The National Film Board of Canada has, through its films, achieved a world-wide influence, and its uniqueness lies in its administrative structure and its place in the Canadian Government which has enabled it to survive while similar organizations in other countries have succumbed to political and film industry pressures. This study offers a critical assessment of the reasons for the Board's success, with a view to formulating very general principles as to how a film board might be run successfully. The success of a film board is related to the formal structure of the board. National predisposition, though unmeasurable, is important. It is essential that the government be a social democracy, and that the commercial film industry not be too powerful. A more detailed comparative study of film boards all over the world which have similar aims is recommended, so as to determine what strengths, weaknesses, and problems they all have in common. (GO)