The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) (A.K.A. Office national du film du Canada) is an organization under the Canadian government mandated to produce and distribute films with the intent of addressing national interest and culture within Canada and around the world. The organization was conceived shortly after the National Film Act was passed in 1939.
The National Film Act was passed under the direction of British documentary filmmaker John Grierson, and until 1950, the Act stipulated that the NFB be used strictly for the production of wartime propaganda. In 1942, however, an animation department was built around revolutionary animator Norman McLaren, and by 1950, the Act was revised to disengage any government control over the NFB's administration or organization. To this day, the NFB produces documentaries, animated films, full-length films, short features, and informational films from its central office in Ottowa and its technical installations in Montreal. Films are produced in French or English, and the NFB continues to report and screen material through Parliament via the Department of Communications Canada.