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National Film Board of Canada Unit B

Presented by International House Philadelphia at The Ibrahim Theater at International House

November 3, 2010

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Introduced by Dave Jones, Dean of Drexel University’s Pennoni Honors College. In the late 1950s, Unit B, one of several production units within the National Film Board of Canada, emerged as a distinctive, remarkably creative entity which among the international documentary community. Unit B pioneered documentary technology, technique, and style, yielding several enduring classics. The Unit’s leading filmmakers combined meticulous attention to the details of craft with an intense interest in filmic structure. While its key members saw life in a happy light and in mystic overtones, Unit B’s body of work was criticized for a lack of interest in social or political issues. But their attitude toward the craft, their almost messianic perfectionism and their success profoundly affected their more politically minded colleagues and provoked a radical reorganization of the Film Board’s production branch.Featuring films: Paul Tomkowicz, Street Railway Switchman, dir. Roman Kroite, Canada, 1954, 16mm, 9 mins, b/w; Corral, dir. Colin Low, Canada, 1954, 16mm, 11 mins, b/w; City of Gold, dir. Wolf Keonig and Colin Low, Canada, 1957, 16mm, 21 mins, b/w; Universe, dir. Roman Kroiter and Colin Low, Canada, 1960, 16mm, 26 mins, b/w; and Lonely Boy (Paul Anka), dir. Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroiter, Canada, 1961, 16mm, 27 mins, b/w.