English 3709

Topics in Canadian Literature + Culture: Memory, Archive, + the National Film Board
of Canada
Final Project (40%)
Due December 15, 2021, uploaded to Nexus by 11.59pm (New extended due date!)

For this final assignment you are asked to write an essay of approximately 2000 words (8
pages or so) that takes up one of the questions below. These questions predominantly deal
with the films we have watched since the Comparison Essay, but you are expected to draw
on and demonstrate what you have learned about the NFB and its connection to Canadian
culture since the very beginning of the course.

Your task with this final assignment, once again, is to further develop and demonstrate
your skills in examining a film in terms of both its form (direction, editing, sound,
assembly) and content (narrative, imagery, symbols, motifs) and relating both to the film’s
overall meaning and significance.

The films that inform the questions below all take up the NFB’s mandate to reflect Canadian
culture in a variety of different ways. You are strongly encouraged, in writing your essay, to
think about how these films address their audience – the “imagined community of nation” –
as well as how the reflect, contest, or reflect and contest certain ideas about what Canada is
or imagines itself to be.

Your essay should be argumentative, containing:

• an introductory paragraph that features a thesis statement that sets out your
argument
• supporting paragraphs that defend that thesis by drawing specific examples from
the film as well as including at least two citations from the readings we have done
for class or from a reputable source beyond it
• a concluding paragraph that reflects on the consequences of the argument that you
have made

Your essay must be formatted in MLA style and include a works cited that includes the
details of the film as well as any secondary sources that you draw on in your argument.

For this final project, you are invited to consider submitting your final project in an
alternate format. Are you interested in trying your hand at a narrated slideshow or video
essay? Would you like, solo or in collaboration with a classmate, to record a podcast
episode that takes a deep dive into one or more of the films that we have watched in the
course? Would you like to try your own creative project that engages with the history of
filmmaking by the NFB? If so, talk to me about it and consult the tips on alternate
assignments that appears at the end of this assignment sheet.
1. Radicalizing the NFB. A number of the films that we watched this term were made
within the NFB but sought to question and challenge the idea of Canada as a peaceful and
progressive nation. Taking up one film, whether Encounter at Kwacha House, You Are on
Indian Land, or I Am Susan Yee, write a paper that examines how filmmakers inside the NFB
produced work that unsettled commonplace ideas about Canada being a welcoming and
equal place.

2. Remixing the NFB. In recent years the NFB has invited filmmakers into their archives to
reflect on, revisit, and rework films and footage shot decades earlier. Focusing either on
Caroline Monnet’s Mobilize or Christopher Auchter’s Now is the Time, write an essay the
considers how these newer works transform our understanding of the images and film they
draw on.

3. Rejecting the NFB. Of course, the NFB wasn’t the only game in town during the 1970s.
Many filmmakers wanted to make movies that strayed away from the documentary,
animations, and realist fictions that the NFB were famous for. Taking up either Black
Christmas or one of the early David Cronenberg films (Rabid, Shivers, or The Brood), write
an essay the examines how genre cinema – films grouped together by critics as
Canuxploitation – presents a very different vision of Canada than the NFB.

4. Regionalizing the NFB. In the 70s and 80s, the NFB faced enormous pressure to
produce films that reflected the whole of Canada. In order to do this, they opened up
regional production offices across the country to facilitate this. Writing on one or two of the
films listed below, write a paper that examines the work produced out of the NFB
Winnipeg. If the NFB was designed to reflect Canada to Canadians, what vision of Winnipeg
do these films deliver?

Remember to think about these films historically. They all are products of the 1970s/80s.

Ted Baryluk’s Grocery: https://www.nfb.ca/film/ted_baryluks_grocery/

Beyond Kicks: https://www.nfb.ca/film/beyond-kicks/
Nose and Tina: https://www.nfb.ca/film/nose_tina/
The McIntyre Block: https://vimeo.com/155432433

5. Replicating the NFB. Want to try a different kind of assignment and have some film
editing skills? Try your hand at making your own Hinterland Who’s Who or Canada
Vignette. If you select this option, you must submit, along with your creative work, a
companion director’s essay of 1000 words that details the concept of the piece and details
how it critically engages with the history, work, and films of the NFB and the specific series
that your film is an imagined part of.

POSSIBLE FORMATS

Essay
If you choose to write an essay, aim for between 8 pages or 2000 words. Give your essay a
title, make sure that your properly introduce the film(s), have a structuring argument, and
include a works cited.

Podcast

You are permitted to record a podcast alone or in pairs, discussing your chosen film(s).
Your podcast should be 20-25 minutes in length. Give your podcast a name and think of this
assignment as the first episode. Write a brief 25-50 word description of both the podcast
and the first episode and submit these along with your recording.

You should plan out what you want to say to some degree, but the podcast can be chatty,
even to some degree informal, while still having an overall argument and focus. Your
discussion should not just be evaluative, but should aim, as an essay does, to provide
valuable and original insights about the film and to draw on research – explicitly pointing
to and naming your sources – you have completed.

There are a number of possible podcast recording and editing software options, from
Audacity to Spotify’s Anchor.

Narrated Slideshow

Using stills or GIFs from one of the films that we have watched for the course, construct a
slideshow (using PowerPoint or Keynote) and record a voiceover narration that walks your
viewer/listener through your argument and your observations about a film. Think of this as
a recorded presentation of between 8-12 minutes in length and consisting of as many slides
as you feel necessary to illustrate the argument you are making.

Building on our audio commentary, be sure to introduce yourself, tell your viewer/listener
what you are doing, and provide the illustrated slideshow with a title as you would a
regular essay. Have a slide detailing your sources at the end.

Submit this as an audiovisual film (mp4, mkv, avi, etc.) or provide a link. You can record
your narrated slideshow using Zoom, sharing your PPTX or Keynote screen.

Video Essay

Want to take a shot at a video essay? Using clips from the film, along with voiceover
narration or onscreen text, produce a 6-12 minute video essay that examines some aspect
of your chosen film.

Give your video essay a title, include a works cited at the end, and provide a brief 250-word
synopsis to submit alongside the video file (mp4, avi, mkv, etc.) or link.
This option is geared toward those who already have some experience in working with
audiovisual material (whether in iMovie or in other editing software such as HitFilm) or
want to experiment in working with such software.

Watch Nexus for examples, tips, and tutorials but for the basics on the video essay, visit
https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/guidance/introductory-guide-to-video-essays/

Creative Work

Interested in making a film that engages with the history of filmmaking at the NFB? Pitch
your idea to me. You could make a Hinterland short about your dog or develop a Vignette of
your own. Whatever creative form your assignment takes, you will need to submit a
companion director’s essay of 1000 words that details the concept of the piece and details
how it critically engages with the history, work, and films of the NFB.