The NFB's upcoming online releases

The National Film Board of Canada just released its list of films that will be put online free over the next three months. And it contains some real gems.

A pair of animated films, including one by Richard Condie. should be high on your must-watch list. Condie's The Apprentice is one of the weirdest pieces of animation I've ever seen. It's not so much the technique -- which features Condie's typical wavy-lined, buck-toothed characters, but the bizarreness of the story, such as it is. As a former NFB colleague (I don't work there now, but I used to) once said to me, "If you can figure out what the hell it's about, let me know."

The other animation classic here is What on Earth? It's done newsreel-style, as Martians study our planet and conclude that it is ruled by the automobile. Still as funny today as when it was released in 1966.

Oscar-winner Terre Nash's Who's Counting: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics is one of those Film Board perennials. Well over a decade after its release, I run into people who have seen it and for whom Marilin Waring's message resonates. That message is that there has to be a better way to measure economic progress than GDP -- one that takes into account benefits that are not currently measured.

The Devil You Know: Inside the Mind of Todd McFarlane, directed by Kenton Vaughan, is a portrait of one weird dude. You may know Todd McFarlane as the creator of Spawn -- but did you know he was a minor-league ballplayer who says he would have gladly given up his comics career for a chance to play baseball in the Major Leagues?

Passchendaele, Paul Gross's monumental First World War labour of love, is also going online. Haven't seen this one, so I can't comment -- but clearly the NFB was smart to get these digital rights in exchange for their participation in the film.

RIP a Remix Manifesto is already available free online, but chopped up into chapters. I'm assuming the upcoming nfb.ca release will let us Canadians watch the whole thing in one piece. (It's already available in the US as a pay-what-you-want download.) RIP is a good intro to the copyright wars, even though it conflates a couple of different issues: file sharing and use of original works in remixes, and seems to treat them as though they're the same thing.

For teachers, the Science, Please! series (Une minute de science, in French) offers funny little videos on basic science subjects. This is the perfect format for them, as long as a class is outfitted with wireless access, computer and projector.

Finally, there's an irony in the fact that Colin Low's The Children of Fogo Island is near the top of this list. The irony doesn't have to do with the film -- a simple, beautiful evocation of childhood -- but with the format. Colin once told me that he would rather have a church basement full of people engaged in watching a film than a national broadcast that was seen by far more people, but had far less impact on each individual. I'm not sure what he thinks of digital media and viewing phones solo at your computer, or on your phone.

Some good viewing, and if you download the NFB iPhone app, you can take it with you.

Griefwalker

Great story in today's Globe and Mail on Griefwalker. 

The Globe's Michael Posner writes:

There are certainly bigger, more commercial films on the roster for Montreal's World Film Festival, which opened last night, but at least thematically there's unlikely to be any as important as Griefwalker. 

Tim Wilson's compelling 73-minute documentary (on view tonight and on two occasions afterward and later scheduled to be screened at both the Atlantic and Vancouver Film Festivals) is important not for its budget or its stars, but for its subject matter. The film confronts the ultimate elephant in everyone's room: death.

I'm the marketing manager for the film, which is produced by the National Film Board.

Death might not sound like the most appealing subject for a feature documentary, but Wilson's cinematography is spectacular. This is one film worth seeing on the big screen.

It premieres at the Montreal World Film Festival this afternoon, with additional screenings tonight and tomorrow. 

All screenings at Cinéma Quartier Latin 14
350 rue Emery, Montreal. 
August 22, 2008 - 14:40
August 23, 2008 - 19:20
August 24, 2008 - 12:20

For ticket information, please call 514-848-3883.

If you want to screen a couple of clips, head over to www.nfb.ca/griefwalker.

I thought they believed in less government interference

Canada's Conservative government wants to kill any film and television productions that a committee deems to be offensive or not in the public interest.

In opposition, the Reform Party -- predecessors to the current government -- railed for years against films they saw as a waste of public funds. It was one of their recurring motifs.

Take this comment made in Parliament by luminary Myron Thompson:

The National Film Board receives over $80 million from taxpayers. I would like to outline for the House where some of those dollars are going. A film board promotion for a video says: ``Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the 10 women discuss lesbian sexuality and survival in Canada during the fifties and the sixties. This video brings lesbian history out of the closet and contributes to the viable history of sexuality in Canada''. It also states: ``Due to the explicit nature of certain scenes, viewer discretion is advised''.

The film Thompson is referring to is Forbidden Love. Presumably, the kind of thing the new censorship committee would have disapproved of.

Would the world be a better place without Forbidden Love? Its many awards include a Genie -- Canada's highest film honour -- for best feature-length documentary. Fifteen years after its release, groups are still screening it. You can't say that about a lot of documentaries.

I say, give me honest libertarians any day. If you want to shrink the role of government, then just do it. Don't tell us you're against government interference, then insist on telling us what's good for us.

Freeing Madame Tutli-Putli

This is clever.

The National Film Board has an Oscar nomination for the animated film Madame Tutli-Putli. Each time someone clicks this link, they unlock one of the 23,287 frames of the film. If they're all unlocked, the film streams online for free.

The Bodybuilder and I (again)

Congrats to director Bryan Friedman and everyone involved in making (and publicizing) The Bodybuilder and I. Top Canadian feature at Hot Docs. Nice work.

The Bodybuilder and I

Through the NFB, I've been involved in the launch of the feature documentary The Bodybuilder and I.

It's the story of 26-year-old Bryan Friedman, and his dad Bill -- a 59-year-old competitive bodybuilder taking his last shot at winning back the title he once held.

It's one hell of a film, and it premieres at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto this weekend, with two screenings. The world premiere is Friday, April 20, 9:30 PM at the Royal Cinema, with a follow-up on Sunday afternoon at 1:30, at the Bloor.

Here's the film's page in the Hot Docs catalogue. Once you're there, click on the right side of the page to buy tickets. (The Friday night screening is rush tickets only at this point.)