Innovative Canadian Solutions to Public-Transit Problems

A few months back, I wrote a blog post for World Car-Free Day in which I highlighted a 1986 NFB film about public transit called Mobility. That film outlined innovative solutions to public–transit problems in the developing world. Since we published that post, we’ve added two amazing documentaries that deal with several unique public–transit programs in Canada.

These films have been very popular on NFB.ca, so I thought it would be a good idea to discuss them both in a bit more detail. 

 Regina Telebus is a 1973 documentary produced as part of the Challenge for Change* program. In it we are presented a pilot project put together by Regina Public Transit (funded by the federal government) where residents of a new area of the city can “dial-a-bus” and get service at their front door.

Midway between a taxi and a bus service, this program was created to better serve the residents of a low-density area of Regina, who simply called Telebus and gave their address and the time they wanted to be picked up. The bus drivers were in constant contact with the dispatchers and adjusted their routes to pick up the passengers.  

 If you’re thinking that this sounds a lot like modern ride-sharing services, you are correct. It’s refreshing to see that this type of service was possible over 40 years ago, even without modern technological tools like smart phones.  

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2HrmLdz

 The film was shown on television in Regina and elsewhere in Canada to great interest. In Regina, it was broadcast on CKCK (the local CTV affiliate) and was followed by a very successful open phone–line call–in program. At the time of filming, 12 North American cities were involved in similar pilot projects. 

 In A Bus for Us (1972), we learn that the residents of the Beacon Hill district of Ottawa are without any public–transit services of any kind. To get to their places of work, they have to rely entirely on their personal automobiles.

As it made no sense to have so many people on the roads caught up in traffic and having to look for parking once downtown, the citizens approached local authorities to see if Ottawa public transit could be extended to their area. After two years of fruitless negotiations and frustration, they came up with a better idea: start their own bus service. 

 The residents of this fast-growing area on the outskirts of the city realized that if their own bus service were to work, everyone would have to buy into the idea. They approached a bus operator and set up the Beacon Hill Express.

This service, which started with one bus, grew to nine buses providing 13 trips each way every day, thus eliminating 700 car trips a week. The buses made several stops in the community before heading on the Queensway toward downtown Ottawa. Service was offered during the morning and afternoon rush hours. 

 A Bus for Us was also the result of the Challenge for Change program, and it offers a perfect example of a community taking matters into their own hands to solve a problem. The film played on CBC Ottawa in 1973 and was very popular on television across the country. Due to its similar subject matter and short runtime, it often played with Regina Telebus on community cable stations. 

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2HcmBaA

 Both these productions show communities coming up with solutions to common transit problems.  What really strikes me when viewing these films is just how fully invested the communities were in making these projects a success. Without that buy–in, you know these projects would have failed.  

 Enjoy the films. 

*With funding from eight different departments of the Canadian federal government, Challenge for Change was a program that used film and video as a tool for social change. The program ran from 1967 until 1980. More information can be found here. 

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Half the Screen: Women’s History Month at the NFB

Learn About the Japanese Internment Using Augmented Reality

As a History and Social Science teacher, I’ve noticed an uptick in questions about migration, residency and citizenship of late. Much of this is ultimately linked to Canada’s role in resettling Syrian refugees and, more recently, the anti-immigration rhetoric that dominates American political discourse. Many of the comments whether they are inquisitive or critical often times originate from the younger generations of families displaced by war or violence.

Such questions lead to intriguing and occasionally heated discussions about how this country determines an individual’s potential as a resident. There is a mythology that the previous generations of immigrants were “better people,” “more deserving,” and “quicker to assimilate.” How can any of this be true if most of Canada’s historical documents reveal evidence of racial exclusion or legislation that disenfranchised? One such shameful example in the country’s recent history is the internment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II.

The NFB’s new app, East of the Rockies, is an augmented-reality narrative written by Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa. Kogawa, now 83 years old, was a child when she was among the 22,000 Japanese-Canadians interned during World War II. One of the most respected members of the Canadian literary community, Kogawa is best known for the groundbreaking novel Obasan, which tells the story of a young Japanese-Canadian woman who confronts painful memories of internment during the war. The sequel novel, Itsuka, tells the story of Japanese-Canadian redress, and is being re-issued by Caitlin Press.

Download the App 

Joy Kogawa’s participation in this project is a gift. As with many Nisei survivors, Kogawa has used her own experience and her reputation to advocate for others. Her involvement with East of the Rockies adds a new dimension to the writer’s life achievements and advocacy work. If you can, take a look at the behind-the-scenes promo video for East of the Rockies. It’s worth it to see Kogawa’s look of delight as she sees her words become animated by the actors in the studio. And it bears mentioning that Kogawa’s grandchild, Anne, provides the voice of Yuki in the app.

Digital learning offers educators additional tools that assist with the teaching of historical concepts. In East of the Rockies, the user explores the different stages of Yuki’s life, from pre-internment to camp life and later on, shedding light on the impact of internment on future generations of the narrator’s family. Teachers who are hesitant to embrace educational apps should know this: the developers at Jam3 were highly aware of the trends towards gamification in education products. The Jam3 team took great care to create an app that emphasizes educational as well as experiential components.

The impact of racism and hysteria on members of the Japanese-Canadian community is evident in the gradual erosion of their civil rights and the physical and emotional losses sustained. When you take your students through the app, Yuki’s story fosters and deepens one’s understanding and empathy towards those who endured the internment. There are numerous opportunities to use historical inquiry with the different segments of the narrative. To support teachers in effective use of the app, a curriculum guide with activities and selected primary-source documents accompanies East of the Rockies.

East of the Rockies Learner’s Kit

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This Week on NFB.ca: Women Take Centre Stage on IWD 2019

It’s International Women’s Day and we’ve been gearing up all week for the occasion. Over the past five days we’ve featured five films that put women’s issues front and centre, from abortion to menopause.

Through a combination of documentary and animated films, we’ve put together an exploration of the complex concerns that face women today. Got a film to add? Leave it in the comment section at the end of this post.

Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada

This feature documentary from 2012 reminds us, sadly, that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Karen Cho deftly takes us on a tour through the issues like abortion, violence against women, and universal childcare – all while showing us how much farther we still have to go. It’s an eye-opener and a must-see.

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2XFPEs2

Mabel’s Saga

Well. This one hit a little close to home.

Meet Mabel, your typical super woman – juggling work, family, and responsibility. And now, just to add to the fun, she gets to deal with menopause, too! The film is actually a fun little romp through the various ways menopause affects Mabel’s daily life. Even though it tackles a serious subject, the light touch and vibrant colours are just the bit of sugar needed to make this medicine go down.

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2VEhJ18

Rock the Box

Here’s a film that’s sure to spark discussion among friends and family. DJ Rhiannon is a woman set on breaking the glass ceiling in the male-dominated music industry. She’s decided she’ll do whatever it takes, even if that means posing nude for Playboy magazine. She argues she’s beating the system from the inside. What do you think?

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2ohTI1z

Fair Phyllis

I feel that if Mabel and Phyllis had lived in the same century, they’d have been great friends. Like Mabel, Phyllis struggles to meet the demands of work, family, and relationships. But this is a film that celebrates the resilience of women while rooting for Phyllis to find balance in it all.

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2VJuNSU

A Better Man

I long for the day we can write up a post about International Women’s Day and not include a film dealing with violence. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards any time soon. But it does seem that more and more women are standing up and telling their stories, and that is progress.

This film from Attiya Khan and Lawrence Jackman takes an intimate and often uncomfortable look at Khan’s own experience with domestic violence. Taking a different approach altogether, the film includes interviews and segments with Khan’s abuser, Steve. You can learn more about the film here [https://ift.tt/2yu6UGw].

oehttps://https://ift.tt/2wA1w25

 

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Mini-Lesson for Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada

Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada

Feminism has shaped the society we live in. But just how far has it brought us, and how relevant is it today? This feature documentary zeroes in on key concerns such as violence against women, access to abortion, and universal childcare, asking how much progress we have truly made on these issues.

Themes:

• Civics/Citizenship – Human Rights
• Family Studies/Home Economics – Feminism
• Social Studies – Social Policies and Programs

Ages: 15–18

oehttps://http://www.nfb.ca/film/status_quo_the_unfinished_business_of_feminism/

Guiding Question: What progress has Canada achieved in addressing the objectives of feminism if defined as political, social, and economic equality?

1) Activity #1

The following are strategies Canada can adopt to improve how it addresses violence against Indigenous women. Place them in order to show which are the MOST effective and which are the LEAST effective.

1. Fixing inadequacies in judicial system
2. Recognizing systemic barriers that cause gender inequity
3. Implementing the TRC’s Calls to Action
4. Electing political candidates who understand issues regarding Indigenous women
5. Holding public inquiries to identify causes of violence against women
6. Introducing tougher legislation around gender-based violent crimes
7. Providing better training for law enforcement
8. Improving anti-poverty strategies (e.g., guaranteed basic income level, childcare, affordable housing)

Justify your answer.

Go Deeper

Today, Indigenous activists are frequently harassed on social media for expressing concerns about how the justice system treats Indigenous women. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has stalled, experiencing several setbacks since its inception. While these issues are set against a Canadian backdrop, the concerns are universal. What is slowing progress in addressing the problem of violence against Indigenous women?

2) Activity #2

Access to legalized abortion would provide women the authority to make their own decisions about their reproductive health. On a scale of 1 to 5, rank the importance of legalized abortion in Canada.

Justify your answer.

Go Deeper

Abortion rights remains a divisive issue. Pro-choice advocates assert that reproductive rights and reproductive justice are essential in addressing poverty-related issues such as lack of child-care options, leaving an abusive relationship, threats of forced sterilization, individual health concerns, etc. The Canada Health Act guarantees access to health services, and since abortion is considered a safe, legal, insured and funded medical service, a woman should not be required to pay for abortion services. However, access across the country varies (e.g., New Brunswick).

3) Activity #3

Why is Canada’s daycare policy considered inadequate and unaffordable for families?

Go Deeper

To address the lack of availability of daycare spaces, families who can afford it have been hiring live-in nannies, many of whom are from the Philippines. The irony is that, out of economic necessity, these caregivers have left their own children to go abroad to care for other people’s children. The incentive for becoming a nanny in Canada is tied to the promise of permanent resident status after two years of employment. This results not only in precarious job security for these workers but also the potential for exploitation. Immigration Canada is reviewing the Migrant Caregivers’ program, now stating that caregivers who have not accumulated the required two years of employment by Nov. 29, 2019, will not qualify for permanent residence status.

 

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Jenny Salgado pays homage to Haiti and Quebec in her soundtrack for Kenbe La

NFB’s English Animation Studio Launches All-New Experimentation Lab: NFB/ONFxp

For decades, the National Film Board has been at the forefront of innovation in cinema, creating a vast array of award-winning films. True to its history while also eager shaping an ever-changing industry, the NFB has never shied away from sharing its extensive knowledge with the community and fellow artists alike. Now, the NFB is excited to introduce an all-new experimentation lab: NFB/ONFxp.

Spearheaded by the English Animation Studio, this experimentation lab will offer an inside look as four creators from Quebec tackle an idea they’ve always wanted to explore, but lacked the resources to carry out. With the help of the NFB’s considerable resources and a mentor (who has been specially handpicked for them), these passionately curious creators are ready to push the boundaries of their imagination.

These four creators will have one month to complete their experiments in-house at NFB Headquarters. Without the pressure of a final project on the horizon, they will be able to better focus on the fun of experimentation. Through live interviews, behind-the-scenes coverage and blog posts, the creators will share their findings publicly. With the lab wrapping up at the end of March, a public presentation in the form of lightning talks will be held in downtown Montreal where creators will discuss their successes, pitfalls and discoveries. The presentations will also serve as an opportunity for members of the art and tech community to gather, learn and participate in a discussion about the experiments and how they can be pushed further.

Here’s what you need to know about them!

Shawn Laptiste

Shawn Laptiste is known for his laugh, for having an affinity for beautiful sounds and for caring about clean code (though not necessarily in that order). With almost two decades of tinkering in computer music and approximately 15 years in professional software development, his interests range from game design to sound design and installation art. Currently, he is in the process of exploring new and innovative ways to merge interactivity and art and bring them to the public at large.

Imagine a stadium filled with people, where everyone’s phone is acting as one individual pixel, a part of one giant art installation. With the intention of bringing people together via jaw-dropping art installations, Shawn’s experiment revolves around finding the best approach to merging these two interests.

You can follow Shawn across Instagram, Twitter, GitHub, itch.io: @lazerfalcon

Kofi Oduro

Kofi’s artistic practice is an observation of the world around us, which he then puts into artwork for others to relate to or disagree with. Through videography, poetry and creative coding, he tries to highlight the realms of human performance and the human mind in different scenarios. These situations can be described as social, internal, or even biological, which we face in our everyday lives. Adding music and visuals often helps to identify one’s own feelings, and to highlight the various subtleties that make us human. With a dose of technology, there is an endless range of progress in human creative endeavours.

Brimming with brilliant ways to play with people’s senses in VR, Kofi’s experiment is all about creating a mystifying VR space using artificial intelligence, with a mix of audio and visuals to trip up viewers as they try to navigate the room.

You can visit Kofi’s website here.

Travis Mercredi 

Travis Mercredi is a Métis producer, sound designer and musician from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He has produced work across mediums such as film, music, theatre, radio, television and games, and his projects have been featured in venues such as the National Arts Centre, the Canoe Theatre Festival, Talking Stick Theatre Festival, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, APTN, CBC, Yellowknife International Film Festival, Cannes and others. As an Indigenous person working in new media, he seeks to connect technology and indigeneity and explore the implications of that relationship for social innovation. As an advocate for the arts in his region, he has sat on the boards of Western Arctic Moving Pictures, NWT Professional Media Association, Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre and Music NWT. He currently resides in Montreal, Quebec, where he is completing Concordia University’s Computation Arts program and is a research assistant with Initiative for Indigenous Futures.

Travis’s experiment entails merging his Indigenous roots and exploring the edges of what our ears hear that cue our perception on an unconscious level. Dabbling in hyperrealism and surrealism, Travis also enjoys showcasing the beauty of the Northwest Territories through his VR spaces.

You can visit Travis’s website here.

e→d films

e→d films is an animation studio and tools lab based in Montreal since 2007. Known for hybrid, holistic animation production, technical experimentation and innovation, e→d films does it all in the animation and gaming industries, both for clients and their own productions. The studio’s work has travelled to festivals worldwide. Their awards include a Webby for Best Animation in 2011, a Power to the Pixel (London, UK) win in 2015, and a MIFA-Annecy pitch selection in 2016. Their latest project, for EyeSteelFilm’s Let There Be Light documentary, premiered at SXSW, screened at Sundance and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation at the Cinema Eye Honors Awards in NYC (2018). Along the way, the company has committed to sharing their knowledge, offering online tutorials, tools and downloadable assets that empower other animators to take their projects to the next level.

In the process of creating an exciting new plug-in that will facilitate the process of working between 2D and 3D software, e→d films will leverage the NFB’s creative minds to beta-test the plug-in to observe how it performs with animators who use the software and regularly face the task of moving between the 2D and 3D space. As explained by Daniel Gies, the plug-in’s purpose is to allow illustrators to export layered Photoshop files out to a 3D Maya Model for sculpting.

You can find e→d films at their website here, and on social media at @e.d.films.

Stay tuned for all the exciting upcoming content!

 

The Animation Studio has appropriated the NFBONFxp title from the Digital Studio, and created a new entity. With the Digital Studio’s blessing.

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