Based on newly uncovered archival information and a close reading of numerous NFB films, Projecting Canada explores the NFB's involvement with British Empire communication theory and American social science. Using a critical cultural policy studies framework, Druick develops the concept of "government realism" to describe films featuring ordinary people as representative of segments of the population. She demonstrates the close connection between NFB production policies and shifting techniques developed in relation to the evolution of social science from the 1940s to the present and argues that government policy has been the overriding factor in determining the ideology of NFB films. Projecting Canada offers a compelling new perspective on both the development of the documentary form and the role of cultural policy in creating essential spaces for aesthetic production.

Zo? Druick teaches media studies, popular culture, and cultural theory in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Her publications include Projecting Canada: Government Policy and Documentary Film at the National Film Board (2007) and articles on documentary and educational film and cultural policy in the Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Canadian Journal of Communication, and Topia.

Aspa Kotsopoulos is Senior Policy Analyst, Television Policy and Applications, Broadcasting, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). She has taught at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria. She has published a number of articles on television and film in a variety of journals and essay collections.

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