What the hell's going on up there?

Canada, 1979

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A disgruntled Uncle Sam complains that nobody listens to him anymore, and what’s more, he doesn’t even know what’s going on up there. “I thought we were living on the top floor,” he mutters. He expedites the ubiquitous Marshall Efron on a fact-finding mission north of the border. Part satire, part serious, this film sets out to package Canada for American consumption, with some of the cliches thrown in. Contrasting with the decidedly lighter side of the film are interviews with well-known Canadians such as Marshall McLuhan, Mordecai Richler, Margaret Atwood, John Kenneth Galbraith, Raoul Duguay, and Pierre Bourgault.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer/director

Derek Lamb

production company

ONF | NFB

Duration

00:28:00:00

Production places

Canada

Production dates

1979

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

309738

Language

English

Subject categories

Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Interviews

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Canada

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Canada - Description and travel

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Canada - Social life and customs

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Ethnicity

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → International relations and culture

Archival, Cinemagazines & Newsreels

Archival, Cinemagazines & Newsreels → Archival materials

Archival, Cinemagazines & Newsreels → Interviews

Comedy

Comedy → Satire

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Canada

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Canada - Foreign Relations

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Canada - Social conditions

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Cultural relativism

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Culture conflict

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Ethnicity

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → International relations and culture

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States - Foreign relations

People → Interviews

People → McLuhan, Marshall, 1911-1980

Places → Canada

Short films

Short films → Short films - Canada

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/87681--what-the-hells-going-on-up-there/ |title=What the hell's going on up there? |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=25 March 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}