Canada's National Film Board

Abstract

Prologue Canada is one of the most prosperous nations in the world. It is an immense and magnificent land and now plays an important part in world affairs. Yet, Canada is the poorest in the art of cinema and, without the National Film Board, would remain unrecognized as a film-producing nation. Why this should be is not difficult to explain. Right from the earliest days of motion pictures, Hollywood-and to a much lesser degree, the studios of Englandhave provided all the films necessary to keep Canadian cinemas open and to please the paying public. It is noticeable that non-English-speaking countries, much smaller and poorer than Canada, have developed their own film industries. With state assistance these have successfully established themselves in the face of strong competition from Hollywood. They are successful because they satisfy the desire of their people to hear films in their native tongue. Since Canada is an Englishspeaking nation this desire does not exist except in Quebec Province where French is spoken. The citizens of Quebec are therefore well satisfied with French films, which are widely shown, together with a few inexpensive motion pictures made in the province and dubbed Hollywood productions. Where feature-film production is concerned, Canada fell prey to Hollywood in the same way as did other countries, particularly those speaking English. Hollywood made films for a mass audience and produced enough to satisfy a world-wide demand. Hollywood became the cinema capital of the world and by some remarkable