and critique. Bravo!' Toby Miller, author of Global Hollywood 2
"From 1967 to 1980, Challenge for Change carved out a place for activist filmmaking and pioneered social change-oriented media ... Th[is] 600-page tome ... is a thorough, nuanced and fitting tribute to the program, its films, history and influence on more recent NFB initiatives." Hour
"[T]he book makes an excellent film reference, examining the thoughts, ideas, and films of many of Canada's finest documentarians. During this era of neo-conservative restructuring, the radical voice, once vocal in government institutions like the CBC and the NFB, has fallen silent. The release of Challenge for Change is a dramatic and poignant reminder of what we have lost in transition." The Mark News
"The editors deserve praise for producing a fairly comprehensive and well-integrated volume and concise introductory overview of its contents. An indispensable resource for policy makers, researchers, and students alike. Summing Up: Highly recommended." Choice
"[Challenge for Change] is an excellent - indeed indispensible - addition to anyone teaching about documentary, alternative media, and Canadian and Québécois communication and cultural issues because it covers the most important ... contributions of the CFC, 1967-1980." Canadian Journal of Communication
"The first and most comprehensive historical and analytical collection to be published dealing with this critically acclaimed NFB project. Equally important, the book effectively and uniquely challenges us to revisit the CFA/SN project and experience with an eye at present-day resourcefulness, on the level of the changing dynamics of social and political activism as well as on the level of the utility of new and more demographically accessible technical ingenuity... [A]n essential chronicle of one of the most pioneering moments in film history." Malek Khouri, University of Toronto Quarterly
"Challenge for Change seamlessly integrates the history of this classic National Film Board program with present day initiatives. It sets the stage for further exploration on the subject and deals comprehensively with the complex interrelation of English and French production. The first of its kind, this book is ambitious, accessible, and superbly informed." Darrell Varga, Division of Historical and Critical Studies, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
"Challenge for Change is amongst the most exciting, bold, and innovative moments in the history of film. Now we are fortunate to have the perfect chronicle of this distinguished series through a stunning collection of documentation and critique. Bravo!' Toby Miller, author of Global Hollywood 2
"From 1967 to 1980, Challenge for Change carved out a place for activist filmmaking and pioneered social change-oriented media ... Th[is] 600-page tome ... is a thorough, nuanced and fitting tribute to the program, its films, history and influence on more recent NFB initiatives." Hour
"[T]he book makes an excellent film reference, examining the thoughts, ideas, and films of many of Canada's finest documentarians. During this era of neo-conservative restructuring, the radical voice, once vocal in government institutions like the CBC and the NFB, has fallen silent. The release of Challenge for Change is a dramatic and poignant reminder of what we have lost in transition." The Mark News
"The editors deserve praise for producing a fairly comprehensive and well-integrated volume and concise introductory overview of its contents. An indispensable resource for policy makers, researchers, and students alike. Summing Up: Highly recommended." Choice
"[Challenge for Change] is an excellent - indeed indispensible - addition to anyone teaching about documentary, alternative media, and Canadian and Québécois communication and cultural issues because it covers the most important ... contributions of the CFC, 1967-1980." Canadian Journal of Communication
"The first and most comprehensive historical and analytical collection to be published dealing with this critically acclaimed NFB project. Equally important, the book effectively and uniquely challenges us to revisit the CFA/SN project and experience with an eye at present-day resourcefulness, on the level of the changing dynamics of social and political activism as well as on the level of the utility of new and more demographically accessible technical ingenuity... [A]n essential chronicle of one of the most pioneering moments in film history." Malek Khouri, University of Toronto Quarterly
Thomas Waugh, professor in the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University, is the author of The Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas.
Michael Brendan Baker is Professor of Film Studies in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at Sheridan College.
Ezra Winton is a PhD candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University and the founder of the Cinema Politica Network.
Michael Brendan Baker is Professor of Film Studies in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences at Sheridan College.
Ezra Winton is a PhD candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University and the founder of the Cinema Politica Network.
Challenge for Change
Edited by Thomas Waugh, Michael Brendan Baker, and Ezra Winton
Table of Contents
Illustrations | ix
Acknowledgments | xi
Foreword Putting Ideas into the World: A Conversation with Naomi Klein about Starting Conversations with Film
EZRA WINTON AND NAOMI KLEIN | XV
1 Introduction: Forty Years Later… a Space for Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle
MICHAEL BRENDAN BAKER, THOMAS WAUGH, AND EZRA WINTON | 3
PART 1
HISTORICAL SPACES: IN THE HEAT OF THE ACTION
2 Grierson and Challenge for Change (1984)
COLIN LOW | 16
3 In the Hands of Citizens: A Video Report (1969)
DOROTHY TODD HÉNAUT and BONNIE SHERR KLEIN | 24
4 Saint-Jérôme: The Experience of a Filmmaker as Social Animator (1968)
FERNAND DANSEREAU | 34
5 A Voice for Canadian Indians: An Indian Film Crew (1968)
NOEL STARBLANKET | 38
6 Fiction Film as Social Animator (1971-72) interview with LÉONARD FOREST BY DOROTHY TODD HÉNAUT | 41
7 Working with Film: Experiences with a Group of Films about Working Mothers (1975)
KATHLEEN SHANNON, ELIZABETH PRINN, DORIS MAE OULTON, and IRENE ANGELICO | 52
8 Memo to Michelle about Decentralizing the Means of Production (1972)
JOHN GRIERSON | 61
9 Can We Evaluate Challenge for Change? (1972)
DAN DRISCOLL | 66
PART 2
COMMUNITY SPACES: FILMING AT THE MARGINS
10 Media for the People: The Canadian Experiments with Film and Video in Community Development (1992)
PETER K. WIESNER | 73
11 Cities for Change: The Housing Challenge
GERDA JOHANNA CAMMAER | 103
12 The En tant que femmes Series, the Film Souris, tu m’inquiètes, and the Imaging of Women’s Consciousness in 1970s Quebec
MARIE-ÈVE FORTIN | 117
13 Le mouton noir: Vidéographe and the Legacy of Société nouvelle
SCOTT MACKENZIE | 136
14 The Things I Cannot Change: A Revisionary Reading
BRENDA LONGFELLOW | 149
PART 3
SCREEN SPACES: SPOTLIGHT ON THE FILMS AND FILMMAKERS
15 You Are on Indian Land: Interview with George Stoney (1980)
ALAN ROSENTHAL | 169
16 Cree Hunters of Mistassini: Challenge for Change and Aboriginal Rights
MICHELLE STEWART | 180
17 “Nation Time” at Kwacha House: The Transitional Modalities of Encounter at Kwacha House - Halifax
KASS BANNING | 190
18 The Films of Maurice Bulbulian: Science and Conscience
THOMAS WAUGH | 201
19 The Curious Case of Wilf: Popular Music in Canadian Documentary
MICHAEL BRENDAN BAKER | 210
20 Portapak as Performance: VTR St-Jacques and VTR Rosedale
BRIAN RUSTED | 218
21 Bonnie Klein, Saul Alinsky, and the American Experience
STEPHEN MICHAEL CHARBONNEAU | 234
22 Michel Régnier’s "Films-Outil"
LIZ CZACH | 242
23 Léonard Forest and Acadia
JEANNE DESLANDES | 251
24 Filmmaker as History: The Interventionist Films of Martin Duckworth
MICHAEL LITHGOW | 259
25 Les filles du Roy
JERRY WHITE | 269
26 In Praise of Anomaly: Le bonhomme and Rose’s House
KALLI PAAKSPUU | 277
27 Getting Close and Staying Far: Pierre Lasry and the Solo Moms
JASON LINDOP | 285
28 Paper Wheat: Alternative Theatre Meets Alternative Filmmaking
CHRISTOPHER MEIR | 295
29 "Would I Ever Like to Work": The “Working Mothers” Films and the Construction of Community
RINA FRATICELLI | 303
30 O, Canada! George Stoney’s Challenge (1999)
DEIRDRE BOYLE | 314
PART 4
DISCURSIVE SPACES: THEORIZING CHALLENGE FOR
CHANGE/SOCIÉTÉ NOUVELLE
31 Société nouvelle: The Challenge to Change in the Alternative Public Sphere (1996)
SCOTT MACKENZIE | 325
32 Meeting at the Poverty Line: Government Policy, Social Work, and Media Activism in the Challenge for Change Program
ZOË DRUICK | 337
33 Amateur Video and the Challenge for Change (1995)
JANINE MARCHESSAULT | 354
34 Video: The Politics of Culture and Community (1996)
RON BURNETT | 366
35 Winds and Things: Towards a Reassessment of the Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle Legacy
MARIT KATHRYN CORNEIL | 389
36 "If a Revolution Is Screened and No One Is There to See It, Does It Make a Sound?" The Politics of Distribution and Counterpublics
EZRA WINTON and JASON GARRISON | 404
PART 5
CONCLUSION: CONTEMPORARY REINCARNATIONS
37 Filmmaker-in-Residence: The Digital Grandchild of
Challenge for Change
Interview with Katerina Cizek by Liz Miller | 427
38 Thirty Years and Twelve Thousand Miles Away …
VIJAYA MULAY | 443
Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle: The Complete Filmography | 453
Comprehensive Bibliography | 513
Contributors | 539
Index | 549
Edited by Thomas Waugh, Michael Brendan Baker, and Ezra Winton
Table of Contents
Illustrations | ix
Acknowledgments | xi
Foreword Putting Ideas into the World: A Conversation with Naomi Klein about Starting Conversations with Film
EZRA WINTON AND NAOMI KLEIN | XV
1 Introduction: Forty Years Later… a Space for Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle
MICHAEL BRENDAN BAKER, THOMAS WAUGH, AND EZRA WINTON | 3
PART 1
HISTORICAL SPACES: IN THE HEAT OF THE ACTION
2 Grierson and Challenge for Change (1984)
COLIN LOW | 16
3 In the Hands of Citizens: A Video Report (1969)
DOROTHY TODD HÉNAUT and BONNIE SHERR KLEIN | 24
4 Saint-Jérôme: The Experience of a Filmmaker as Social Animator (1968)
FERNAND DANSEREAU | 34
5 A Voice for Canadian Indians: An Indian Film Crew (1968)
NOEL STARBLANKET | 38
6 Fiction Film as Social Animator (1971-72) interview with LÉONARD FOREST BY DOROTHY TODD HÉNAUT | 41
7 Working with Film: Experiences with a Group of Films about Working Mothers (1975)
KATHLEEN SHANNON, ELIZABETH PRINN, DORIS MAE OULTON, and IRENE ANGELICO | 52
8 Memo to Michelle about Decentralizing the Means of Production (1972)
JOHN GRIERSON | 61
9 Can We Evaluate Challenge for Change? (1972)
DAN DRISCOLL | 66
PART 2
COMMUNITY SPACES: FILMING AT THE MARGINS
10 Media for the People: The Canadian Experiments with Film and Video in Community Development (1992)
PETER K. WIESNER | 73
11 Cities for Change: The Housing Challenge
GERDA JOHANNA CAMMAER | 103
12 The En tant que femmes Series, the Film Souris, tu m’inquiètes, and the Imaging of Women’s Consciousness in 1970s Quebec
MARIE-ÈVE FORTIN | 117
13 Le mouton noir: Vidéographe and the Legacy of Société nouvelle
SCOTT MACKENZIE | 136
14 The Things I Cannot Change: A Revisionary Reading
BRENDA LONGFELLOW | 149
PART 3
SCREEN SPACES: SPOTLIGHT ON THE FILMS AND FILMMAKERS
15 You Are on Indian Land: Interview with George Stoney (1980)
ALAN ROSENTHAL | 169
16 Cree Hunters of Mistassini: Challenge for Change and Aboriginal Rights
MICHELLE STEWART | 180
17 “Nation Time” at Kwacha House: The Transitional Modalities of Encounter at Kwacha House - Halifax
KASS BANNING | 190
18 The Films of Maurice Bulbulian: Science and Conscience
THOMAS WAUGH | 201
19 The Curious Case of Wilf: Popular Music in Canadian Documentary
MICHAEL BRENDAN BAKER | 210
20 Portapak as Performance: VTR St-Jacques and VTR Rosedale
BRIAN RUSTED | 218
21 Bonnie Klein, Saul Alinsky, and the American Experience
STEPHEN MICHAEL CHARBONNEAU | 234
22 Michel Régnier’s "Films-Outil"
LIZ CZACH | 242
23 Léonard Forest and Acadia
JEANNE DESLANDES | 251
24 Filmmaker as History: The Interventionist Films of Martin Duckworth
MICHAEL LITHGOW | 259
25 Les filles du Roy
JERRY WHITE | 269
26 In Praise of Anomaly: Le bonhomme and Rose’s House
KALLI PAAKSPUU | 277
27 Getting Close and Staying Far: Pierre Lasry and the Solo Moms
JASON LINDOP | 285
28 Paper Wheat: Alternative Theatre Meets Alternative Filmmaking
CHRISTOPHER MEIR | 295
29 "Would I Ever Like to Work": The “Working Mothers” Films and the Construction of Community
RINA FRATICELLI | 303
30 O, Canada! George Stoney’s Challenge (1999)
DEIRDRE BOYLE | 314
PART 4
DISCURSIVE SPACES: THEORIZING CHALLENGE FOR
CHANGE/SOCIÉTÉ NOUVELLE
31 Société nouvelle: The Challenge to Change in the Alternative Public Sphere (1996)
SCOTT MACKENZIE | 325
32 Meeting at the Poverty Line: Government Policy, Social Work, and Media Activism in the Challenge for Change Program
ZOË DRUICK | 337
33 Amateur Video and the Challenge for Change (1995)
JANINE MARCHESSAULT | 354
34 Video: The Politics of Culture and Community (1996)
RON BURNETT | 366
35 Winds and Things: Towards a Reassessment of the Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle Legacy
MARIT KATHRYN CORNEIL | 389
36 "If a Revolution Is Screened and No One Is There to See It, Does It Make a Sound?" The Politics of Distribution and Counterpublics
EZRA WINTON and JASON GARRISON | 404
PART 5
CONCLUSION: CONTEMPORARY REINCARNATIONS
37 Filmmaker-in-Residence: The Digital Grandchild of
Challenge for Change
Interview with Katerina Cizek by Liz Miller | 427
38 Thirty Years and Twelve Thousand Miles Away …
VIJAYA MULAY | 443
Challenge for Change/Société nouvelle: The Complete Filmography | 453
Comprehensive Bibliography | 513
Contributors | 539
Index | 549
