We released our NFB iPhone App a couple weeks ago. The app allows users to watch hundreds of documentaries and animations available on NFB.ca for free on their iPhones.

The response has been phenomenal. Some stats:

• Over 60,000 downloads
• Over 185,000 film-views
• Average of 8000 downloads/day for the first week
• #1 in the Canadian iTunes App store Entertainment section
• #4 in the Canadian iTunes App store
• About 60,000 new users of the NFB film archive.

Apple told us they loved the app and wanted to do some marketing for us. Right now, it’s the main feature in iTunes app store (screenshot):

And some reviews:

“Pure iPhone gold.”
-CNET

“Amazing example of tech savvy and user-friendliness,”
-The Toronto Star

“So far, everything the NFB has done with new media has been golden.”
-NOW Magazine

Also, our flagship site, NFB.ca, was nominated for a Canadian New Media Award for Best Online Video Portal.

It’s been a good month…

“Hell yes. This is how public money should be spent.”
-Cory Doctorow on NFB.ca

True story:

When I was teaching in Korea, my students didn’t know anything about Canada. To Korean kids, Canada is as abstract and irrelevant as Antarctica. When Canada Day rolled around I wanted to show them a movie. Something that might give them an idea of where I came from.

I googled the NFB thinking maybe I could download or pay to show them The Hockey Sweater online somehow.

Nothing.

There were only institutional copies of the film on DVD for over $50.

Fast-foward four years and I’ve been working on NFB.ca for over a year. We’ve put over 700 films – documentaries, animations – online, free for home-viewing.

The site moved out of beta last week and made headlines across the country. There are over 10 pages of comments on the CBC.ca news story and just about all of them are overwhelmingly positive.

When I think of Canada, I think of this movie. Conflicted, cold, charming.

I hope there’s a Canadian teacher in Korea right now showing this to a classroom full of kids.