It’s Officially Cold Outside. Warm Up with 4 Winter Sports Films

Well, it’s late November and there’s no point denying it any more. Winter is coming. In a remarkably short time period, almost the entire country went from an historically mild fall to sub-zero temperatures. Cruel joke, Mother Nature.

But before we disappear into the deep freeze, let’s take a moment to reflect on the good aspects of winter, like winter sports. Skating, ice hockey, skiing, snow-shoeing – it’s all good. And to get you in the mood, we’ve put together a few portraits of some of the people who have excelled at their chosen sport. Enjoy!

The Rocket

If ever there was a sports hero that was larger than life, it was Maurice Rocket Richard. I can’t even begin to guess the number of kids who grew up idolizing the man. Thankfully, this was at a time when being a hero meant something, and Richard was a shining example of someone whom people could look up to and try to emulate, and be a better person because of it. As the New York Times stated, his funeral brought this nation to a standstill. This film introduces you to the man, on and off the ice, during the early years of his career.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/rocket/

King of Blades

Figure-skating champion Don Jackson gives us poetry on ice in this very short film that features him practicing his craft at both Prague’s World Championships and at the Canadian Ice Follies. At the former, he landed the first triple lutz jump in an international competition and won. Jackson went on to have a long career after this film was shot, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1997. Perhaps even more impressive, he kept skating until his mid-70s, appearing in Stars on Ice shows across the country.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/king_of_blades/

Jack Rabbit

If you’re Canadian, chances are you’ve tried cross-country skiing at least once in your life. But do you know who first introduced the sport to Canada? Meet Herman Smith Johannsen, a Norwegian-born transplant who came to Canada in 1903, after a brief stint in the US. After living in city after city, he settled in the Quebec Laurentians, having finally found a place he could call home. This short was filmed in his 100^th year, and shows him participating in the Canadian Ski Marathon in Lachute. He’s a remarkable human being, and it’s well worth watching his story.

http://ift.tt/2AemHKr

The Sword of the Lord

Also from the mid-1970s, this film by Giles Walker introduces us to Jim Hunter, often regarded as the best ski racer in the world. Get up close and personal with the man as we join him for his grueling exercise regime, his time trials and pre-race prep. This is a man with determination and discipline, and a religious faith that runs deep. He is the prime example of a dedicated athlete. Also, how awesome is this film’s title?

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/sword-of-the-lord/

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Avocado Jobs: Keep Track Of Your Job Applications

Avocado Jobs is a simple and effective way to keep track of your job applications.

Remember Where You Applied

Job seekers are, at this point, likely well aware of the myriad options they have for finding a new position online. There are tons of job search engines out there, from broad to niche, and most of them are filled with many different listings. The problem for most applicants, then, isn’t finding a place to apply to jobs. It’s finding a way to keep track of all the applications you send out. Avocado Jobs is a simple yet effective solution to that problem. The site offers an easy way to keep track of all of your job applications, as well as what you need to do to follow up.

Keep Track Of Responses And Follow Ups

Avocado Jobs offers an easier way to do what most serious applicants were likely already doing on their own. Whether you were writing down the jobs you applied to using pen and paper or a spreadsheet like Google Sheets, it has always been smart to know which applications you have sent out, heard back from, etc. People apply for so many jobs nowadays without hearing any response that it can be difficult to remember which job you did apply for when an answer does come through. Avocado Jobs simply asks you to fill in a few fields and save your answers, and then your job is saved. The site doesn’t even require you to create an account—simply enter your email address if you want your job applications to be saved. Avocado Jobs is a beautiful solution to a common problem, and should be utilized by anyone who’s undergoing the grueling job application process.

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Furbo: Interactive Pet Camera

Furbo makes a camera that lets you interact with your pets while you’re away.

Keep A Close Eye On Your Pets

Pets are, by nature, social creatures. Dogs, especially, crave attention from their human owners. Even for dogs that aren’t afflicted with separation anxiety, boredom can become a serious issue. Many pet owners leave their animals at home alone for long stretches of the day, making it difficult for them to receive the attention and mental stimulation they require to remain happy and healthy. Furbo makes an interactive pet camera designed specifically to solve this issue. The camera lets you see, talk to, and toss treats to your dog, even when you’re not at home. The Furbo camera can be accessed through your smartphone, so you can know what your pet is up to at all times.

Toss Treats, Listen and Talk

The coolest new feature of the Furbo device is the “Smart Dog Alerts” function, which detects and notifies you when your dog is active using A.I.-powered dog recognition. If the dog looks at the camera, it can even take a selfie for you. If a person walks into frame, it can let you know about that, as well. This is useful if you give a dog walker access to your home, for instance, so you can keep track of what’s going on while you’re away. There’s also a microphone and speaker, so you can listen and talk to your pet. The most fun aspect of Furbo is the way the device launches treats at your dog, providing a rewarding and mentally stimulating activity for them to participate in while you’re gone. If you’re a pet owner who has to leave your animals at home during the day, consider checking out Furbo.

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The Best NFB Films of the 2010s (so far)

With 3000+ films that you can stream for free, picking a starting point can be tricky!

Enjoy a (subjective) list of the 10 best NFB films from the 2010s (so far)!

Angry Inuk

Enjoy this feature doc that travels through the Canadian Arctic to give voice to the hunters, craftspeople and families who depend of the seal hunt for their livelihood and survival.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/angry_inuk/

Blind Vaysha

A young girl who sees the past with her left eye and the future with her right eye learns the importance of living in the present moment.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/blind_vaysha/

Hadwin’s Judgement

Watch this spellbinding documentary that captures one man’s improbable journey from expert logger to environmental terrorist.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/hadwins_judgement/

If I Was God…

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself charged with God-like powers? Would you use them for good? For bad? Perhaps a little of both?

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/if_i_was_god/

Lipsett Diaries

Descend into the maelstrom of anguish that tormented famed Canadian filmmaker Arthur Lipsett with this frenetic short by Theodore Ushev. Featuring the voice of Xavier Dolan.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/lipsett_diaries

Me and My Moulton

A seven-year-old girl asks her hopelessly unconventional parents for a bicycle. But what kind of bike can you expect from a father who sports the only moustache in town and a mother who makes dresses out of curtain fabric?

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/me_and_my_moulton

Stories We Tell

Rent Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sarah Polley’s genre-twisting film that playfully excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/stories_we_tell

Sunday

Dive straight back into childhood with this Oscar®-nominee that shows that a simple Sunday visit to Grandma’s can turn into a real adventure.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/sunday/

The Amina Profile

Part love story, part international thriller, this film is the gripping chronicle of an unprecedented media and sociological hoax.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/amina_profile

Wild Life

Watch this short animation about a young British remittance man sent to try his dainty hands at cattle ranching in 1909 Alberta.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/wild_life

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Break the Cycle and Eliminate Violence Against Women

Saturday, November 25th, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. To mark this important day, Attiya Khan and Lawrence Jackman’s raw and emotionally-charged doc, A Better Man, will have its broadcast premiere on TVO on Saturday, November 25 at 9pm.

A Better Man, which premiered at Hot Docs 2017, is currently doing the festival circuit around the globe, as well as numerous community screenings. It centres on Attiya and her ex-abusive boyfriend, Steve. Attiya convinces Steve to discuss their relationship from 22 years ago on camera, and in doing so offers a fresh and nuanced way of looking domestic abuse, one that includes abusers taking responsibilities for their actions rather than the entire burden of healing being placed on the victim. The concept for A Better Man struck a chord, and it’s 40-day Indiegogo campaign exceed its goal by 50%, raising more than $110K from over 1000 people around the world – making it one of the most successful campaigns in Canadian history.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/better_man/

Another recent film that deals with similar subject matter is this river, Katherena Vermett and Erika MacPhearson’s short film about searching for loved ones who have disappeared.

From this film sprung another project – an Instagram account titled What Brings Us Here, which features stories of Indigenous-led activism on the streets and waterways of Winnipeg, Canada. When asked why people were participating in this project, many participants told producer Alicia Smith their actions stemmed from instances of violence against Indigenous women.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/this_river/

We also have several other films in our collection about domestic abuse, both documentary and fiction.

The Crown Prince

This short film from the late 1980s tells the fictional story of Frank Robinson, a man who abuses his wife, resulting in terrifying consequences for her, and their two sons. It’s a well-done drama that takes a hard look at how teenagers deal with domestic violence.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/crown_prince/

Namrata

This short film (extremely short – only 9 minutes) introduces Namrata, a woman who survived years of violence at the hands of her partner. She eventually worked up the courage to leave, and ended up in the perfect career.

Namrata was one of many inspirations for Deepa Mehta’s film, Heaven on Earth, a feature-length drama about domestic violence within the Punjabi community. Heaven on Earth is available for rent.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/namrata/

Finding Dawn

This film delves a Canadian national tragedy – the murder and disappearance of over 1000 Indigenous women. Beginning in Vancouver, the film travels the Highway of Tears and through Saskatoon, where many of their cases remain unsolved. It’s a film that pays respect, and offers reason for hope.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/finding_dawn/

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We Want the World to Sing Hallelujah Together

If you happen to be a Leonard Cohen fan, and plan on visiting Montreal before April 2018, you should check The Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art’s tribute to Cohen called Une brèche en toute chose / A Crack in Everything. The exhibition brings together 20 works by 40 artists from 10 countries, all .

Among them is our tribute (co-produced by Daily tous les jours) called I Heard There Was a Secret Chord, which asks users to engage in a unique act of community and harmony: the collecting humming of Cohen’s iconic song Hallelujah.

“We were curious about the international reach of Cohen’s work,” says Mouna Andros, who designed the project with her colleague Melissa Mongiat. “We wanted to offer a scientific-mystical experiment created from data, and our choice turned naturally to Hallelujah, which is Cohen’s most popular song on the Internet, and also most often, to understand the impact and scope of the artist.”

photo credit: Geoffrey Boulangé

Using seven microphones suspended in what Mouna and Melissa dubbed a “recollection space”, each visitor can hum Cohen’s hymn, superimposing their voice alongside hundreds of pre-recorded people and six Montreal choirs. Once inside the space, the number of people actively listening to Hallelujah from around the world begins to affect the experience.

The room also displays the number of listeners playing Hallelujah on YouTube and Spotify in real time. “This number is of great importance because it shows all the individuals we connect to when we listen to the song,” Mouna adds. It represents the collective experience that we potentially live with the entire planet.”

Sing Hallelujah online!

The physical installation has a web component, which allows Internet users to participate in collective humming as well. Sing Hallelujah with us!

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He’s the King of the Fabulists For A Reason

In the literary world, there is no greater fabulist than Aesop. Absolutely everyone can—at the very least—paraphrase one of Aesop’s fabulous little fables, and the morals gleamed from his captivating prose have survived thousands of years and countless adaptations.

Wondering what a fable is? They’re a literary genre that tend to be short, fictional stories with heavily anthropomorphized characters that tend to be animals or forces of nature brought together to emphasize a catchy moral.

Tuck in and enjoy a selection of 4 NFB films based on Aesop’s wonderful fables. If you’re looking for more, check out our post on fairy tales, check here.

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Fable: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

Enjoy Evelyn Lambart’s artful rendition of Aesop’s fable about two mice who learn it’s better to live a simple, peaceful life than a luxurious one filled with danger.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/town_mouse_country_mouse

The North Wind and the Sun: A Fable by Aesop

Fable: The North Wind and the Sun

You might not know this fable, but it’s a charming little story. The warm sun proves to the cold wind that persuasion is better than force when it comes to making a man take off his coat.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/north_wind_and_sun_fable_by_aesop

The Lion and the Mouse

Fable: The Lion and the Mouse

As you can probably tell, Evelyn Lambart animated quite a few of Aesop’s fables in her incredibly distinctive style. Enjoy this beautiful animation where a little mouse proves to a mighty lion that usefulness isn’t based on size.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/lion_and_mouse

The Bear and the Mouse

Fable: The Lion and the Mouse

This film is a little variation of Aesop’s The Lion and the Mouse fable. Instead of a lion, we happen to have a bear, and both animals just happen to be 100% real. Watch as they act of the fable with all-natural talent and flair.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/bear_and_the_mouse

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HabitMinder: Healthy Habit Reminder App

HabitMinder is an app that helps you stay on track with your healthy habits and help you achieve them daily.

Form A New Habit

It is hard to form new habits. Many people try to form new, positive habits on a daily basis. Many of those people fail. Now, there’s an app that can help hold people accountable for their new habit-forming goals. The app is called HabitMinder, and it’s one of the most well-designed, easy-to-use apps in this space. The app comes with a set of pre-loaded, common habits, such as walking, exercising, meditating, reading, eating veggies, playing instruments, spending time with your family, and many other options. You can set the amount of time you want to practice each habit, as well as the frequency.

Find A New Habit

After setting up a new habit, HabitMinder will remind you at a specified time on each of the days you requested to carry out whatever action it is you chose. You can also set certain color schemes and reminder sounds for each unique habit, as associating colors and tones with the habit could help remind you what it is you need to be doing. Even if you don’t have any habits in mind that you would like to form, HabitMinder has such a huge list of options that you can browse the app for inspiration. If there’s a more specific habit that you’d like to take on, you can also create a custom habit in the app. Whatever it is you want to start doing, HabitMinder can help.

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Axios: News Worthy Of Your Time

Axios is a new media company delivering trustworthy news and analysis.

‘Axios’ is Greek for ‘Worthy’

In 2016, three members of Politico—including co-founder Jim VandeHei—split off to form their own new media company. The result is Axios, a website which covers politics as well as all other news they deem worthy of covering. ‘Axios,’ in fact, is the Greek word for ‘worthy.’ The name has a duel meaning, as Axios also aims to deliver “trustworthy” news in a time when it’s becoming increasingly difficult to separate journalistic fact from fiction. Axios claims to report the news with “no bias” and “no nonsense”, and they mostly avoid clickbait titles or rambling articles, though the inevitable opinion sneaks its way into the mix.

A Transparent News Site

Axios also has a transparent revenue-generating policy, as the company clearly states that they rely on native advertising. They also set up their platform to integrate well with Facebook and Apple’s respective news feeds. In terms of content, Axios covers a wide variety of topics in a compelling manner. The site is broken up into several sections—Top Stories, Technology, Politics, Business, Health Care, Science, Future of Work, and Energy. Each article has a headline, a photograph, and two short paragraphs highlighting the most relevant information. If you want to read more, Axios tells you exactly how many words are left in the article. Often, just reading the small bit they present is enough. Axios is still a young company, but they have the potential to be one of the web’s top new media sites.

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Canada Day Challenge 2017 | Watch the Winning Videos!

In 2017, youth across the country were once again invited to take part in the annual Canada Day Challenge… and the winners are: Emily Zbaraschuk of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in the “Write It!” category; Fiona Tung of Markham, Ontario, in the “Draw It!” category; and Joshua Sprigg of Mount Albert, Ontario, in the “Snap It!” category.

Canadian Heritage also partnered with Historica Canada for another component of the 2017 Canada Day Challenge, the Here’s My Canada video contest, and two young filmmakers—Estelle Lajeunesse of Eastman (Quebec) and Emily Janzen of North Vancouver (British Columbia)—were selected to receive an early bird prize.

All winners were invited to Ottawa on Canada Day to attend Canada 150 celebrations. The NFB participated in the Canada Day Challenge by providing an interactive kit and a webinar, as well as iPads, to help train the contest participants in media production. Let’s have a round of applause for these creative and imaginative youth, who took on the challenge of exploring Canadian history, culture and identity, offering their perspectives on what makes this country so unique. You can watch their videos on our YouTube channel.

 

2017 marked the final edition of the Canada Day Challenge. Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2017 contest, and thank you to all the young Canadians who participated over the past 30 years!

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Not All Heroes Wear Capes | 5 Films About Real-Life Superheroes

The heroes of DC’s Justice League are taking cinemas by storm today!

Although there can only be one Batman, Wonder Woman or Superman, not all heroes belong to fiction. For instance, you’ve already met some of the Wonder Women of the NFB; and we are convinced that your workplace, household or community also has its own superheroes. If you haven’t met them yet, it’s only because some of them are really good at protecting their secret identity!

As a tribute to all those extraordinary people, here are 5 NFB films about real-life superheroes who may not have fought evil extraterrestrials or wrathful gods, but have made it their mission to serve the innocent or the less fortunate and push boundaries in their own, valiant way.

Hannah’s Story

At the age of 5, Hannah Taylor saw her first homeless person in the back alleys of Winnipeg. This experience not only troubled her, but it drove her to do nothing less than change the world. Her charity, The Ladybug Foundation, has already raised well over 3 million dollars to provide shelter, food and safety for homeless people across Canada.

We usually think of children learning from their elders, but here is the story of an 11-year-old girl inspiring adults to make a difference. As Hannah always says, “Share a little of what you have and always care about others” —it’s as simple as that!

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/hannahs_story/

Bethune

This feature documentary by veteran NFB filmmaker Donald Brittain is a biography of Dr. Norman Bethune, the Canadian doctor who served with the loyalists during the Spanish Civil War and with the North Chinese Army during the Sino-Japanese War.

After developing the world’s first mobile blood-transfusion service for frontline operations in the 1930s, Dr. Bethune brought modern medicine to rural China, effectively treating and performing emergency operations to sick villagers and wounded soldiers alike.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/bethune/

Journey to Justice

Roger McTair’s documentary pays tribute to six Canadians who refused to accept inequality, took racism to court… and won. Among others, meet Viola Desmond, who insisted on keeping her seat at a Halifax movie theatre in 1946 rather than moving to the section normally reserved for the city’s Black population, and Fred Christie, who took his case to the Supreme Court after being denied service at a Montreal tavern in 1936.

They are Canada’s unsung heroes in the fight for Black civil rights and their voices should never be forgotten.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/journey_to_justice/

Hospital City

Most superheroes work alone, but some callings require a great deal of teamwork —and we’re not talking about the Avengers or Justice League (at least not this time)!

Shot in 2004 at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Rosemary House’s Hospital City reveals the inner workings of a contemporary health-care facility, from the maternity ward to the morgue. As debate in Canada and the world rages over health care, this documentary offers a moving, human portrait of the people whom the issues touch most closely.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/hospital_city/

Mabel

On a lighter note: some heroes act locally and in an everyday fashion. Feisty, fiercely independent and firmly rooted in place, 90 year-old wonder woman Mabel Robinson broke barriers back in the 1940s when she became the first woman in Hubbards, Nova Scotia, to launch her own business —a hairdressing salon where she still provides shampoo-n-sets to this day! And she has no desire to retire anytime soon.

After all, being a superhero also means having the conviction to do what we love.

oehttps://www.nfb.ca/film/mabel/

Who’s your real-life superhero?

(Justice League image credit : Warner Bros. Pictures)

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