A Return to Memory

Oct 17, 2024

1h 58m

★ 0.0

“We learned to work with chaos.”

Overview

When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

ONF | NFB

A Return to Memory Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Clare Coulter

Self - Narrator (voice)

Donald McWilliams

Self (archive sound)

John Grierson

Self (archive footage)

Evelyn Cherry

Self (archive footage)

Margaret Ellis

Self (archive footage)

Margaret Ann Bjornson

Self (archive footage)

Gudrun Parker

Self - group discussion leader

Susan Schouten

World War II comes to an end. Tokyo is a destroyed place, without law, driven by hunger and greed. From over 100,000 pages of declassified CIA documents and hours of newly discovered footage, recorded by American occupation charges and private individuals, the documentary shows Tokyo during this crucial year, Year Zero. Observed from the point of view of a young man who finds himself transported in time, the NHK documentary uses color images and state-of-the-art video techniques to reveal how a desperate population is published as the foundations of today's megalopolis.

5.7

Who Is Bill Rebane?

May 24, 2021

A feature-length documentary on the life and work of Wisconsin grindhouse cinema auteur Bill Rebane, featuring historians, critics, and filmmakers, plus cast and crew members who worked with Rebane himself.

0.0

Espías en la arena: Objetivo España

Nov 16, 2016

No overview available.

No Image

10.0

Hitler's Forgotten Victims

Oct 2, 1997

The story of black and mixed race people in Nazi Germany who were sterilised, experimented upon, tortured and exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps. It also explores the history of German racism and examines the treatment of Black prisoners-of-war. The film uses interviews with survivors and their families as well as archival material to document the Black German Holocaust experience.

10.0

Secrets of the Nazi Criminals

Feb 25, 1963

Documents the major trial of the Nazi war criminals and the violent acts that they were accused of.

0.0

Children from Overseas

Jul 15, 1940

A WWII film about children evacuated from Britain and sent to Canada for their safety. The film begins in England with children seeking shelter as anti-aircraft guns roar outside. On their arrival in Canada, they are thrilled by the brightly lit cities, powerful Canadian trains, hot dogs and ice cream. They find, too, that instead of becoming Mounties or cowboys, they have to go to school. The closing sequence shows them learning to ski and skate and preparing for Christmas in their new homes.

0.0

Atlantic Patrol

Jan 1, 1940

A wartime documentary following Canadian convoy operations and naval escort duties in the North Atlantic during the early years of World War II.

6.2

Fellinopolis

Jun 10, 2021

Ferruccio Castronuovo was the only authorized eye, between 1976 and 1986, to film the brilliant Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini (1920-1993) in his personal and creative intimacy, to capture the gears of his great circus, his fantastic lies and his crazy inventions.

7.8

Les Suppliques

Jul 11, 2022

Since the defeat, the Nazis, who were the masters of the occupied zone, and the French State, which had been ruling the so-called free zone since Vichy, ordered the Jews to take a census. From the spring of 1941, whether they had been French for several generations or naturalized for a few years, foreigners who had taken refuge in France or stateless people who had been driven out of their country, they were put on file, arrested or threatened at any time. Some wrote to the administration, or directly to Marshal Pétain, who seemed to them to be the last resort. These requests are called Suppliques. Men, women, sometimes children, tried as best they could, by all means, to loosen the trap. They address themselves to their executioners, but they do not know it.

8.5

Other Men's Careers

Aug 1, 2023

Eccentric, outspoken, and unfiltered TV and low budget film director Josh Becker struggles to emerge from the shadow of his work on "The Evil Dead", "Xena", the careers of his more successful colleagues, depression and alcoholism to fulfill his lifelong ambition of creating high quality, successful films.

7.5

The Making of Ladies and Gentlemen, Fabulous Stains

May 24, 1999

A documentary look at the 'making of' and cult success of the troubled Lou Adler directed film "Ladies And Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains" starring Diane Lane.

7.0

Challenging Churchill

Jul 3, 2012

Churchill, a name typically associated with braveness and altruism. Recently found evidence from Soviet and British sources however brings up questions about Churchill's doings in the conferences of Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. Why did he agree to give Stalin large parts of Poland? The story of two world leaders in times of war - it is also the story of Poland.

5.5

The Good Canadian

Sep 30, 2025

The world knows the image of the good Canadian. But what if there was a dark secret behind a national identity? THE GOOD CANADIAN exposes the truth behind the idea of a True North strong and free. In this unflinching and eye-opening documentary, directors Leena Minifie and David Paperny move us through the corridors of systemic inequity, from the Indian Act to residential schools, to modern-day family separation. Fusing shocking footage with detailed interviews with experts, advocates, whistleblowers and politicians, THE GOOD CANADIAN challenges national myth-making, while offering Canadians the chance to forge a new identity from the truth.

6.5

In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

Sep 15, 2007

This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created “race movies” exclusively for black audiences. The best of these films attempted to counter the demeaning stereotypes of black Americans prevalent in the popular culture of the day. About 500 films were produced, yet only about 100 still exist. Filmmaking pioneers like Oscar Micheaux, the Noble brothers, and Spencer Williams, Jr. left a lasting influence on black filmmakers, and inspired generations of audiences who finally saw their own lives reflected on the silver screen.

0.0

Los Alamos: The Beginning

Jan 1, 1982

A documentary composed of historical footage and contemporary interviews from the men and women of Los Alamos, recalling their experiences of the community and the creation of the atomic bomb from the inception of the program in 1943.

0.0

Nazis L'origine du Mal

Jan 1, 2005

No overview available.

7.7

The Liberation of Auschwitz

Aug 13, 1986

This chilling, vitally important documentary was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The film contains unedited, previously unavailable film footage of Auschwitz shot by the Soviet military forces between January 27 and February 28, 1945 and includes an interview with Alexander Voronsov, the cameraman who shot the footage. The horrifying images include: survivors; camp visit by Soviet investigation commission; criminal experiments; forced laborers; evacuation of ill and weak prisoners with the aid of Russian and Polish volunteers; aerial photos of the IG Farben Works in Monowitz; and pictures of local people cleaning up the camp under Soviet supervision. - Written by National Center for Jewish Film

8.0

Une vie avec Oradour

Sep 21, 2011

No overview available.