| Projecting Canada: Government Policy and Documentary Film at the National Film Board Subjects: Documentary films -- Social aspects -- Canada; Educational films -- Social aspects -- Canada; National Film Board of Canada -- History; Documentary films -- Canada -- History and criticism; Educational films -- Canada -- History and criticism; Canada -- C; Based on newly uncovered archival information and a close reading of numerous NFB films, Projecting Canada explores the NFB's involvement with British Empire communication theory and American social science. Using a critical cultural policy studies framework, Druick develops the concept of "government realism" to describe films featuring ordinary people as representative of segments of the population. She demonstrates the close connection between NFB production policies and shifting techniques developed in relation to the evolution of social science from the 1940s to the present and argues that government policy has been the overriding factor in determining the ideology of NFB films. Projecting Canada offers a compelling new perspective on both the development of the documentary form and the role of cultural policy in creating essential spaces for aesthetic production. Zoë Druick teaches media and cultural studies, communications, Simon Fraser University. |