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.