The Days Before Christmas

A child spends two weeks in a summer camp at Muskoka, Ontario. This short film presents a delightful portrait of a young boy's sojourn at summer camp. In idyllic mid-century fashion, two weeks at a Muskoka summer camp are presented as a welcome respite from the congestion of an urban area. From the preliminary scramble for the upper bunk in the cabin to exploring in the woods, cooking food over a fire, and—most exciting of all—passing the beginner's swimming test, Roger's camp adventures are full of joy, camaraderie, and learning.

One of the most sensational get-rich-quick schemes that took place in France over 200 years ago with economist John Law at the helm.

A light, humorous look at the motor car and the great North American itch for a place on the road. From the comparative peace of Honest Joe's used-car lot, this film hustles you onto our public speedways, where hot rubber erases any distance between all points. Slow-motion and pop-on-pop-off photography make this a provocative, revealing study of motormania unlimited. A 1960 black and white production. (Also released under the title 1/3 Down and 24 Months to Pay.)

Here is a graphic picture of the tobacco harvest in southwestern Ontario. At the end of July, transient field workers move in for a brief bonanza when the plant is ripe. The tobacco harvesters call it "the back-breaking leaf."

This short film retraces the life of Herman Smith Johannsen – the man who introduced the sport of cross-country skiing to Canadians. From past to present, his life story is portrayed through pictures from sports newsreels, Norwegian archives and his family album. The film catches up with him at both the Canadian Ski Marathon, where he is the honoured guest, and on a return trip to his native Norway.

This short documentary profiles a community engaged in developing sustainable living methods, including food production and small-scale solar and wind technology, on a farm in Massachusetts in the 1970s. Well before sustainability was a mainstream concern, these prescient innovators attempted to create a vision of a greener, kinder world. "Think small," say the New Alchemists. "Look what thinking big has done."

In 1977, Prince Charles was inducted as honorary chief of the Blood Indians on their reserve in southwestern Alberta. The ceremony, conducted in the great Circle of the Sun Dance, commemorated the centennial anniversary of the original signing of Treaty 7 by Queen Victoria.

This short documentary (the second of two parts) follows Glenn Gould to New York City. There, we see the renowned Canadian concert pianist kidding the cab driver, bantering with sound engineers at Columbia Records, and then, alone with the piano, fastidiously recording Bach's Italian Concerto.

A young man of the Kainai Nation (Blood tribe) shows us contemporary life of people as he attends a Sun Dance ceremony with the tribe.

This documentary film is about wolves and the negative myths surrounding the animal. Exceptional footage portrays the wolf's life cycle and the social organization of the pack, as well as film of caribou, moose, deer and buffalo.

Based on a short story by Sinclair Ross, this short film recalls rural life on the Prairies in the 1930s. In the film a farmer's young son, sent to town to hire a man for the harvest, readily accepts when an itinerant trumpet player, down on his luck, begs a chance. He is hardly the kind of man the boy's father had in mind, but that night his trumpet speaks from the shadows and everyone pauses to listen.

At the instigation of the filmmakers, the young men of the Ile-aux-Coudres in the middle of the St-Lawrence River try as a memorial to their ancestors to revive the fishing of the belugas interrupted in 1924.

This short film is a re-enactment of the critical year in Dr. Frederick Banting's life when he discovered insulin for the treatment of diabetes at the University of Toronto. It depicts the odds against which he and his assistant, Charles Best, worked; the scepticism of other doctors and the final victory that gave thousands of diabetics hope for a healthier life.

Abnormal shyness in children, its causes and treatment, is discussed in this film. Profiled are three shy children and the confidence-destroying demands of parents that made them that way. Together, teacher, psychiatrist and parents bring about changes.

This short film is a humorous look at the tourist industry in Canada. In tongue-in-cheek fashion, it points out the importance of good public relations in the tourist industry - more specifically, what not to do to tourists. (Sourced from the National Film Board of Canada: https://www.nfb.ca/film/tourist_go_home)

A boy's carved boat travels through the Canadian wilderness until it reaches the ocean.