The NFB Ho Ho Holidays channel is back with more goodies than ever: seasonal classics, recent works and family favourites. It’s a good mix of live-action and animated material. There’s 53 films in all that you can watch for free!
This year, this company is offering up a few pieces of line art for anyone to colour up! I encourage folks to to print out the drawings and once painted up with your favourite markers, take a quick picture on a smartphone and post it online on Facebook or Twitter to share (with the hashtag #NFB.)
For people like me who doesn’t follow one tradition, I find viewing these products all the more worthwhile. It’s a way to see how other folks take on the coming weeks leading to Christmas. We should all know by now how this holiday developed, and the three titles to note that are of particular interest to me are:
- Maq and the Spirit of the Woods – This short is part of the Talespinners collection. Here, Maq is a young a Mi’kmaq lad learning about his community and why traditions manner. He’s given a piece of pipestone and dedices to carve a little person out of it.
- Shaman – I find Native American legends always fascinating. They’re imbued with a look at life that few others share. In this case, why should an Inuk sham turn a ferocious polar bear to stone? It’s not just about survival; The story will tell all here.Hades turns common assumptions topsy turvy.
- Lucretia – This imp knows nothing about this Earth tradition known as Christmas. On a whim, she finally visits the planet, makes a friend, and learns about what it means.
Other products the press release mentions are:
- New online: The Nativity Cycle by Fergus McDonell (1956) and Hoodoo McFiggin’s Christmas by Eva Szasz (1995);
- Comedy gems like Jeff Hale’s The Great Toy Robbery;
- Timeless tales for youngsters like the Ti-Jean series from the 1950s;
- Sheldon Cohen’s iconic The Sweater, adapted from Roch Carrier’s much-loved hockey story;
- Alanis Obomsawin’s classic Christmas at Moose Factory;
- And the stop-motion adventures of Ludovic the teddy bear in Co Hoedeman’s series for kids, among many others.
A holiday season contest you won’t want to miss
If you follow The National Film Board on social media, there’ll be upcoming contests to win some great NFB promotional items. Stay tuned for more info!
