The Spaces Between Grassroots Documentary ... - Ezra Winton

CHAPTER III – HISTORICAL CONTEXT – D/E DISCURSIVE SPACES
The early control by American capital over the Canadian film production
industry in the 1920s shaped how cinema, as a new cultural medium, came
to be perceived among the Canadian public. Despite the high level of
domestic control and ownership over mushrooming exhibition theatres,
and in conjunction with the explosion of film production in the United
States, Canadian film distributors and theatre owners had very little to
offer in terms of Canadian-made films. This eventually led to a unilateral
flow of American influence over Canada’s cinematic culture and practice
at least up until the late 1930s.
(Malek Khouri, 2007, p.41)
Despite the fact that dozens of Canadian films are released each year, it is
rare to find Canadian films screening at local movie theatres outside of
Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto…many in the Canadian film industry
observe that since Canadian films are almost completely shut out of both
the Canadian and American film markets, it is unfair to make box-office
comparisons with well-promoted American blockbusters.
(Bart Beaty, 2006, pp. 148&149)
(In fact, I hate that distinction, America versus Canada. I always think of
Canadians as Americans as well.) Still, with such diverging perspectives
in the United States and Canada on cultural issues, there are, admittedly,
some fundamental differences between the two.
(John A. Ragosta, 1997, p.1)
At this year’s Hot Docs Festival both American and Canadian attendees were in
agreement that the festival has become one of the industry’s biggest, most essential
events. The 2007 edition saw 222 Canadian documentary submissions land on jury
members laps, and among the thousands of festival attendees, a palpable energy seemed
to indicate massive faith in the continuing flourishing and populism of documentary
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