To function as an ethnic minority in North American cinema, you don't have to be Jewish-or black, grey, or a vampire. It's enough to be a Canadian-but only in Canada. The Canadian film experience proves that a whole nation can feel itself a silenced, even invisible, Outsider in its own home. Canadian film shows all the characteristics of the American ethnic minority film. The central characters are identifiably outside the cultural mainstream. They look, sound, and act different from the traditional norms. Furthermore, the audience is expected to relish these differences. Also, whatever the particular plot, there is an implicit tension between the central characters and the society from which they are thus set apart. These characters' heroism and popularity carry an additional value of success in the