Documents in Canadian Film is a collection of readings about the past, present and future of Canadian cinema. It deals with French as well as English language films - and the links and tensions between the two. It focuses on experimental as well as narrative and documentary work, and on the debate surrounding the attractions and limitations of each.

Drawn from official papers as well as from scholarly and popular periodicals, Doucments in Canadian Film presents textual evidence of Canada’s rich cinematic heritage and the continuing struggle to enlarge film’s place in the society. Figures dealt with include Gordon Sparling, John Grierson, Norman McLaren, Claude Jutra, Joyce Wieland and Richard Leiterman, as seen through their own eyes or those of foreign and domestic observers.