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Film Studies: Find Multimedia

DVD and VHS

The library holdings include most of the films regularly used in Film Studies classes. Of special interest is the complete set of Buster Keaton features in newly restored versions and the many special series on animation (see the Library Guide: Animation for details).

Some of the newer DVDs include useful supplementary materials, such as interviews with directors, commentary tracks, and making-of documentaries. The following disks have good “extras:” Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, Almodovar’s Volver, Hertzog’s Grizzly Man, Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce, and Deepa Mehta’s Water.

Finding DVDs

If you are searching for films, look in this order:

  1. DVDs.  Always start with the library DVDs – these are the best quality and often contain “good extras.”
  2. Library Streaming. Your next choice should be the online services offered by the library, such as the NFB, Films on Demand, etc.
  3. Netflix. If you are a member of Netflix (free membership for the first month) this should be your next choice, because the image and sound quality is very good.
  4. YouTube. If you are really stuck, or you simply want to analyse a sequence from a film, try YouTube. But beware, many YouTube posts are of inferior quality and are often missing footage.
  5. Pirate sites. For college purposes you should never use a file sharing or pirate site. These often include illegal downloads and frequently come with nasty attached viruses. Is it worth crashing your computer?

Streaming Video

For World Cinema Students

Here is a sample of titles available from Films on Demand:

Try starting with searches in the “Area Studies” and “World Languages” directories. The “Political Science: Global Politics” directory also includes a number of useful background films, from a range of U.S. viewpoints.

For Film History and Art of Cinema Students

Here is a sample of titles available from Films on Demand:

Search Tip: When you find a film or film segment that you like make sure to click the “Related Videos” box near the top right of the screen.

For Documentary Students

Go to “Streaming Video” and click the link to NFB for the best single source of free documentaries.

DocLibrary, a service of the HotDocs Festival, provides a second excellent site for free Canadian independent documentaries.

Don’t miss, for example: