Filmmaking Craft
The 180-degree rule in film, and why documentaries break it
The 180-degree rule in film explained: the line between two people, screen direction, honest ways to cross it, and why documentary crews cross it so often.
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Canadian Cinema
Film from across Canada, past and present, from the National Film Board tradition to regional scenes and new voices.
Canadian Cinema
Indigenous documentary in Canada, from Obomsawin to a new generation
From Alanis Obomsawin and the Indian Film Crew to Isuma and Tasha Hubbard, a short history of Indigenous documentary in Canada and where to start watching.
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Canadian Cinema
Quebec's direct cinema and the handheld revolution
How Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx and Pierre Perrault took light cameras and live sound into Quebec life, and how cinéma direct differs from vérité.
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Business & Media
What a licence fee buys: financing a one-hour documentary in Canada
How a one-hour Canadian documentary gets paid for: licence fees, the Canada Media Fund, federal and provincial tax credits, private funds and cash flow.
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Canadian Cinema
Challenge for Change and the birth of participatory documentary
How the NFB's Challenge for Change program and the 1967 Fogo Island films changed who controls a documentary, and why the Fogo process still matters.
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Festivals & Distribution
A field guide to Canada's documentary festivals, season by season
Hot Docs, RIDM, DOXA, Yorkton and more: when Canada's documentary festivals run, what each is like, and how to plan premieres, fees and submissions.
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