Canada Vignettes

Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada.[1] The Log Driver's Waltz directed by John Weldon set to the recording of the song by Kate & Anna McGarrigle with, and as part of, The Mountain City Four is one of the most-requested items contained in the collection by the National Film Board of Canada.[2] A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.

Conception

The idea for Canada Vignettes began in early 1977, when CBC's children's programming department at the CBC approached the NFB about producing short films, five minutes in length or less, to use as interstitial programming. When Secretary of State for Canada John Roberts announced in the fall of 1977 that $13 million would be given to federal cultural agencies to help promote national unity, the NFB was allocated $2 million to produce films for broadcast on the CBC, similar to CBS's Bicentennial Minutes in the United States, the previous year. The French-language service of the CBC also agreed to broadcast the series.[1]

Production

Eighty filmmakers from across the country worked on the project over a three-year period. Many of the films were animation vignettes offering amusing portrayals of Canadian history, while others were produced from excerpts of NFB documentaries. The NFB decided that no film credits would be included, only a title.[1]

Broadcast

The CBC's children's department subsequently informed the NFB that it could not show films longer than two minutes as their needs had changed in the time that it took to produce the series. A quarter of the vignettes were more than two minutes long. As a solution, the CBC main network agreed to make the longer and shorter films available to their network affiliates. Canada Vignettes were shown on both in prime time and during children's programming slots. The most popular film in the series to air on Canadian television was Canada Vignettes: Faces, an animated short that depicted the faces of Canada, including that of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Other Canadian television networks to broadcast the films included CTV, Global, TVOntario, and TVA. The series was also sold to international foreign broadcasters in such countries as Turkey, Italy, Algeria, Norway and the United Kingdom.[1]

List of Vignettes
Title Year Duration Notes[3][4][5][6]
Acadian Quadrille 1978 4:00 director: Colette Blanchard; subject: the traditional Acadian dance, the quadrille
Agnes Campbell MacPhail 1980 2:05 director: Margaret Wescott; subject: Agnes Macphail, Canada’s first female MP
Alouette 1979 0:30 director: Michèle Pauzé; subject: animation set to the French-Canadian song “Alouette”
Angel of Death 1980 2:00 director: Ron Webber; subject: Toronto Daily Star’s 1912 fly-swatting contest
Arctic Mission 1980 1:00 director: Joan Henson
Arctic Seascape 1980 1:30 director: Joan Henson
Ballet Master, The 1978 3:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Bells and Brass 1978 3:00 director: Rick Butler
Bill Miner 1978 1:00 director: Peter Jones
Bill Reid 1979 2:00 director: Jack Long; subject: Haida artist Bill Reid
Birth 1980 1:00 director: Margaret Pettigrew
Blacksmith Shop, The 1979 1:00 directors: Rita Roy, Joe MacDonald
Bluenose 1921–1946 1979 2:05 director: Richard Todd; subject: the schooner Bluenose
Bluenose II July 24, 1963 1979 3:07 director: Richard Todd; subject: the schooner Bluenose II
Breadmakers 1980 1:30 director: Tony Ianzelo
Bridge for the Dempster 1980 2:00 director: Kenneth McCready, Joan Henson; subject: construction of Dempster Highway by the Canadian Armed Forces
Bridging the Gap 1981 1:00 director: M. Marilyn Cherenko; subject: allegory about the necessity of societal integration of people with disabilities
Calliope 1980 2:00 director: Tony Ianzelo
Canada's Snowbirds 1980 1:30 director: Joan Henson
Captain Cook 1978 1:00 director: Barry Helmer
Catapult Canada 1985 1:09 director: Bill Maylone
Celebration 1981 1:00 director: Tony Ianzelo
Countdown 1981 1:00 director: Veronika Soul; subject: filmmaking techniques and processes
Cree Conical Lodge 1980 2:00 director: Joe MacDonald
Cree Hunters 1979 1:00 director: Tony Ianzelo
Crossing Guards 1978 4:10 director: Kris Paterson
Dance 1979 2:00 director: Lise-Hélène Larin
Dancing Dolls 1980 1:30 director: Dorothy Courtois
December Lights 1979 3:00 director: Raymond Gauthier; subject: a version of a traditional Franco-Manitoban Christmas tale
Delta Plane 1979 1:30 directors: Hubert Neault, Nicole Robert
Dentist, The 1978 5:00 director: Wolf Koenig
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972 Pt. 1 1979 2:00 director: Martin Defalco
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972 Pt. 2 1979 1:00 director: Martin Defalco
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Charlie Chamberlain 1911–1972, Marg Osburne 1927–1977 1979 2:00 director: Martin Defalco
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Don Messer 1910–1973 1979 1:00 director: Martin Defalco
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Marg Osburne 1927–1977 Pt. 1 1979 2:00 director: Martin Defalco
Don Messer—His Land and His Music—Marg Osburne 1927–1977 Pt. 2 1979 2:00 director: Martin Defalco
Easter Eggs 1978 3:00 director: Yurij Luhovy; subject: pysanky, traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs
Egg, The 1979 1:00 directors: Robert Bélisle, Jean-François Pouliot
Emergency Numbers 1984 2:00 director: John Weldon
Erik Davidson—Mechanic 1979 3:03 director: Richard Todd
Faces 19781:00director: Paul Bochner
Fashion Designer 1977 2:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Flin Flon 1978 3:00 director: Tina Horne
Fort Prince of Wales 1978 1:00 director: Brad Caslor
From Cobalt to Casa Loma 1978 2:00 director: Kenneth McCready
From Flax to Linen 1978 2:00 director: Joe MacDonald
Full Circle 1979 4:00 director: Rudi Wrench
Ham, The 1978 4:00 director: Ronald Blumer
Headdress 1979 1:30
Helen Law 1979 3:00 director: Jennifer Hodge
History for Tomorrow 1980 1:00 director: Joan Henson
Holidays 1978 1:03 director: Blake James
Home of the Beaver 1978 3:00 director: Ron Webber
Homestead 1980 1:00 director: Margaret Pettigrew
Horse, The 1978 1:00 director: Michael Mills
Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary: An Irish Folktale 1978 5:00 director: Eva Szasz
Ice 1982 1:00 director: Robert Doucet
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Canadian Bounce 1986 2:00 director: Meilan Lam
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Souvenir Programme 1986 2:02 director: Meilan Lam
Ice Carnival Montreal 1885—Storming the Ice Palace 1986 1:58 director: Meilan Lam
Indian Pipe 1979 1:00
Instant French 1979 1:00 director: André Leduc
Inuit Pipe 1979 1:30
June in Povungnituk—Quebec Arctic 1980 1:00 director: Alanis Obomsawin
Klondike Gold 1980 1:00 director: George Geertsen
Lady Frances Simpson 1978 1:00director: Christopher Hinton
Land Bridge 1978 1:00 director: George Geertsen
Land of the Maple Leaf 1978 3:00 director: Ron Webber
Log Driver's Waltz 1979 3:17 director: John Weldon
Logger 1978 1:00 director: Al Sens
Love on Wheels 1979 4:00 directors: Ben Low, Ian Rankin
Ma chère Albertine 1979 5:00 director: Suzanne Oliver
Maple Leaf, The 1978 1:00 director: Paul Bochner
Marine Biologist 1979 3:00 director: William Pettigrew
Maritimes Dig 1980 3:00 director: Dennis Sawyer
McIntosh 1979 1:30 director: Tina Horne
Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian 1980 5:00 director: Eva Szasz
Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton 1978 2:00 director: Sandra Dudley
Mer enligne nos terres, La 1979 3:00 director: Phil Comeau; subject: Acadian Nova Scotians
Métis Coat 1979 1:00
Moccasins 1979 1:00
Move, The 1985 5:00 director: Larry Bauman
Music Makers, The 1979 2:02 director: Malca Gillson
Mussel Mud 1985 1:38 director: Aileen Brophy
Newfoundland 1978 1:00 director: George Geertsen
News Canada 1978 3:00 director: Yossi Abulafia credited as Yossi Abolafia
Nigogeux, Les 1978 5:00 director: Robert Haché
Northern Seasons 1980 1:00 directors: Kenneth McCready, Joan Henson
Novelist, The 1978 5:00 director: Andy Thomson
Onions and Garlic: A Hebrew Fable 1978 4:02 director: Eva Szasz
Our Daily Bread 1979 3:00 director: Joe MacDonald, Rita Roy
Performer, The 19783:00 director: Norma Bailey. First Jury Prize for Short film at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival
Photographers, The 1978 4:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Physiotherapist 1977 3:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Port Royal 1978 1:00 director: Robert Doucet
Prairie Promise 1980 1:00 director: Margaret Pettigrew
Prehistoric Artifacts, New Brunswick 1980 2:00 director: Dennis Sawyer
Riverdale Lion 1979 1:00 director: David Verrall
Roulamour 1979 4:00 directors: Ben Low, Ian Rankin
Seigneury, The 1978 3:00 director: Janice Brown
Skier 1978 2:00
Sodbusters 1978 1:00 director: Wolf Koenig
Spence's Republic 1978 1:00 director: Brad Caslor
St. Laurent Pilgrimage 1985 2:00 director: Dan J. McCrimmon
Stunt Family 1978 3:00 director: Lois Siegel
Thirties, The 1978 1:03 director: Blake James
Toronto 1978 1:00 director: Carlos Marchiori
Trading Post 1978 1:00 director: Wolf Koenig
Trees 1978 1:00 director: Robert Doucet
Two Friends 1979 3:00 director: Richard Todd
Under the Pole 1980 1:00 director: Joan Henson
Unity Pole 1979 2:00 director: Jack Long
Veteran, The 1978 4:00 director: Ronald Blumer
Veterinarian 1977 3:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Vignettes from Labrador North 1979 4:00 director: Roger Hart
Violin Maker, The 1978 5:00 directors: Rosemarie Shapley, Judith Potterton
Visitor, The 1979 1:00
Vote, The 1980 1:00 director: Margaret Pettigrew
Voyageurs 1978 1:00 director: Wolf Koenig
Wild Rice Harvest Kenora 1979 1:00 director: Alanis Obomsawin
Winter—Dressing Up 1979 1:00 director: Gerald Potterton
Winter—Starting the Car 1979 2:00 director: Gerald Potterton
Wool Spinner, The 1979 2:00 directors: Rita Roy, Joe MacDonald
Woolly Mammoth 1979 1:00 director: Bill Maylone; stop-motion animation
Wop May 1979 5:00 director: Blake James; subject: aviator Wop May

See also

References
  1. Ohayon, Albert. "Canada Vignettes: Essential Canadiana, eh!". NFB blog. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  2. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-410-women-s-rage-a-star-is-born-amazon-ups-its-minimum-wage-sharon-and-bram-and-more-1.4851227/why-canadians-are-still-celebrating-the-log-driver-s-waltz-more-than-half-a-century-after-it-was-written-1.4851233
  3. "Episode Guide for Canada Vignettes". www.tvarchive.ca.
  4. "Canada—Images of a Country". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
  5. "Canada Vignettes". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
  6. "Canada Vignettes". National Film Board of Canada. 22 Oct 2012. Retrieved 15 Jun 2019.
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