Website:  National Film Board

Films of various subjects commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada are now available for viewing online at the NFB website for free!  For homebound people this is great news!  All that is needed is monthly high speed internet access and browser to go to their website and the films are listed alphabetically, easily clicked on and viewed from a computer which can enlarge to the full screen.  No fees are charged for viewing although some films can be bought on dvd.  The NFB launched their online screening room through a live press conference with a question and answer period.  The internet is like a combination of television and movie theater with interactive capability, among other features such as research, email, webcam, voip phone.  Now streaming videos are easily accessed without paying any extra fee.  For film fans who like quality educational entertainment aka edutainment, staying home is more comfortable and flexible for schedules since the films are online 24/7.  Just click on the title, it will be on screen, click to enlarge to full screen, pause for breaks, play to continue.  NFB has an international selection along with Canadian content.  Armchair traveling through the internet can be a great way to expand horizons without the costs.  For those with home theater projector systems, it is possible to hook up the computer to a projector and see the films in a mini-theater style.  For internet addicts, other websites have offered home movies and amateur videos and web television through Youtube.com, Vimeo.com, Video.ca, Joost.com, Foobtoob.com.  So really, the NFB is simply 'jumping on the band wagon' and joining these other film and television websites in offering free home viewing.  Homebound groups such as:  disabled, elderly, sick, toddlers, unemployed, can benefit from such cultural enrichment.  Maybe even schools and libraries can log on to these websites and utilize them in their curriculum.  Information can really revolutionize world civilization with the ease of sharing through the internetwork of computers from institutions to homes around the world.  Plus the interactive capability for communication makes it more exciting to share ideas and words between ordinary average people.  Anyone with internet plus a webcam or digital video camera can make home videos and upload to some of these websites.  Albeit amateur in quality and content, it adds the touch of humanity and warmth in the common human, instead of the detached researcher viewpoint.  NFB has a lot of films about ordinary people but done by professional filmmakers.  Watching films about other people can enhance and reflect our own life experiences, so it is worth staying home sometimes to see how others are doing.