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Jenny Cartwright’s Les perdants (A Losing Game) in theatres February 28

PRESS RELEASE
28/01/2025

“Will exercising democracy ultimately mean acting outside the bounds of the electoral process?” – Jenny Cartwright

January 28, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Jenny Cartwright’s feature-length documentary Les perdants (A Losing Game) opens Friday, February 28, in theatres throughout Quebec. This theatrical run will follow the film’s world premiere on February 19 as the opening film of the 43rd edition of the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma. The film’s production team will be at the premiere.

Les perdants follows three people who ran for office in the 2022 Quebec provincial election, casting a critical eye on our electoral system—and the many ways in which it is dysfunctional.

TRAILER

Les perdants (A Losing Game) by Jenny Cartwright (98 min)
Produced at the NFB by Pierre-Mathieu Fortin
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/a-losing-game

The three candidates featured in A Losing Game (Renaud Blais, Elza Kephart and Jean-Louis Thémis) had one thing in common: they were all sure to lose. By following their campaigns, and through interviews with Francis Dupuis-Déri and Catherine Dorion, among others, the film peels back the curtain on our electoral system and the many ways in which it is dysfunctional: the additional barriers faced by women and racialized people, deficiencies in the voting process, unfair campaign financing rules and the undue weight given to media and polls. The political system doesn’t offer everyone the same opportunities. For most, the race is over before it even begins. But, thanks to the way the electoral system is set up, the big losers are the rest of us.

About the filmmaker

Jenny Cartwright is an award-winning creator of film and audio documentaries. Her work marries poetry and manifesto, exploring themes like self-determination and inequality, with a focus on those who have been marginalized. Two of her audio documentaries were honoured with NUMIX awards, in 2020 (Debouttes!) and 2022 (Labour of Love). Her film I Remember a Time When No One Jogged in This Neighbourhood won the 2022 REAL award from the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec, in the “Art & essai” category.

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French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.