SPECIAL SCREENINGS BLOCKS

A series of documentary short films made by filmmaker Colin Low during his trip to Fogo Island (Newfoundland) in the summer of 1967. The project became known as the Fogo Island Process, consisting of 27 documentaries that captured the experiences and needs of the local community.
It was one of the first projects produced under the Challenge for Change/Société Nouvelle programme (1967–1980), launched by the National Film Board of Canada to encourage social transformation and community empowerment through activist filmmaking. In this context, film became a tool for social change.
On Fogo Island, the impact was profound. The process helped the community recognise its own challenges, marked by poverty and limited resources for sustaining the fishing industry, their main livelihood. Low’s films were intended primarily for the island’s residents themselves, rather than for outside audiences. As a result, awareness led to action: within less than a decade, new legislation and cooperative models were developed, sparking what became known as the Newfoundland Renaissance.
Cinematically, Colin Low’s films are notable for their classic tone and the natural immediacy of many of their interviews, including Billy Crane Moves Away and Jim Deker Builds a Longliner, two iconic titles in the collection. The series also features moments aligned with direct cinema, although some of the standout works adopt a more poetic approach, the most notable being The Children of Fogo Island.
Ultimately, this is a unique historical document that underscores the importance of Colin Low, the role of the NFB/ONF, and the legacy of the Challenge for Change/Société Nouvelle programme, which left a lasting mark on Canadian cultural history. Severiano Casalderrey