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Projecting CanadaGovernment Policy and Documentary Film at the National Film Board |
eBook Available
A revealing look at the role of government policy on the ideology of NFB documentaries.
The National Film Board of Canada, now in its seventh decade, is internationally acclaimed as a beacon of non-commercial filmmaking. In Projecting Canada Zoë Druick shows that the NFB, born out of a nation-building project, continues to be inextricably involved in the crises of nation, technology, and social scientific knowledge that shape the Canadian cultural landscape.
Based on newly uncovered archival information and a close reading of numerous NFB films, Projecting Canada explores the NFB's involvement with British Empire communication theory and American social science. Using a critical cultural policy studies framework, Druick develops the concept of "government realism" to describe films featuring ordinary people as representative of segments of the population. She demonstrates the close connection between NFB production policies and shifting techniques developed in relation to the evolution of social science from the 1940s to the present and argues that government policy has been the overriding factor in determining the ideology of NFB films. Projecting Canada offers a compelling new perspective on both the development of the documentary form and the role of cultural policy in creating essential spaces for aesthetic production.
Based on newly uncovered archival information and a close reading of numerous NFB films, Projecting Canada explores the NFB's involvement with British Empire communication theory and American social science. Using a critical cultural policy studies framework, Druick develops the concept of "government realism" to describe films featuring ordinary people as representative of segments of the population. She demonstrates the close connection between NFB production policies and shifting techniques developed in relation to the evolution of social science from the 1940s to the present and argues that government policy has been the overriding factor in determining the ideology of NFB films. Projecting Canada offers a compelling new perspective on both the development of the documentary form and the role of cultural policy in creating essential spaces for aesthetic production.
Details
Part of the Arts Insights Series (number 1 in series)
256 Pages, 6 x 9
28 b&w photographs
ISBN 9780773531857
February 2007
Formats: Cloth, Paperback, eBook
"Zoë Druick is one of the promising members of a new generation of scholars whose work will change the direction of Canadian Film Studies." Gene Walz, English, film and theatre, University of Manitoba
"Druick provides a subtle and well documented critique of the Film Board's role. Indeed, what is unique here is that the author so persuasively locates her critique in the ethos of the NFB's genesis and practice - the NFB's problem is that it is exactly what it was mandated to be." Seth Feldman, film, York University
"This book fills an important gap in the history of culture and media in Canada. Most valuable is Druick's demonstration of the ways in which Canadian cultural government policy and agencies tend to formulate their aims and practices in terms of a 'liberal nation-building project' as a form of 'middle way' politics." Kevin Dowler, communications, York University
"Projecting Canada might well serve as the eye-opening, paradigm-shifting contribution to Canadian film studies that will invigorate the field for the next generation of scholars" Michael Brendan Baker
"Druick provides a subtle and well documented critique of the Film Board's role. Indeed, what is unique here is that the author so persuasively locates her critique in the ethos of the NFB's genesis and practice - the NFB's problem is that it is exactly what it was mandated to be." Seth Feldman, film, York University
"This book fills an important gap in the history of culture and media in Canada. Most valuable is Druick's demonstration of the ways in which Canadian cultural government policy and agencies tend to formulate their aims and practices in terms of a 'liberal nation-building project' as a form of 'middle way' politics." Kevin Dowler, communications, York University
"Projecting Canada might well serve as the eye-opening, paradigm-shifting contribution to Canadian film studies that will invigorate the field for the next generation of scholars" Michael Brendan Baker
Zoë Druick teaches media and cultural studies, communications, Simon Fraser University.
Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction: Documentary and Cultural Policy 3
ONE
The National Film Board and Government 15
TWO
Empire Communications and Documentary Film 29
THREE
Government Documentary Film and Social Science 45
FOUR
Nationalism and Internationalism at the National Film Board 73
F I V E
Pages from the Story of the Way We Live: Film and Citizenship in the 1950s and Early 1960s 101
S I X
New Media and New Forms of Citizenship: The NFB in the 1960s and 1970s 126
SEVEN
Documenting Difference: The NFB in the 1980s and 1990s 163
Conclusion 180
Appendix: NFB Annual Budgets and Responsible Departments 185
Notes 189
Filmography 209
Bibliography 215
Index 231
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction: Documentary and Cultural Policy 3
ONE
The National Film Board and Government 15
TWO
Empire Communications and Documentary Film 29
THREE
Government Documentary Film and Social Science 45
FOUR
Nationalism and Internationalism at the National Film Board 73
F I V E
Pages from the Story of the Way We Live: Film and Citizenship in the 1950s and Early 1960s 101
S I X
New Media and New Forms of Citizenship: The NFB in the 1960s and 1970s 126
SEVEN
Documenting Difference: The NFB in the 1980s and 1990s 163
Conclusion 180
Appendix: NFB Annual Budgets and Responsible Departments 185
Notes 189
Filmography 209
Bibliography 215
Index 231
