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National Film Board
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:national film board
n. — Administration
a partially government-funded Canadian media producer and distributor.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) was created in 1939 in response to reports by John Grierson, who was appointed as the first Commissioner of the NFB later that year (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). The NFB produces various genres and types of films, meant to provide a Canadian perspective through cinema and animation. The NFB has created over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 12 Academy Awards (see National Film Board of Canada reference).
The US National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is sometimes referred to as the "national film board" (see, e.g. the 1927 quotation from The New York Times). This name antedates Canadian use, but is infrequently used in the US.
Internet domain searches demonstrate the term's prevalence in Canada, and it needs be noted that a significant portion of international hits, including US hits, refer to the Canadian National Film Board (see Chart 1).
The US National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is sometimes referred to as the "national film board" (see, e.g. the 1927 quotation from The New York Times). This name antedates Canadian use, but is infrequently used in the US.
Internet domain searches demonstrate the term's prevalence in Canada, and it needs be noted that a significant portion of international hits, including US hits, refer to the Canadian National Film Board (see Chart 1).
See: NFB
Quotations
1927
[ERSKINE ASSAILS ANY CENSORSHIP It Lays Emphasis on the Bad and None on the Good, He Tells National Film Board [...] Professor John Erskine of Columbia University, who is rewriting the classics, attacked censorship yesterday at the twelfth annual luncheon of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures at the Waldorf.]
1939
The National Film Board had charge of the filming of the event and sooner or later Canadians will see in the newsreels the picturization of the response.
1939
Recently the House of Commons saw the results of this proposed "centralization' when Hon. W.D. Euler, Minister of Trade and Commere [sic], produced his legislation to create a completely new branch of government - a national film board and a national film commissioner.
1943
Just as we go to press we have received from Stanley Rands, a former Albertan who is now assistant Supervisor of Circuits for the National Film Board, a series of reports and proceedings of the conference on "Films in Rural Education", recently concluded at the University of Saskatchewan under the sponsorship of the board.
1955
The National Film board of Canada wins prizes at film festivals around the world, and does an excellent job of selling Canada to Canadians as well.
1966
Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Pybus Lounge Culture 500 will show the award winning National Film Board features and cartoons by Norman McLaren.
1976
John Grierson, founder of the National Film Board, returned to Canada in 1968 to teach, lecture and advise the Canadian Government on Broadcasting policy.
1989
When the Oscar is mentioned, Joan Pennefather beams like a proud mother. She's getting ready to wax about how the National Film Board, now in its 50th year, is a world-class institution.
1999
He joined the National Film Board full-time in 1956 when it had moved to Montreal and created an autonomous French-speaking department.
2005
It all added up to a glossily packaged social and cultural history, but one in which Canada hardly had a right to exist.
The story of World War II was told without reference to Mackenzie King. The arrival of talking pictures in Hollywood was covered, but not the birth of the CBC or National Film Board.
References
- National Film Board of Canada • "Introduction"
- Canadian Encyclopedia • "National Film Board of Canada"
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