“An Arrow, Not a Target”: Film Process and Processing at the Independent Imaging Retreat

Abstract

The history of Canadian educational film practice must be understood in light of the country’s close proximity to the United States.¹ This proximity is not simply geographical, but also linguistic. Like other predominantly English-speaking countries (such as the UK), Canadian film production and education has developed in the shadow of the United States’ dominance in English language fiction film production. For this reason, the role of documentary filmmaking as an alternative mode of film production and apprenticeship (in both its traditional and experimental forms) has played a central role in the development and perpetuation of Anglo-Canadian film culture, and the production practices that are taught and valued in the country. This is especially true because of the influence of the National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film (NFB/ ONF), which for decades has fostered documentary, experimental, and animated film production in Canada.² Indeed, even practice-based film education outside the NFB often amounts to responses to the aesthetic and production strategies deployed by the organization and the documentary aesthetic permeates the history of Canadian fiction filmmaking.