The Bear Facts

Brother Bear

October 2003 •English

When an impulsive boy named Kenai is magically transformed into a bear, he must literally walk in another's footsteps until he learns some valuable life lessons. His courageous and often zany journey introduces him to a forest full of wildlife, including the lovable bear cub Koda, hilarious moose Rutt and Tuke, woolly mammoths and rambunctious rams.

From Darkness

June 2002 •English

A lonely fisherman drifts into haunted waters in search of food and finds much more than he bargained for. Based on an Inuit folktale.

Three Thousand

October 2017 •English

Inuit artist Asinnajaq plunges us into a sublime imaginary universe—14 minutes of luminescent, archive-inspired cinema that recast the present, past and future of her people in a radiant new light. Diving into the NFB’s vast archive, she parses the complicated cinematic representation of the Inuit, harvesting fleeting truths and fortuitous accidents from a range of sources—newsreels, propaganda, ethnographic docs, and work by Indigenous filmmakers. Embedding historic footage into original animation, she conjures up a vision of hope and beautiful possibility.

I Am But a Little Woman

June 2010 •Inuktitut

Inspired by an Inuit poem first assigned to paper in 1927, this animated short evokes the beauty and power of nature, as well as the bond between mother and daughter. As her daughter looks on, an Inuit woman creates a wall hanging filled with images of the spectacular Arctic landscape and traditional Inuit objects and iconography. Soon the boundaries between art and reality begin to dissolve.

Black and White in Color

September 1976 •French

French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. A young, idealistic French geographer seems to be the only rational person in the town, and he takes over control of the "war" after several bungles on the part of the others.

O Costa d'África

September 1954 •Portuguese

Costa is travelling from Africa to London, and wishes very much to his nephew Amadeu, and see by himself how well he has been invested large sums of money he is been sending him. Amadeu 'borrows' for 24 hours a wife, a villa, a car, and a servant - for he has been lies to his uncle all the time. All goes well. But, Costa decides to prolong his stay for two weeks...

The Shaman's Apprentice

June 2021 •Inuktitut

A young shaman must face her first test: a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill.

Lost Colony

April 2015 •English

While navigating life with his hyper-protective mother along the enigmatic Outer Banks of North Carolina's coast (site of the first attempted English settlement in the New World), conflicted teen Loren learns of his expecting girlfriend's ambivalence toward him. After a near tragic accident, he must learn to assemble the broken pieces into a stronger, wiser form and approach a more worldly consciousness. A searchlight cast upon the earliest traces of America and the mystery of settlers vanished, Lost Colony scans a once virgin watershed for signs of life.

This Magnificent Cake!

December 2018 •French

In 1885, Africa is a succulent cake destined to be wildly divided and everyone wants a piece. A disturbed European king, a Pygmy working in a luxury hotel, a successful but lonely businessman, an enslaved porter, a young army deserter, a ghostly clarinetist. Some benefit from colonialism and greed. Others suffer racism and violence.

Hassan Terro

January 1967 •Arabic

While he tries by all means to stay out of the bloody upheavals caused by the battle of Algiers, Hassan, an honest and naive father, unknowingly offers hospitality to a mujahid actively sought by the army. French. A series of events and misunderstandings quickly catapult him to the forefront, presenting him under the pseudonym “Hassan Terro”, a great fictitious terrorist who would have sworn the doom of the French army...

Hassan Terro au Maquis

January 1978 •Arabic

How Good the Whites Are

January 1988 •French

The humanitarian aid expedition "Angeles Azules" (Blue Angels), comprising twelve Europeans and six trucks loaded with provisions to alleviate hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, advances across the continent. As a result of the difficulties the team encounters, disorganization gradually takes over the convoy. Each of the members of the group, little by little, yield to their petty, selfish impulses: violence, power, nostalgia - The breakdown of one of the trucks forces Michele and Nadia to wait at an oasis for the arrival of spare parts. But a starving local tribe settles threateningly near them. The chief of the tribe makes a speech they don't understand, which is followed by a macabre purification ceremony.

Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves

January 2011 •Inuktitut

It begins as an average hunting trip for two young men, but when they find themselves lost, the only safe haven to be found for miles—a mysterious village filled with the sounds of drum dancing and revelry—turns out to be even more dangerous than the frigid ocean.

Animation from Cape Dorset

January 1973 •English

This collection assembles the first animated films to be made by Inuit artists at the NFB. Featured is work by Solomonie Pootoogook, Timmun Alariaq, Mathew Joanasie, and Itee Pootoogook Pilaloosie—all participants in the Cape Dorset (Baffin Island) Film Animation Workshop, established to teach animation skills to local artists. The soundtrack features performances by Aggeok and Peter Pitseolok. Commentary is provided in a blend of Inuktitut and English.

Another Day of Life

October 2018 •English

In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…

Death in the Spring

February 1980 •English

In this animated short the artist tells the story of an Inuit hunter who clubs a seal pup on the ice and then later dies himself. The film's ethereal images are created and transformed in sand.

Journey to Greenland

November 2016 •French

Thomas and Thomas are going through a rough patch: they are both thirty-something actors living in Paris. They randomly decide to leave the city and fly away to Kullorsuaq, one of the most remote villages of Greenland, where Thomas' father Nathan lives. Among the Inuit community, they will discover the charms of the local customs and their friendship will be challenged.

The Legend of Sarila

February 2013 •English

Three young Inuits set off in search of a promised land to save their clan from starvation.

One Who Has Two Souls

April 2015 •French

He was called "He Who Has Two Souls". He was beautiful as a woman. And handsome as a man. He hesitated.

Kid 'in' Africa

October 1933 •English

Shirley has gone to Africa to civilize the cannibals; something she is able to do with the assistance of Diperzan.