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Watch the film and meet its creator
A special opportunity for movie lovers! Join us for a screening of this 2024 National Film Board of Canada documentary and then get an intriguing inside look at how local filmmaker Don McWilliams brought his vision to life.
The women who helped create Canadian cinema come to vibrant life in A Return to Memory, a documentary masterwork illuminating their vital but little-known role in establishing Canada’s National Film Board. When Canada entered World War II, the National Film Board suddenly had an urgent new mission—and hundreds of women stepped forward, helping to create Canadian cinema as we now know it.
Director Donald McWilliams evokes the heady wartime years, when women played a key part in transforming the NFB into a major international studio. With men engaged elsewhere in the war effort, hundreds of women pursued careers at the newly formed public producer—and pioneering figures like Evelyn Spice Cherry, Red Burns, and Jane Marsh Beveridge made movie history, creating work that spoke to the world with a distinctive Canadian voice.
If you need an accessibility accommodation during this program, please register early so we can confirm arrangements a few days before your visit.
Central Library is the largest location and houses historical and special collections, a computer lab, meeting rooms for public rental, and departments responsible for system-wide library services support. Burlington Public Library is a tax-supported registered charitable organization.
