by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

The 1940s were an important era for Canada, a time of accelerated development, new self-awareness and military involvement. And the National Film Board, established in '39, caught a lot of it on film.

Six decades later, the Canada Council's Terminus 1525 project has teamed up with the NFB and the digital arts collective COCOSOL1DC1T1 to assemble the –40 DVD. Ten electronic musicians and 10 video artists, all Canadian, have each reworked an NFB news/doc/propaganda short from that era, casting new light on what this nation once was.

On the video side, the 10 artists alter the visuals, but the musicians' 10 shorts are untouched outside the audio aspect. There are standouts - Akufen and Lowfish each tackle full-on war propaganda, while Venetian Snares takes on the shocking short New Faces Come Back, a look at horribly disfigured vets that I'm sure David Lynch would love.

Montreal's Deadbeat, aka Scott Monteith, opted for the gorgeously shot Trees That Reach the Sky, a solid, circular narrative that follows Canuck lumber from the forest to the plane factory to the flight of the final product. Mind you, modern ecological awareness brings a different light on the logging segments. "The funny thing is," says Monteith, "the first thing I started with was a lot harsher, getting a lot more industrial as the piece went on. But as I watched the film more times, I realized that this wasn't a harsh movie at all. It was these sweeping pictures of northern B.C. in the '40s. It has this really serene air to it."

Meek, aka recent Montreal transplant Mike Baugh, took a tougher tack with Of Japanese Descent, an infuriatingly rosy visit to the internment camps Canadians like to pretend we didn't have in WWII. "It was an opportunity," says Baugh. "Recently, I've been trying to bring politics into my music. That's a challenge considering the music I make, which rarely uses samples or words.

"The quotes I pulled from it were probably the most outrageous things in there. I wanted to use more words in it, but I was concerned about the tone. I didn't want it to turn into a party song of just chopped-up words. So I kept it simple and tried to leave it to the tone of the music."

Launch screening with Cinétik, Nadia Duguay, Meek and DJ Luv at O Patro Vys on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 8 p.m., $5

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