National Film Board of Canada prioritizes local voices
When the Toronto Raptors made history in 2019, becoming the first Canadian team to win an NBA championship, fans from coast to coast came out to show their support. This event put Toronto’s basketball scene on a global stage — but as director Ryan Sidhoo explores in his 90- minute feature documentary True North: Inside the Rise of Toronto Basketball, it’s the city’s younger players the nation should be watching.
Following 12- year- old Elijah Fisher, 15- year- old Keone Davis and 18- year- old Cordell Veira, True North offers a glimpse into the world of youth basketball, sharing the stories of these talented players and their ambitions to someday play in the NBA.
The film began as a ninepart documentary series, which is also available online for audiences looking for a deeper dive. Thousands of NFB titles, including recent festival selections and previous award winners, are available to stream for free on the NFB website, with new releases added each month.
Sidhoo, whose documentary series first aired in 2018, is a prime example of a filmmaker with his finger on the pulse of a local movement. “The first people to feel these changes are filmmakers and artists,” said John Christou, director of operations for the English program at the NFB. “We let them take the lead.”
Community connections are essential in documentary filmmaking, which requires audiences to bond with the people they see on screen, Christou explained. “It really comes down to the fact that when you see a person, see a group of people, who are experiencing the story … it creates a connection on a different level,” he said.
But sensitivity is required to ensure that these bonds are never forged at the expense of a film’s subjects. Working with filmmakers who are representatives of their communities, rather than mere observers, is one way in which the NFB seeks to prevent harm. “When a documentary is made in a community, especially when the director is from that community, it’s not ( an excavation),” said Christou.
By offering Canadians a steady supply of homegrown stories, tackling issues of importance to Canadian creators, the NFB hopes to act as what Christou describes as a bulwark against the onslaught of Hollywood. “If we completely abdicated the media landscape to the U. S., who would we be?” he asked. National identity is paramount to Canadians, and over the last two decades, it has increasingly played a role in how we choose the content we consume. “Canadians are really community- centred,” Christou said. “We care about each other.”
Data from the NFB suggests that during this strange time — as we isolate for the good of our communities — Canadians may be turning to local content to stay connected with each other. When isolation measures began in March, the NFB website recorded an increase from 7,000 to 25,000 daily views. The fol
lowing five films will also be available for free starting in June:
Love, Scott, a featurelength documentary written, directed and narrated by Laura Marie Wayne. An Official Selection for the Hot Docs and BFI Flare festivals in 2018, Love, Scott chron
icles three years in the life of gay musician Scott Jones, who was left paralyzed by a brutal attack.
The Road Forward, a musical documentary from Métis- Dene writer and director Marie Clements. A 2017 Dreamspeakers International Film Festival award winner, The Road Forward also earned Clements the Best Director prize at the 2017 San Francisco American Indian Film Festival. With interviews and musical performances, the film draws poignant parallels between the origins of the Indian Nationalism movement in the 1930s and present- day First Nations activism.
Now is the Time, a short documentary written and directed by Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter. An Official Selection at eight festivals, including the San Francisco American Indian Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019, and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival in 2020, Now is the Time looks back to 1969, when a new to
tem pole was raised on Haida Gwaii — the first in nearly a century.
Gun Killers, a short documentary from writer and director Jason Young. An Official Selection at the 2019 Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal, Gun Killers follows retired blacksmiths John and Nancy Little and the secret work they do after dark.
I am Skylar, a short documentary about a 14- year- old trans girl from Cape Breton and the supportive family that surrounds her. Directed by Rachel Bower, I am Skylar was named Best Atlantic Short Documentary at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival.
These films, made by and for Canadians, were created to reflect our interests and experiences, Christou pointed out. It’s essential that Canadians have free access to NFB content: “It’s theirs,” he said.
Visit www.nfb.ca to discover a wealth of Canadian documentaries, films and animated movies.