Discuss the significance of TWO of these in relation to the evolution of
Canadian Cinema. (maximum 250 words for each answer).
1. The National Film Board Act 1939.
2. Tax Shelter Films.
3. Igloolik Isuma Productions.
4. Genre and Canadian film.
OR
2. The founding mandate of the National Film Board has been to “interpret Canada
to Canadians.” Discuss the sometimes problematic but ever evolving articulation
of the ‘national interest’ at the National Film Board with reference to at least
three distinct historical periods, studios, or film movements from the founding of
the NFB in 1939 to the present moment, incorporating references to class
readings and screenings.
OR
3. In his essay, “Questions of National Cinema,” Andrew Higson argues that
“Cinema never simply reflects or expresses an already fully formed and
homogeneous national culture and identity.” How have your readings, screenings
of films in class and participation in class discussions opened up new ways to
think about Canadian cinema?
OR
4. Discuss the evolution of film policy from the National Film Board Act of 1939,
through the Canadian Co-operation Project, tax shelter years and including the
formation of federal and provincial funding agencies in Canada. How has the
tension between often antithetical understanding of cinema as a public good with
a pedagogic or cultural purpose and cinema as an industry shaped the evolution
of these policies? Outline the particular and unique role of the federal
government (in particular) in creating the conditions for the survival of Canadian
cinema.
