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It is a drab-brown, massive facility, sandwiched by an array of car dealers and situated on Côte-de-Liesse, on the north side of the ever-gridlocked Highway 40. From the outside, this sprawling edifice could pass for a ball-bearing factory or reasonable facsimile.

Appearances can be deceiving. This has been the headquarters of the National Film Board of Canada since 1956, when it moved from Ottawa. While the interior will never make the pages of Architectural Digest either, the building has a historical and cultural richness to match any in the land.

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Inside this veritable fortress, film greatness was achieved by the likes of Norman McLaren, Donald Brittain, Michel Brault, Colin Low, Wolf Koenig, Anne Claire Poirier, Gilles Groulx and the force of nature that is Alanis Obomsawin, who, at 86, recently finished her 50th film over the last 50 years.

Since its Ottawa beginnings in 1939, the NFB has been involved in nearly 14,000 productions, which have garnered more than 7,000 awards, including 12 Oscars. The NFB has not only been at the cutting edge of animation and documentary-making since its inception, but has also been instrumental in the development of IMAX and interactive/virtual-reality experimentation. Creators like Arthur Lipsett have influenced such filmmakers as Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas. And, can’t forget, the NFB established the world’s first women’s production unit. In fact, by next year, at least half its productions will be directed by women.