GenX Canadiana courtesy of the NFB.

If you’re a 30-something Canadian, these National Film Board vignettes are a part of your genetic makeup. Step back and see why you hold the chain power saw in so much regard.

The Logdriver’s Waltz

Are there still logdrivers? Do they still please girls completely?

The Logger

By the way: Do not turn your back on a falling tree.

Bill Miner

“Hands up”, said the Sargeant. “Haaaands up.”

Lady Francis Simpson

I still call gruelling tasks “merciless portages” to this day.

Spence’s Republic

You can’t act as judge & accuser both!

The Dance

You’ll have this song in your head for the rest of—I was going to say “day”, but really, “life”—yet it’s patently unhummable. Kind of like Canada.

I respect the NFB enormously as a Canadian institution: filmmakers, animators, and propagandists all. I mean that affectionately—their task was to enculturate Canadians with muted palettes, natural narration, absurd humour, and a deeply-rooted sense of our own history. The patriotic nostalgia you felt from watching these Vignettes proves their success.

They’re still doing amazing work today in the interactive space, preserving Canadian memories in web documentaries. Pine Point made my nose run for sure.