June 27, 2022 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) today presented an overview of key results from the 2021–2022 fiscal year, which saw the NFB complete new documentary, animation and interactive works, and make continued progress on its key commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The past fiscal year has been a challenging one, due in large part to the lingering impact of COVID-19. While the NFB has had measures in place since the spring of 2020 to enable its filmmakers and crews to continue with their  work safely, restrictions and illnesses led to the postponement of some production and post-production work.

“This has been a year of adaptation and change for the NFB. Even as we dealt with COVID-19, we undertook a major overhaul of our production structure to allow for greater autonomy and increased collaboration between studios. We’ve made progress in our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we’re continuing to increase the diversity of our workforce. Despite the challenges of the past year, we’ve kept our commitments on works by women and Indigenous production, and reached greater online audiences,” said Claude Joli-Coeur, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB.

2021–2022 results

Creation:

• 43 original works produced, including 18 co-productions.
• $40.6M in production spending.
• About 2,900 contracts for audiovisual production.
• 35% of works directed by emerging filmmakers.
• 151 awards earned, an increase of almost 40% over the previous year. 66% of awards went to NFB women creators. 13% of prizes went to Indigenous creators.
• 87 films benefited from the Aide au cinéma indépendant du Canada (ACIC)or the Filmmaker Assistance Program (FAP), almost a 75% increase.

Engagement with audiences:

• The past fiscal year was one of the best in the history of the NFB’s online reach in Canada. Over the past 5 years, 2017–2018 to 2021–2022, the NFB has nearly doubled its online views, going from 6.6 million views in Canada to 12 million. This includes 2.4 million views on nfb.ca in Canada.
• Globally, the NFB recorded 64 million views across all platforms, including a sharp increase of views on Amazon Prime, which went from 1.2 million global views in 2018–2019 to over 8 million this past year.
• 2 million students had access to the NFB’s online educational portal, CAMPUS.
• Overall, NFB works were viewed 27 million times in Canada over the past fiscal year, combining in-person, online and television viewings.

Diversity and inclusion:

• Highlights of the year included the appointments of the NFB’s Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Director of Indigenous Relations and Community Engagement.
• 53% of NFB works completed in 2021–2022—23 films in total—explored topics related to Indigenous lives and experiences, and diverse perspectives related to race, ethnicity, religion, culture, disability, gender and sexuality. This is up from 35% the previous year.
• There were also 12 works completed by creators from official-language minority communities.

In accordance with the NFB’s commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion:

• As of March 31, 2022, 22% of the NFB’s workforce has self-identified as belonging to an underrepresented group. The NFB has committed to ensuring that by March 31, 2023, its staff will have been diversified so as to reflect Canadian society (commitment 15).
• More than half of the employees appointed to director general, director, executive producer and producer positions (commitment 16) over the course of the year are from Indigenous or diverse backgrounds.
• In terms of all other management positions (commitment 17), there were no hires this year.

Gender parity:

• 54% of works completed in 2021–2022 were directed by women, with 46% by men. In total, 26 works by women were completed.
• 60% of works in progress in 2021–2022 were being made by women, with 40% by men.
• 61% of production spending went to works by women, while 37% went to works by men.
• 66% of completed works written by women, with 32% by men.
• 53% of completed works edited by women, with 47% by men.
• 32% of completed works with cinematography by women, 64% by men.
• 39% of works completed had musical scores by women, with 61% by men.
• The NFB received a Gold Parity Certification in 2021—the fourth consecutive year that the NFB has been recognized by Women in Governance.

Indigenous Action Plan:

• 16% of production spending went to works by Indigenous creators, exceeding the goal of 15%.
• 26% of completed works directed by Indigenous filmmakers, for a total of 11 works. This is up from 8% in the previous year.
• 17% of works in progress in 2020–2021 were being made by Indigenous creators.
• Indigenous employees now represent 2% of all NFB staff, including 3 producers. The NFB is committed to achieving a minimum of 4% Indigenous representation by 2025.
• Indigenous Cinema, the NFB’s online collection of Indigenous-made films, now features 440 free titles, with the number of free online titles by Indigenous creators more than doubling in 5 years. Indigenous Cinema currently makes up 8% of NFB online titles but accounts for 16% of all views at nfb.ca, reaching over half a million viewings in 2021–2022.Fifteen titles are currently available in Indigenous Languages.

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Associated Links

Gender Parity
Indigenous Action Plan
Diversity, equity and inclusion Action Plan

French version here | Version française ici.