Montreal: The National Film Board delivered 128 productions, including 96 original nfb titles and 32 coproductions and 30 versions, according to its 1999/00 annual report tabled in the House of Commons on Feb. 6. In the period, the board garnered 132 awards and prizes and also delivered a balanced budget.

nfb president and government film commissioner Sandra Macdonald also presented the board’s strategic plan for 2001 to 2004.

In the new three-year plan, the nfb has set a floor of 60 original productions a year, including pov docs, auteur animated shorts and interactive projects. The plan says 25% of the board’s output will involve emerging filmmakers.

A major preoccupation will be the deepening of the organization’s networking and Web capability, including the development of realtime production portals for documentarians and animation artists.

The board says a second phase of the CineRoute video-on-demand project – the anticipated completion date is 2003 – will provide online delivery to schools and other institutions of no fewer than 1,200 nfb titles.

The ’99/00 annual report, which covers the nfb’s 60th anniversary celebrations, profiles core board programs for emerging filmmakers including Reel Diversity, the short film program Libres Courts and the Aboriginal Filmmakers’ Program. The report includes information on the board’s first foray into e-commerce, "which has proved to be quite successful."

Release highlights in the doc category included Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70s Generation and the critically acclaimed social doc Through A Blue Lens.

Two nfb animation shorts received Oscar nominations in the period – My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts and When The Day Breaks, the latter garnering a remarkable 17 other awards and citations including the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. *

-www.nfb.ca/annual (report)

-www.nfb.ca/strategic (plan)