Canadian Movies in Toronto and Quebec - Essay Example

Francophone viewers spent more than 65.2% watching Canadian programs while Anglophone viewers spent more than 72.2% watching foreign programs.

2 Outside Quebec, it's altogether a different story as mentioned above, Canadian filmmakers are unknown to the world, except those who have received acclaim outside Canada. It is because of this that attempts are on to make the audiences aware of the Canadian film industry by way of showcasing the movies in the school gyms and auditoriums, with big screens and sounds.3 It was surprising to note that most people didn't want to see Canadian movies, because they are low-budget and not like a Hollywood blockbuster.

In most years, the top-grossing Canadian film is a French-language film from Quebec. French-Canadian films, on the other hand, are often more successful, as with French-language television, the language difference makes Quebec audiences much more receptive to Canadian-produced films. The audiences in Toronto are more likely inclined toward Hollywood-produced movies. Most people don't even know the names of the movies that have grossed huge revenue at the box office.4 It is evident from the above fact that American films have a much larger impact on the people in Canada, except Quebec where, Canadian movies are played in the theatre, being the main center of the Canadian Film Industry.

Role of National Film Board The National Film Board has defined a list of primary and secondary goals to fulfill to meet its mandate, as well as a set of related activities that can be performed to meet those goals such as creating programming reflecting Canada's linguistic duality and cultural diversity, create programming of film and audiovisual works on subjects relevant to the general public or niche audiences, support innovative and experimental projects in new and interactive media and exploit the audiovisual heritage of the NFB.

The overarching objective of the National Film Board is to produce and distribute audio-visual works which provoke discussion and debate on subjects of interest to Canadian audiences and foreign markets; explore the creative potential of the audio-visual media; and achieve recognition by Canadians and others for excellence, relevance, and innovation.5 The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes socially relevant films that inform Canadians and explore global issues.

The NFB is best known for its documentaries and animated short films. The NFB was established in 1939 to interpret Canada to Canadians. John Grierson, a British documentary filmmaker, was invited by the Government to study the state of the government's film production. Grierson opined that Canada should make short, inexpensive films about Canadians and their experiences that could complement more expensive Hollywood fare while giving Canadians a cinematic voice without abandoning the concept of the National Film Industry. During the Second World War, it produced films in support of the war effort. Churchill’s Island, 1941, won the first Oscar Award for NFB.