An experiment in 'historically correct' Canadian photoplays: Montreal's British American Film Manufacturing Co.

The British American Film Manufacturing Co. (Briam) was created in 1912 by entrepreneurs who saw Canadian nationalism as a commercial opportunity. In accordance with ideas widely held within the moving picture industry in the transitional era, Briam aimed to produce and market films connoting genteel values such as education, nationalism and patriotism. Its project was to re-enact events from Canadian history on the actual locations where they had taken place. For added 'realism', most of its films were to feature 'show Indians' from the Kahnawake Mohawk reservation. However, industrial rationalization and the increased sophistication of narrative films turned out by the leading US film producers soon put an end to this experiment in 'historically correct' Canadian photoplays.