Cinema Canada (Feb 1976)

F Major Developments One of the great bones of contention, voiced most loudly at film seminars or wherever André Lamy may be, is the National Film Board’s supposed callous treatment of independent filmmakers, whether by undercutting them in the marketplace, monopolising government film work, or refusing them access to the great NFB distribution network. Now there is a new co-operative program to promote and sell independent filmmakers’ work. The NFB and the Canadian Film Institute are joining forces to arrange opportunities for independents to make U.S. sales. Every two months the CFI will host screenings at the NFB New York Office. Twenty distributors will be invited to sample the wares. The CFI won’t act as a sales agent; the distributor and the filmmaker will make their own deals. There will be no charge to the filmmaker. Prints will be tied up for six to twelve weeks, and the CFI and NFB will handle shipping and so on. Jarvis Stoddard of the NFB Montreal distribution division, and Jim Bragg of the NFB New York office are involved in the program, but the person to contact is Harris Kirshenbaum at the CFI. Write 75 Albert Street, Suite 1105, Ottawa K1P 5E7, or call (613) 238 7865. They’re ready to go. The CFI also reports that a new screen is being built in the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and that the CFI will have an important announcement to make in the middle of February. The NFB has been expanding the film drama ILIV] NEWS workshop program across the country. Roman Kroiter heads the program, and forty people total are studying in Halifax, Montreal, and Edmonton, with the most promising to move to Montreal for further study... In other development projects, the CFDC and Ontario Arts Council are running a script workshop over a five month period. Under American Stanley Colbert, the participants include Roy Moore, Martin Lavut, Carol Bolt, John Hunter, Ian Sutherland, Brian Damude, Tim Bond, John Board, Allan Simmonds, and Peter Pearson. On the Arts front in general, though, things aren’t rosy. The Canada Council has been limited to a ten per cent increase in grants this year, and the Ontario Arts Council to five per cent. That’s with inflation running at over ten per cent. Metropolitan Toronto arts program head David Silcox says that the overall lack of support on all these government levels may mean a collapse in three years. Only the CBC thrives, right? Wrong. Its budget has been cut back by $15 million, and you can be sure that the dayto-day cuts won’t be made in bureaucracy — or in Olympic coverage. Jeanne Sauvé has been sworn in as Communications Minister in the Trudeau cabinet... Michael Goldberg is the new Canada Council officer responsible for the aid to video program. Word is that there’s a movement afoot to separate film and video entirely with the Visual Arts section of the Council. Educational Films More than half the films available in Canadian educational libraries come from the United States, but it is the Canadian-made product that is used most often in classrooms across the country, according to a nation-wide survey on educational film use completed recently by the National Film Board. During the one-year study, an NFB research team surveyed teachers across Canada at all levels, from elementary schools to universities. They found in a one-month sample period, that 65 per cent of the films used in the classroom were Canadian. But when the team checked on the libraries and media resource centres, they found that 66 per cent of their 16mm film holdings came from abroad, mostly from the U.S. The researchers point out, however, that the films have accumulated over the years and the ratio of Canadian to foreign films is expected to change to correspond more closely with actual usage. The NFB survey was done with the endorsement of the Council of Ministers of Education Statistics committee and with collaboration from the Special Survey Coordination Branch of Statistics Canada. The report shows that the NFB produces 41 per cent of the films Canadian teachers use. Other Canadian producers account for 24 per cent of the films, U.S. companies produce 29 per cent, while the rest, some six percent, come from other countries. It also shows that 61 per cent of the teachers who have used foreign-produced | films, found points of view that might be considered unsuitable for Canadian curricula. Educators obtain 63 per cent of their films from libraries supported by provincial, regional or local education systems. Only 15 per cent come from the Film Board’s free loan libraries, although this percentage varies from region to region across the country. The purpose of the NFB study, according to André Lamy, Government Film Commissioner, was to establish some national data on how educational media are used in Canadian institutions, from elementary school to adult education classes. It is the first national look at the situation, although other studies have been done on city-wide and regional levels. This study is a prelude to increased NFB activity in the educational field, said Lamy. The study was done by the Media Research Division of the NFB and was directed by Lyle R. Cruickshank, Ph.D. It comprises six volumes. Production Harold Greenberg has released more details about upcoming production plans, and significantly, most of them are coproductions under various international agreements. Producers have been waiting, especially for the recently signed British arrangement, with bated breath, because in both French and English industries it has become evident that the European method of multi-national film deals promises more security to investors. At february 1976/5