Dive into the National Film Board Archives, with curated selections each month.

Join writer/researcher for The Alberta Advantage Podcast & Masters History Candidate William Gillies as he explores the Canadian cinematic treasure trove that is the National Film Board Archives, curating selections according to different themes each month.

APRIL SCREENING: 60s Montreal

This month’s theme of Montreal in the 60s explores “High Modernism & Its Discontents.” While the films Ladies and Gentlemen Mr. Leonard Cohen and Little Burgundy exemplify the latter, this sense of alienation is at odds with the optimism about modernist progress and Canada’s future in The Canadian Pavilion, Expo 67 & Impressions of Expo 67.

With the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, Expo 67 sees Montreal at its liveliest, a city bustling with energy and hope. This stands in stark contrast to the Montreal that inspires Leonard Cohen’s poetry and to the residents of Little Burgandy, who are unhappy that technocrats are gunning for top-down urban renewal. The contradictions that comprise this storied city in the 60s are emblematic of a country at a crossroads and on the brink of a tumultuous 70s.

Join writer/researcher for The Alberta Advantage Podcast & Masters History Candidate William Gillies as he dives into the Canadian cinematic treasure trove that is the National Film Board Archives, curating selections according to different themes each month