Film in Canada honored with five stamps issued May 2

On May 2, Canada Post issued nondenominated (85¢) National Film Board of Canada permanent stamps with five different designs. The stamps will be sold in a self-adhesive booklet of 10, and in a souvenir sheet of five with a perforated label that features the film board logo and notes its 75th anniversary.

The film board was founded in 1939. One of its missions, according to a website statement, is to “… showcase films that take a stand on issues of global importance that matter to Canadians — stories about the environment, human rights, international conflict, the arts and more.”

The stamps were designed by Louis Gagnon using screen captures from five films shown within a large symbol that serves as the logo of the film board.

The five stamps each appear twice in the booklet of 10. The souvenir sheet is perforated and has moisture-activated adhesive.

The films honored in the set are Flamenco at 5:15, a 1983 film about the National Ballet School of Canada; The Railrodder from 1965, starring Buster Keaton; Mon Oncle Antoine, a 1971 film described by Canada Post as “chosen by critics as the greatest Canadian film”; Log Driver’s Waltz, a mostly animated short from 1979 with a musical performance by Kate and Anna McGarrigle; and Neighbours, a 1952 film recognized by UNESCO in 2009.

The five films are available for viewing at the film board website www.nfb.ca by entering the film name into the search box at the top of the home page.

The National Film Board of Canada stamps were printed by Canadian Bank Note. The stamps were printed by six-color offset lithography on Tullis Russell paper, with general tagging on all four sides.The booklet stamps have serpentine die cuts on all four sides. The souvenir sheet stamps are perforated approximately gauge 13.

Printing quantities for the issue are 2.5 million booklet stamps and 130,000 souvenir sheets.

The booklet of 10 stamps is Canada Post item 413934111. The souvenir sheet of five is item 403934145.

Canada Post will service 11,500 each of the souvenir sheet on the official first-day cover. The FDC will bear a postmark from Montreal, Quebec, and is item 403934144.

Canada Post products are available at www.canadapost.ca/shop. Stamps and FDCs will be available by mail order from the National Philatelic Centre, Canada Post Corp., 75 St. Ninian St., Antigonish, NS B2G 2R8, Canada; or by telephone from the United States and Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

Canada’s stamps and stamp products are also available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Post’s agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557.