February 5, 2018 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

On Wednesday, February 7, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is launching a new four-part series entitled Les cinéastes racontent in collaboration with the Cinémathèque québécoise. The series will offer audiences a unique look at the creative processes of acclaimed filmmakers who’ve worked with the NFB’s French Program Documentary Studio. This talented group of non-fiction storytellers will be sharing their perspectives with members of the public and discussing their key works. The series is the brainchild of NFB executive producer Colette Loumède, who will also host. Loumède has produced more than 50 documentaries, several of which have had a significant impact on the world of documentary film in Canada. The first installment of Les cinéastes racontent, on February 7, features director Céline Baril (24 Davids). Subsequent guests are Luc Bourdon (The Devil’s Share) on March 7 and Jean-François Caissy (First Stripes) and Pascale Ferland (Pauline Julien, intime et politique) in fall 2018. All talks take place in French at the Cinémathèque québécoise.

“This series offers a real opportunity for members of the public and filmmakers to engage in discussions with each other. I’ve had the pleasure of working with passionate directors who take a sensitive and personal approach to their work while also offering an auteur’s point of view on issues that affect both the individual and society. I’ve had the privilege of their trust, which has allowed me to accompany them on their creative journeys, ensuring they reach their goals in directing films that could not be made anywhere but at the NFB. As a result, Les cinéastes racontent is rich in personal and artistic stories and close creative collaborations. The series will take the public into the heart of the creative process behind the art of telling real stories.” — Colette Loumède, Executive Producer, NFB French Program Documentary Studio

Documentary at the NFB

For decades, the NFB has supported documentary filmmakers in their work interpreting real-life stories for the screen—from Pierre Perrault to Anne Claire Poirier, Richard Desjardins to Paule Baillargeon, and Jean-Claude Labrecque to Alanis Obomsawin. The influence of the NFB on documentary has been felt far beyond the borders of Canada, especially with respect to the development of Direct Cinema. As a public producer, the NFB supports projects that could not be made elsewhere, and continues to experiment and innovate, seeking new creative territory and new storytelling languages, collaborating with unique and talented creators to take their work a step further using the latest technologies. Directors working with the NFB have benefitted from a great degree of artistic freedom, allowing them to make their mark on the documentary scene with distinctive, accomplished films that address pressing social issues and introduce audiences to memorable characters.

About Les cinéastes racontent

Location:
Cinémathèque québécoise
335 De Maisonneuve Est, Montreal
Free of charge

Céline Baril, Wednesday, February 7, 2018, 5 p.m.

Céline Baril is a versatile artist who worked in sculpture, photography, and video before turning to cinema. For nearly 30 years, she has been making films in her signature style, including La fourmi et le volcan (prix Québec-Alberta), Life Times 538, La théorie du tout, Room Tone, and her latest release, 24 Davids, which opened the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) in 2017.

Luc Bourdon, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, 5 p.m.

Luc Bourdon is one of the key figures in the art of videography in Canada. Over a period of more than 25 years, he has created some 50 works in a variety of genres—documentary, drama, experimental—that focus primarily on the subjects of history and memory. These themes lie at the heart of the two feature documentaries he’s made at the NFB: the acclaimed The Memories of Angels (2008), and his latest, The Devil’s Share (2017), which was named Best Feature- or- Medium-Length Documentary at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie.

Jean-François Caissy, fall 2018

Born in Gaspé, Jean-François Caissy is an independent artist who works in cinema and other visual arts. He first gained attention in 2005 for his documentary Mating Season. His next film, Journey’s End (2009), won him international recognition at Berlin and many other festivals. In 2014, he directed Guidelines (NFB), which screened at the 64th Berlinale and was a hit with both critics and audiences. His latest documentary, First Stripes (NFB, 2018), has earned him a third invitation to Berlin.

Pascale Ferland, fall 2018

After completing her studies in visual arts, during which she made several award-winning videos, Pascale Ferland directed L’immortalité en fin de compte (2003), her first feature-length documentary. She followed it up with Adagio pour un gars de bicycle (2008), which was selected as the closing film for the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois festival. In 2007, she won the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton award for the outstanding quality of her work, and in 2012 she directed her first feature-length drama, Ressac. Currently, she is working on the documentary Pauline Julien, intime et politique (NFB).

Creator and host: Colette Loumède

Colette Loumède oversees the French Program Documentary Studio at the National Film Board of Canada. Before joining the NFB 15 years ago she worked in the private sector and for SODEC. She founded the documentary program at the Institut national de l’image et du son (INIS) in 2007 and ran it for three years. Loumède is a key figure in the world of Canadian documentary, having produced or co-produced some 50 films, most of which have won prestigious awards and screened at major festivals in Canada and around the world. She has always sought out both emerging and established talents, working with them on a range of social-issue documentaries with different narrative approaches—from geopolitical investigations to explorations of complex personal experiences. Over the course of her career, Loumède has collaborated with some of Quebec’s greatest filmmakers: Jacques Godbout (The Black Sheep), André Melançon (The Bell Jar), Serge Giguère (Driven by Dreams, Finding Macpherson), Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie (The Hole Story, The Invisible Nation), Patricio Henríquez (Under the Hood, A Voyage into the World of Torture; Uyghurs, Prisoners of the Absurd), Luc Bourdon (The Memories of Angels, The Devil’s Share), Paule Baillargeon (In Pieces), Carole Laganière (Absences), Claude Demers (Where I’m From), Jean-Claude Labrecque (Remembering Maria Chapdelaine), Jean-François Caissy (Guidelines, First Stripes) and Céline Baril (24 Davids).

–30–

 

Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailers, synopsis: 24 Davids| The Devil’s Share| First Stripes

Associated Links

Cinémathèque québécoise

 

About the Cinémathèque québécoise

The Cinémathèque québécoise is Montreal’s museum of moving images. Its mission is to acquire, document and preserve the world’s audiovisual heritage, with an emphasis on Quebec and Canadian works as well as international animation, and to make it available for cultural and educational purposes.