January 29, 2026 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Black History Month activities by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in February will feature free events at the NFB Space and the Alanis Obomsawin Theatre, located at Îlot Balmoral on the Place des Festivals. Under the theme Together, Let’s Raise Our Voices, the month will also be marked on NFB platforms with a channel on Black Communities in Canada.
On the agenda: catch recent films, discuss projects still in production or enjoy timeless classics that continue to resonate today. This is your chance to meet and engage with up-and-coming and veteran filmmakers working in animation or documentary. Gain unique insights into the creative process, the role of memory and storytelling, the power of music, and pressing social issues such as systemic racism. These events will spark conversations that highlight the contributions of Black communities from diverse backgrounds. Join the discussion!
Detailed program
Wednesday, February 11, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Artist’s Talk featuring Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach and Ian Keteku, co-directors of the animated film To Our Future Ancestors
Press kit
Alanis Obomsawin Theatre, free admission with reservation, bilingual event, talk given in English
Get a preview of the film before its release later this year and meet its creators: Togolese-Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker, illustrator and NFB Alambic* program alumnus Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach; and Ghanaian-Canadian filmmaker, poet and educator Ian Keteku. A 3D-printed zoetrope, cutouts, ink and clay on glass, sand, paint… The co-directors will be sharing the creative journey (and the 10 different animation techniques!) behind their new Afrofuturist-inspired film, To Our Future Ancestors, a moving animated allegory about lineage and enduring resilience across millennia.
Stick around after this talk for a friendly get-together with the filmmakers at the NFB Space, where you can mingle over a few tasty bites.
*Alambic: An experimental creative lab for emerging artists at the NFB’s French Animation Studio.
Thursday, February 19, at 7 p.m.
As part of the Hello Film! screening series (free admission with reservation)
Screening of Ninth Floor by Mina Shum (2015, 81 min)
Co-presented by CinéCozry
Press kit
Alanis Obomsawin Theatre. A discussion with author and professor David Austin will follow.
It started quietly when a group of Black Caribbean students began to suspect their professor of racism. It ended in the most explosive student uprising Canada had ever known. Over four decades later, Ninth Floor reopens the file on the infamous Sir George Williams (now Concordia) protests in Montreal—a watershed moment in Canadian race relations and one of the most contested episodes in the nation’s history.
Preceded by the recent short film reXistence by Will Prosper (2025, 9 min). Through striking Canadian archival footage, the film exposes systemic violence and celebrates Black strength in Canada.
The screening will be followed by a discussion in English and French with author David Austin, a professor at John Abbott College and McGill. Topics will include what Black radicals envisioned in speaking of freedom and the internationalist ideals these revolutionaries inspired, both then and now.
This event will also mark World Day of Social Justice (February 20).
Monday, February 23, noon to 1:45 p.m.
Lunch and learn with filmmakers Wylem Decaille (Jireh Gospel: Hearts in Chorus) and Maryse Legagneur (The Last Meal)
The NFB Space – free – bring your own lunch
Co-presented by Coalition M.É.D.I.A.
Listen to a compelling conversation between Wylem Decaille, an emerging filmmaker of Martinican descent, and accomplished Afro-Quebec filmmaker Maryse Legagneur.
Wylem Decaille is a young filmmaker whose work explores memory, spirituality and the strength of community. With roots in writing and literature, he crafts sensitive, poetic films where reality takes on a lyrical form. His first professional film, Jireh Gospel: Hearts in Chorus (NFB, 2025), offers an immersive and heartfelt look at faith and music as spaces of communion, resilience and shared light.
Deeply attuned to the social struggles of Afro-descendant communities, Maryse Legagneur trains her lens on themes of injustice, racism and oppression. Her work includes In the Name of the Mother and the Son (NFB, 2005) and, more recently, The Last Meal (ACPAV), a multiple award winner and her first fiction feature. She is currently completing the feature-length NFB documentary Konbit, a film that explores Afro-descendant people’s relationship to the land.
A specialty online channel available across Canada
The Black Communities in Canada channel was recently expanded with new additions that explore themes ranging from systemic violence (the subject of Night Watches Us, directed by Stefan Verna, and reXistence, by Will Prosper) to the joys of music (as seen in Jireh Gospel: Hearts in Chorus, by Wylem Decaille).
Getting to the NFB’s Alanis Obomsawin Theatre and the NFB Space
Îlot Balmoral, on Place des Festivals
1500 Balmoral St.
Montreal
Place-des-Arts Metro
Accessible to persons with reduced mobility.
– 30 –
Version française ici.