This Was the Time

{{Infobox film

| name = This Was the Time

| image =

| caption =

| director = Eugene Boyko

| producer = Eugene Boyko
Bill Brind

| writer = Jacques Bensimon

| starring = Robert Davidson

| music =

| cinematography = Eugene Boyko

| editing = Jacques Bensimon

| studio = National Film Board of Canada

| distributor =

| runtime = 16 minutes

| released = {{Film date|1970}}

| country = Canada

| language = English

| budget =

}}

This Was the Time is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Eugene Boyko and released in 1970.Barry T. Klein, Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Todd Publications, 2005. {{ISBN|9780915344772}}. p. 298. Created for the National Film Board of Canada, the film portrays the renaissance of Haida culture through its depiction of a potlatch ceremony in Haida Gwaii, culminating in artist Robert Davidson carving and erecting a totem pole in the community for the first time in nearly a century.

In the 21st century, the NFB launched a project to counter the sometimes colonialist outsider perspectives reflected in many of its old documentaries on First Nations and Inuit cultures by commissioning indigenous filmmakers to make their own new films responding to and recontextualizing the older films.Dana Gee, [https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/movies/short-film-celebrates-return-of-totem-pole-raising-in-haida-gwaii-after-a-century-of-banishment "Short film celebrates return of totem pole raising in Haida Gwaii after a century of banishment"]. Vancouver Sun, December 20, 2019. Christopher Auchter's Now Is the Time, a response to This Was the Time which mixed footage from the original film with contemporary footage including Davidson's own reflections on the project, was released in 2019.Pat Mullen, [http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/now-is-the-time-for-the-haida-renaissance-an-interview-with-christopher-auc "Now Is the Time for the Haida Renaissance: an interview with Christopher Auchter"]. Point of View, September 29, 2019.