1983
• 24 November: Motion to establish an organization and call it the “Canadian Independent Film Caucus” passed and signed by nine original board members: Rob Lang, David Springbett, Deepak Sahasrabudhe, Barry Greenwald, Paul Da Silva, Peter Raymont, Murray Battle, Rudy Buttignol, and Laura Sky
• 25 November: CIFC launched through first lobby effort: letter to Francis Fox, Minister of Communications, requesting funding for documentaries from the Canadian Broadcast Development Fund (later Telefilm)
• The Devil at Your Heels (dir. Robert Fortier, prod. Fortier, Bill Brind, Barrie Howells, and Adam Symansky) wins Genie for best documentary
1984
• Rudy Buttignol elected first chair of CIFC
• Total CIFC membership: 17
• CIFC lobbies CBC to create separate independent documentary strand; CBC refuses
• 13 September: CIFC holds public forum and press conference on “The Death of a Documentary” at Festival of Festivals (later Toronto International Film Festival)
• Flamenco at 5:15 (dir. Cynthia Scott, prod. Scott, Kathleen Shannon, and Adam Symansky) wins Academy Award for best short doc
• Pourquoi l’étrange Monsieur Zolock s’intéressait-il tant à la bande dessiné? (dir. Yves Simoneau, prod. Nicole Boisvert) wins Genie for best documentary
• 5 December: CIFC mandate published
1985
• John Walker elected chair
• CIFC’s first success: Telefilm’s Broadcast Fund announces it will invest in independent documentaries
• NFB Film Commissioner François Macerola appears before Senate sub-committee investigating Paul Cowan’s The Kid Who Couldn’t Miss for alleged historical misrepresentations; film relabeled by NFB and CBC as “docudrama”
• CIFC’s second front: lobbying CBC to recognize distinction between public affairs/news programming and documentary
• CIFC consulted by ground-breaking Caplan-Savageau Task Force on Broadcast Policy
• 25 May: First CIFC newsletter (later to become POV Magazine) mailed out
1986
• Rudy Buttignol elected chair
• CIFC meets with newly formed Ontario Film Development Corporation (OFDC, now Ontario Creates) on investment in documentaries
• CIFC intervenes in CBC license renewal; raises awareness of threats to indie doc form
• Amid threats to Canada Council for the Arts, CIFC lobbies government for funding for Media Arts section
• Final Offer (dir. Sturla Gunnarsson and Robert Collison, prod. Gunnarsson, Collison, and John Spotton) wins Genie for best feature doc
• Studio D founder Kathleen Shannon awarded Order of Canada
• No More Hiroshima (dir. Martin Duckworth) wins Genie for best short doc
1987
• Peter Raymont elected chair
• First batch of independent documentaries funded by Telefilm go into production
• CIFC meets with TVOntario to discuss future of documentaries; conducts research on relations between indies and TVO
• Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got (dir. Brigitte Berman, prod. Berman and Don Haig) wins Academy Award for best doc feature
• CIFC
