Film, video and sound
Search descriptions of selected audiovisual recordings. This collection includes various forms of moving images and recorded sound produced by government departments, film and broadcasting companies, corporations and individuals. The content includes historical film footage, radio talk shows, press releases, home movies, web series, oral history interviews and more.
Historic language advisory
In your research, you may encounter historical language that is considered offensive today. Please read the notice about historical language in LAC’s collection.
On this page
Search tips
To do a quick search, enter a keyword in one of the top search boxes:
- Search with one or more keywords: a title, a general description, a producer's name, a place name, etc.
- Unless you are looking for something specific, start with simple keywords and then narrow your search from there.
- Use wildcards (* or ?) to expand your search.
- Try your searches in both English and French. Most descriptions are in English only. Titles remain in their original language and are only rarely translated.
- From your search results, apply filters to specify a date range or a material type (sound recording or moving image).
To deepen your search, try searching:
Item ID number
- Every film, video and sound recording in the database has a unique identification number. Make note of this number for copy services or reference inquiries. This is the easiest number for staff to use when finding the record.
Date
- Search by year in the Date field.
- If you want a more exact date, use the All of these words box to do a keyword search.This will generate all results matching that date.
- Use the format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 1979-08-17).
- To search with just the year and month, use a wildcard in the day position (e.g., 1979-08-*).
Tip: The cataloguing information will almost always include the year but may not include the month or the day, so this method won’t work with everything.
Specific terms: Accession and fonds/collection
There are a lot of specific terms to search by, but searching by accession or fonds/collection is particularly useful.
- These terms will help you find everything from one producer or company (e.g., CBC or the House of Commons). This is harder to do with keyword searching.
- Accession numbers and fonds/collection names are listed for each catalogue entry.
- Start by finding one item of interest, note the accession or fonds, then use this information in your next search.
About the records
Audiovisual records are not organized like the rest of the collections. Most of the collections are organized in a hierarchy with the lowest level linked to higher levels. This allows researchers to move through the hierarchy and expand their searches to everything in one fonds/collection. For more information, see How archives are organized.
In contrast, the Film, video and sound database lists individual records that do not link back to related records within the catalogue or to their parent records in the main database. (Example: Pierre Elliott Trudeau films and broadcasts.) See the Search Tips section for instructions on how to find all the item-level results associated with a fonds, collection, series or accession.
MISACS notes
Audiovisual records use a database referred to as MISACS. The complete cataloguing information from MISACS is now integrated into the Film, video and sound database, but you may still see notes about needing to use MISACS for additional information. These notes are out of date and can be ignored.
Other places to look
Try relevant keywords in Collection search to look for additional records.
Published material
Audiovisual holdings in LAC’s collections can be archival or published. The instructions on this web page are for archival records.
Use our library catalogue, Aurora, to search for published audiovisual holdings such as commercially distributed copies of music albums, movies, or television shows. After doing a search, you can use the Format limiter to the left of the results. Audiovisual options include Music recording, Video, and Audiobook.
YouTube
A small collection of archival video footage—newsreels, films, sports broadcasts, agricultural programs, etc.—is available on LAC’s YouTube channel. Browse by topic by checking the Playlists.
Access
Digitized records
A small number of audiovisual records have been digitized and are available through Collection search. If a media player appears in a catalogue entry, then it is available digitally. If not, the record hasn’t been digitized yet. A handful of other records were uploaded to LAC’s YouTube page, with links to the video as found in the catalogue.
Non-digitized records
Consultation copies of audiovisual material can be viewed at our Ottawa building. It is not permitted to view the original material.
To order a record, use the Material Retrieval Request form. In your request, include the title of the recording and the item number (ISN). If a consultation copy exists, the request will be processed within our normal service standards.
If a consultation copy is not available, you will be notified within 30 days. Staff can create one copy free of charge, within a period of six to ten weeks.
If you can’t visit our Ottawa location, you’ll need to order a digital copy using the Ordering Copies form.
Some records may not be readily available to access. For more information about access conditions, see Archival document restrictions and access codes.
Copyright
Note that you may need to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the item is still protected under copyright. Questions about copyright can be directed to LAC’s copyright office: droitdauteur-copyright@bac-lac.gc.ca.