Documentary on Newfoundland :: essays research papers

Canada is internationally recognized for its excellence in documentary film, and in recent years several(prenominal) of Canadas finest documentary makers have come from this province. Some of them work primarily in Newfoundland and Labrador while others take their cameras around the world. Their films often tell highly personal stories that theorize universal themes, and many are characterized by an unmistakable passion for grass-roots politics, social change and human rights.For most of this century Newfoundland and Labrador stories and events were interpreted through the eyes of see filmmakers. Producers from Great Britain and the United States arrived as early as 1907 to do brief pieces about hunting, fishing and wildlife. The National Film Board of Canada (N.F.B.) made several niggling films here in the 1940s and came regularly after Confederation, eventually building a library of over 100 films about the province. Local directors and producers did not sum to that library un til the 1980s.A few Newfoundlanders were shooting footage in these early years, but usually out of personal interest and with no intention of creating narrative films. undefiled projects by local cameramen and editors began to appear after the second World War. They included The Golden Jubilee of Archbishop Roach (1947) by W.J. Ryan and The Land We Love (1955), a travelogue of the Avalon Peninsula by Len Earle.By the late 1960s the CBC and CJON television stations were filming news, entertainment and information programs. Memorial Universitys Extension Service established a "media unit of measurement" to make educational films and documentaries and record significant public events. The unit also worked with the NFB on several projects, including a series of short films on Fogo Island that incorporated insert and feedback from local residents.CJON at Buckmasters Circle, 1952.Jack Squires loads CJONs mobile transmitter van in preparation for an important outside broadcast.P hoto by C.F. Ruggles. From Newfoundland Radio in Pictures, 1952 (St. Johns, Nfld Guardian Press, 1952) 43.(51 kb)In the early 1970s the first generation of independent filmmakers was beginning to emerge. Fourteen of them formed the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Cooperative (NIFCO) in 1975. although dedicated to the devising of dramatic and artistic films, NIFCO has also been vital to the development of a home-grown documentary industry.The early NIFCO documentaries focus on the provinces history and heritage and are only a few minutes long. Stones Cove (1980) profiles a resettled community through contemporary footage and old photographs. Dig At Cow Head (1982) is a brief portrayal of an archaeological dig.