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Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada. A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.
Conception
The idea for Canada Vignettes began in early 1977, when CBC's children's programming department at the CBC approached the NFB about producing short films, five minutes in length or less, to use as interstitial programming. When the Secretary of State for Canada announced in the fall of 1977 that $13 million would be given to federal cultural agencies to help promote national unity, the NFB was allocated $2 million to produce films for broadcast on the CBC, similar to CBS's Bicentennial Minutes in the United States, the previous year. The French-language service of the CBC also agreed to broadcast the series.
Production
80 filmmakers from across the country worked on the project over a three-year period. Many of the films were animation vignettes offering amusing portrayals of Canadian history, while others were produced from excerpts from NFB documentaries. The NFB decided that no film credits would be included, only a title.
Broadcast
The CBC’s children’s department subsequently informed the NFB that it could not show films longer than two minutes as their needs had changed in the time that it took to produce the series. A quarter of the vignettes were more than two minutes long. As a solution, the CBC main network agreed to make the longer and shorter films available to their network affiliates. Canada Vignettes were shown on both in prime time and during children’s programming slots. The most popular film in the series to air on Canadian television was Canada Vignettes: Faces, an animated short that depicted the faces of Canada, including that of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Other Canadian television networks to broadcast the films included CTV, Global, TVOntario, and TVA. The series was also sold to international foreign broadcasters in such countries as Turkey, Italy, Algeria, Norway and the United Kingdom.
List of Vignettes
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#1 Canada Vignettes: Ice (1982) (Short) #2 Canada Vignettes: Skier (1978) (Short) #3 Canada Vignettes: News Canada (1978) (Short) #4 Canada Vignettes: Toronto (1978) (Short) #5 Canada Vignettes: The Ham (1978) (Short) #6 Canada Vignettes: The Egg (1979) (Short) #7 Canada Vignettes: Logger (1978) (Short) #8 Canada Vignettes: The Horse (1978) (Short) #9 Canada Vignettes: The Vote (1980) #10 Canada Vignettes: Wop May (1979) (Short) #11 Canada Vignettes: Alouette (1979) (Short) #12 Canada Vignettes: Trees (1978) (Short) #13 Canada Vignettes: The Move (1985) (Short) #14 Canada Vignettes: Birth (1980) (Short) #15 Canada Vignettes: Faces (1978) (Short) #16 Canada Vignettes: Dance (1979) (Short) #17 Canada Vignettes: Log Driver's Waltz (1979) (Short) #18 Canada Vignettes: Love on Wheels (1979) (Short) #19 Canada Vignettes: Spence's Republic (1978) (Short) #20 Canada Vignettes: The Photographers (1978) (Short) #21 Canada Vignettes: Voyageurs (1978) (Short) #22 Canada Vignettes: Crossing Guards (1978) (Short) #22 Canada Vignettes: Flin Flon (1978) (Short) #23 Canada Vignettes: Delta Plane (1979) (Short) #24 Canada Vignettes: Bill Miner (1978) (Short) #25 Canada Vignettes: Catapult Canada (1985) (Short) #26 Canada Vignettes: From Flax to Linen (1978) (Short) #27 Canada Vignettes: The Dentist (1978) (Short) #28 Canada Vignettes: Fashion Designer (1977) (Short) #29 Canada vignettes: Roulamour (1979) (Short) #30 Canada Vignettes: Physiotherapist (1977) (Short) #31 Canada Vignettes: Stunt Family (1978) (Short) #32 Canada Vignettes: The Performer (1978) (Short) #33 Canada Vignettes: Full Circle (1979) (Short) #34 Canada Vignettes: The Thirties (1978) (Short) #35 Canada Vignettes: Indian Pipe (1979) (Short) #36 Canada Vignettes: Dancing Dolls (1980) (Short) #37 Canada Vignettes: McIntosh (1979) (Short) #38 Canada Vignettes: Instant French (1979) (Short) #39 Canada Vignettes: Breadmakers (1980) (Short) #40 Canada Vignettes: Woolly Mammoth (1979) (Short) #41 Canada Vignettes: Riverdale Lion (1979) (Short) #42 Canada Vignettes: The Visitor (1979) #43 Canada Vignettes: Mussel Mud (1985) (Short) #44 Canada Vignettes: Easter Eggs (1978) (Short) #45 Canada Vignettes: Homestead (1980) (Short) #46 Canada Vignettes: Home of the Beaver (1978) (Short) #47 Canada Vignettes: Bells and Brass (1978) (Short) #48 Canada Vignettes: Angel of Death (1980) (Short) #49 Canada Vignettes: Bill Reid (1979) (Short) #50 Canada Vignettes: The Novelist (1978) (Short) #51 Canada Vignettes: The Seigneury (1978) (Short) #52 Canada Vignettes: The Veteran (1978) (Short) #53 Canada Vignettes: The Wool Spinner (1979) (Short) #54 Canada Vignettes: Arctic Mission (1980) (Short) #55 Canada Vignettes: Canada's Snowbirds (1980) (Short) #56 Canada Vignettes: Countdown (1981) (Short) #57 Canada Vignettes: Land Bridge (1978) (Short) #58 Canada Vignettes: Northern Seasons (1980) (Short) #59 Canada Vignettes: Under the Pole (1980) (Short) #60 Canada Vignettes: Newfoundland (1978) (Short) #61 Canada Vignettes: The Ballet Master (1978) (Short) #62 Canada Vignettes: Our Daily Bread (1979) (Short) #63 Canada Vignettes: Holidays (1978) (Short) #64 Canada Vignettes: Headdress (1979) (Short) #65 Canada Vignettes: The Music Makers (1979) (Short) #66 Canada Vignettes: Moccasins (1979) (Short) #67 Canada Vignettes: Sodbusters (1978) (Short) #68 Canada Vignettes: Ma chère Albertine (1979) (Short) #69 Canada vignettes: Les nigogeux (1978) (Short) #70 Canada Vignettes: Prairie Promise (1980) (Short) #71 Canada Vignettes: Veterinarian (1977) (Short) #72 Canada Vignettes: Cree Hunters (1979) (Short) #73 Canada Vignettes: Maritimes Dig (1980) (Short) #74 Canada Vignettes: Arctic Seascape (1980) (Short) #75 Canada Vignettes: Celebration (1981) (Short) #76 Canada Vignettes: Onions and Garlic (1978) (Short) #77 Canada Vignettes: Two Friends (1979) (Short) #78 Canada Vignettes: The Maple Leaf (1978) (Short) #79 Canada Vignettes: Unity Pole (1979) #80 Canada Vignettes: Inuit Pipe (1979) (Short) #81 Canada Vignettes: The Violin Maker (1978) (Short) #82 Canada Vignettes: Captain Cook (1978) (Short) #83 Canada Vignettes: December Lights (1979) (Short) #84 Canada Vignettes: Bridging the Gap (1981) (Short) #85 Canada Vignettes: Métis Coat (1979) (Short) #86 Canada Vignettes: Port Royal (1978) (Short) #87 Canada Vignettes: Trading Post (1978) (Short) #88 Canada Vignettes: Helen Law (1979) (Short) #89 Canada Vignettes: Calliope (1980) (Short) #90 Canada Vignettes: Marine Biologist (1979) (Short) #91 Canada Vignettes: Klondike Gold (1980) (Short) #92 Canada Vignettes: Bluenose 1921-1946 (1979) (Short) #93 Canada Vignettes: Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton (1978) (Short) #94 Canada Vignettes: Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary (1978) (Short) #95 Canada Vignettes: Bridge for the Dempster (1980) (Short) #96 Canada Vignettes: Acadian Quadrille (1978) (Short) #97 Canada Vignettes: The Blacksmith Shop (1979) (Short) #98 Canada Vignettes: St. Laurent Pilgrimage (1985) (Short) #99 Canada Vignettes: Lady Frances Simpson (1978) (Short) #100 Canada Vignettes: Fort Prince of Wales (1978) (Short) #101 Canada Vignettes: Emergency Numbers (1984) (Short) #102 Canada Vignettes: History for Tomorrow (1980) (Short) #103 Canada Vignettes: Winter - Starting the Car (1979) (Short) #104 Canada Vignettes: Vignettes from Labrador North (1979) (Short) #105 Canada Vignettes: From Cobalt to Casa Loma (1978) (Short) #106 Canada Vignettes: Land of the Maple Leaf (1978) (Short) #107 Canada Vignettes: Melvin Arbuckle, Famous Canadian (1980) (Short) #108 Canada Vignettes: Cree Conical Lodge (1980) (Short) #109 Canada vignettes: La mer enligne nos terres (1979) (Short) #110 Canada Vignettes: Agnes Campbell MacPhail (1980) (Short) #111 Canada Vignettes: Wild Rice Harvest Kenora (1979) (Short) #112 Canada Vignettes: Bluenose II July 24 1963 (1979) (Short) #113 Canada Vignettes: Winter - Dressing Up (1979) (Short) #114 Canada Vignettes: Erik Davidson - Mechanic (1979) (Short) #115 Americana Noir Vignettes #2 and #3 (2013) (Short) #116 Americana Noir Vignettes #1 and #4 (2013) (Short) #117 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Marg Osburne 1927-1977 Pt. 2 (1979) (Short) #118 Canada Vignettes: June in Povungnituk - Quebec Arctic (1980) (Short) #119 Canada Vignettes: Prehistoric Artifacts, New Brunswick (1980) (Short) #120 Canada Vignettes: Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Canadian Bounce (1986) (Short) #121 Canada Vignettes: Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Souvenir Programme (1986) (Short) #122 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Marg Osburne 1927-1977 Pt. 1 (1979) (Short) #123 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Don Messer 1910-1973 (1979) (Short) #124 Canada Vignettes: Ice Carnival Montreal 1885 - Storming the Ice Palace (1986) (Short) #125 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972, Marg Osburne 1927-1977 (1979) (Short) #126 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972 Pt. 2 (1979) (Short) #127 Canada Vignettes: Don Messer - His Land and His Music - Charlie Chamberlain 1911-1972 Pt. 1 (1979) (Short)
See also
- O Canada (Cartoon Network series that featured some of the animated Canada Vignettes shorts)
References
- ^ Ohayon, Albert. "Canada Vignettes: Essential Canadiana, eh!". NFB blog. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Canada+Vignettes