Screengrab from the documentary My War (Image courtesy of the NFB)

By Jamie Casemore

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is launching a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel, TopDocs, featuring content from the organization’s documentary catalogue.

The English-language version of TopDocs will be available in North America in November on the Zone-ify app, and will later expand to other smart TVs and devices. A French-language edition of the channel will be released in the coming months, according to a Wednesday news release.

The channel is launching with a curated library of 150 titles, with approximately 20 more hours of titles to be added each month, an NFB spokesperson told Playback Daily.

“TopDocs is a bold step forward in how we connect global audiences with powerful documentary storytelling,” Nathalie Bourdon, the NFB’s director of distribution and market development, said in a statement. “FAST channels are transforming the media landscape, and this launch allows us to bring the richness of the NFB collection to viewers in a fresh, accessible way – wherever they are, and whenever they tune in.”

This article originally appeared in Playback Online.