The Bronswik Affair

1978 Canadian film

The Bronswik Affair

French	L'Affaire Bronswik

Directed by	Robert Awad André Leduc
Written by	Robert Awad
Produced by	René Jodoin
Starring	Lorna Brown (voice) Richard Comar (voice)
Narrated by	Ian De Voy
Cinematography	Richard Moras Jacques Avoine Raymond Dumas Simon Leblanc
Edited by	Robert Awad
Animation by	Robert Awad André Leduc Jean-Michel Labrosse
Production company	National Film Board of Canada
Release date	1978 (1978)
Running time	24 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$106,618

The Bronswik Affair (French: L'Affaire Bronswik) is a 1978 Canadian short film, directed by Robert Awad and André Leduc for the National Film Board of Canada.^[1]^[2]

Summary

An animated mockumentary, the film satirizes advertising and marketing^[3] through the story of Bronswik, a fictional manufacturer of television sets which feature special technology designed to disable viewers' ability to resist advertising pitches, spawning a frenzied addiction to consumerism^[4] which leads to a political and social crisis.^[5]

Production

The film had a budget of $106,618 (equivalent to $457,642 in 2023).^[6]

Awards

29th Canadian Film Awards, Toronto: Best Theatrical Short Film, 1978^[7]
Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago: Silver Plaque, 1978
Linz International Short Film Festival, Linz: Third Prize, Most Humoristic Film, 1978
International Festival of Short and Documentary Films, Lille: COLIOP Award (Comité Lillois d'opinion publique), 1978
Yorkton Film Festival, Yorkton: Golden Sheaf Award, Best Humour Film, 1979^[8]
New York International Film & Television Festival, New York: Bronze Medal, 1980
Golden Gate International Film Festival, San Francisco: Certificate for Remarkable Direction, Short film for commercial distribution, 1979
Melbourne Film Festival, Melbourne: Diploma of Merit, 1979
Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Columbus, Ohio: Chris Statuette, Commerce and Industry, 1980

References

^ "The Bronswik Affair". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
^ Michel Coulombe and Marcel Jean, Le dictionnaire du cinéma québécois. Boréal, 1988. p. 19.
^ WorldCat.org
^ MUBI
^ "Short Film Reviews: L'Affaire Bronswik". Cinema Canada, March 1979. pp. 38-39.
^ Evans 1991, p. 241.
^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 121-124.
^ "The Bronswik Affair" (PDF). yorktonfilm.com. Yorkton Film Festival. Retrieved 7 March 2023.

Works cited

Evans, Gary (1991). In the National Interest: A Chronicle of the National Film Board of Canada from 1949 to 1989. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802027849.

External links

Watch The Bronswik Affair on the NFB website
The Bronswik Affair at IMDb
The Bronswik Affair on YouTube's official NFB channel

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short and Best Theatrical Short

Theatrical Short
(1949–1996)

Who Will Teach Your Child? (1949)
North Shore (1950)
After Prison, What? (1951)
Opera School (1952)
L'Homme aux oiseaux (1953)
Farewell Oak Street (1954)
High Tide in Newfoundland¹ (1955)
Gold (1956)
The Sceptre and the Mace (1958)
Money Minters, The Quest and The Tall Country (1959)
Royal River (1960)
Universe (1961)
Morning on the Lièvre (1962)
Nahanni (1963)
Anniversary (1964)
Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle or Mutilate and Ça n'est pas le temps des romans (1968)
Vertige and At Home (1969)
A Matter of Fat and Blake (1970)
Don't Knock the Ox (1971)
This Is a Photograph (1972)
Goodbye Sousa (1973)
Along These Lines (1975)
Cooperage (1976)
Spartree (1977)
L'Affaire Bronswik (1978)
Nails (1980)
The Strongest Man in the World (1981)
Zea (1982)
Elvis Gratton (1983)
Ted Baryluk's Grocery (1984)
Charade (1985)
George and Rosemary (1988)
Saeed (1991)
Arrowhead (1994)
Les fleurs magiques (1995)
The Home for Blind Women (1996)

Live Action Short
(1986–present)

The Edit (1986)
I Need a Man Like You to Make My Dreams Come True (1987)
The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada (1989)
In Search of the Last Good Man (1990)
Battle of the Bulge (1992)
The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore (1993)
The Hangman's Bride (1997)
When Ponds Freeze Over (1998)
Moving Day (1999)
Le P'tit Varius (2000)
The Heart of the World (2001)
I Shout Love (2002)
Noël Blank (2003)
Capacité 11 personnes (2004)
Milo 55160 (2005)
Le rouge au sol (2006)
Après tout (2007)
Next Floor (2008)
Danse Macabre (2009)
Savage (2010)
Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011)
Throat Song (2012)
Noah (2013)
Hole (2014)
She Stoops to Conquer (2015)
Mutants (2016)
Fluffy (2017)
Fauve (2018)
Pick (2019)
Black Bodies (2020)
Girls Shouldn't Walk Alone at Night (2021)
Simo (2022)
Motherland (2023)

Animated Short
(1968–present)

Un enfant...un pays¹ (1968)
Walking (1969)
To See or Not to See (1970)
Evolution (1971)
Dans la vie... (1972)
The Family That Dwelt Apart (1973)
The Owl Who Married a Goose (1975)
The Street (1976)
Spinnolio (1977)
Afterlife (1978)
Every Child (1980)
The Big Snit (1986)
Get a Job (1987)
The Cat Came Back (1989)
Juke-Bar (1990)
Strings (1992)
Pearl's Diner (1993)
La vieille dame et les pigeons (1997)
Bingo (1998)
When the Day Breaks (1999)
Village of Idiots (2000)
The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2001)
The Hungry Squid (2002)
Falling in Love Again (2003)
Ryan (2004)
cNote (2005)
The Danish Poet (2006)
Madame Tutli-Putli (2007)
Isabelle au bois dormant (2008)
Runaway (2009)
Lipsett Diaries (2010)
Romance (2011)
Paula (2012)
Subconscious Password (2013)
Me and My Moulton (2014)
The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2015)
Blind Vaysha (2016)
The Tesla World Light (2017)
Animal Behaviour (2018)
Giant Bear (2019)
Hot Flash (2020)
Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice (2021)
The Flying Sailor (2022)
Where Rabbits Come From (2023)

¹ These two films were given honorable mentions rather than officially winning the award, but are included here as no other winner was named above them.