We Heard That: The NFB
Posted By Youthography . January 29, 2010
Every Friday, we’ll be disseminating the information collected from our weekly pulse check to young Canadians active on our Youthography Community. This past week’s we asked them about the NFB and it’s relevance to Canadian culture. Read on to hear what they said…
Question:
What does the National Film Board of Canada mean to you? What role do you think the NFB plays in Canadian culture? Have you seen any NFB productions?
“We Heard That!” :
-The NFB is somewhere young people may go for productions of an interesting or unique nature, particularly ones which are Canadian-inspired
-Films seen through the NFB may also be nostalgic; viewing old films which you saw during your childhood, for example
“When I was once enrolled in a children’s art program for the spring in my municipality, we were exposed to a few dozen animated movies throughout the duration of the program. One movie that I have always enjoyed watching and continue to play for other young relatives and family friends is ‘The Cat Came Back’. While it is quite short, the movie is actually based on an old Canadian folk song of the same name that I also have seen published in books as a child.” –male, 28
-the NFB serves as an outward representation of what it means to be Canadian; helping to showcase the sometimes indescribable Canadian “identity”
“To me, the NFB is yet another one of the low key yet crucially important bearers of Canadian identity. To me it is a venue through which I can watch real, down to earth, Canadian films and documentaries.” –male, 19
-The NFB plays an important role in Canadian culture since it acts as one of the few institutions which disseminates and promotes Canadian films and artists, young people certainly acknowledge this
“The National Film Board is seen as the country’s leading institution which has established itself as one of the leading cornerstones of Canada’s broadcasting existence, providing the opportunity to help stage our fellow artists musicians and writers both nationally and internationally is an honor.” –male, 28
-according to Community respondents not only is it important to preserve Canadian culture, but it’s also key to create and endorse it, the NFB, as an institution practices this philosophy
“To conclude, I find that Johan Huizinga says it best when he states, ”If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it.” That in a nutshell describes Canada’s National Film Board, it is able to preserve our culture through film and yet help other artist aspire to create more representations of our Canadian identity.” –female, 25
-Community respondents have seen NFB productions, again noting that most of them have been in some capacity or another Canadian in nature or theme. Respondents noticed that NFB productions do a good job at picking up on intricate phenomena and experiences which are uniquely Canadian, from hockey culture to private pork farming in Quebec
“The NFB helps provide meaningful insight into the little aspects of Canadian culture, which are often forgotten.” –male, 19
Written by Michael Adams (michael.adams@youthography.com) & Kanan Korthari (kanan@youthography.com)
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