The National Film Board has set its sights on mobile after launching its online screening room Wednesday, giving film enthusiasts free access to over 700 classic and contemporary Canuck titles.

NFB chair Tom Perlmutter tells Playback Daily the online initiative marks a big step into the digital age for the organization, which has been pushing to reach a broader audience with its catalogue.

‘There’s nowhere else that you can get that kind of global sense of who we were, where we come from, and where we’re going,’ he says, adding that the content from the online screening room will also be available on mobile platforms ‘within the next few months.’

The screening room streams documentaries, animation, fiction and historical films dating back to 1928, including titles such as Claude Jutra’s acclaimed Mon oncle Antoine (1971), and Oscar-nominated animations The Cat Came Back (1988) and Madame Tutli-Putli (2007).

Users can create their own playlists and preferences on the site, which will be updated with additional titles every month, including Chris Landreth’s Oscar-winner Ryan (2004), set to debut in the coming weeks.

Perlmutter says the organization had to ‘re-allocate funding internally’ in order to pay for the costly process of digitizing older titles, stressing the importance of cultural preservation.

‘It’s about establishing a digital framework for the future, both economically and culturally,’ he adds.

The online screening room is available in both English and French at www.nfb.ca.