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Seven new NFB shorts celebrating Canadian performing arts excellence launch May 28 at 9 p.m. ET, at NFB.ca. Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards collection now reaches 105 films.

PRESS RELEASE
28/05/2022

May 28, 2022 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Seven short films celebrating Canadian performing arts greats are coming to nfb.ca, starting Saturday, May 28, at 9 p.m. ET. The films will also be available to stream on CBC Gem and ICI TOU.TV as of next week.

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), these films will honour the laureates of the 2022 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA)—and this online launch coincides with their premiere at the GGPAA Gala at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, so that all Canadians can take part.

For 14 years, the NFB has sought out accomplished Canadian directors to find the right combination of filmmaker, concept and GGPAA laureate, producing portraits of distinguished Canadians that also stand on their own as innovative short works of cinema.

This is a milestone year for the NFB, whose GGPAA film collection now totals 105 short films, produced since 2008 through a partnership with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation.

These innovative tributes to Canadian excellence in the performing arts can all be enjoyed free of charge at nfb.ca.

The films

  • After an incredible 40-year career, iconic producer and songwriter David Foster has still not achieved EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). But he’s about to achieve something much greater in David Foster’s EGGGPAA, a short film directed by Teresa Alfeld, a documentary and drama writer/director from Vancouver, BC, and the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Produced by Shirley Vercruysse for the BC and Yukon Studio.
  • Tomson Highway: kipimâtisinaw tapâhpeyahk is an intimate glimpse into the life of Cree author, musician, playwright and storyteller Tomson Highway. Through his warmth and Cree humour, Tomson shares stories about his parents, reasons for living and the power of music as a language in and of itself. Directed by Barry Bilinsky, an Indigenous artist from Amiskwaciywaskahikan (Edmonton) of Métis, Cree and Ukrainian lineage, and produced by Chehala Leonard for the North West Studio.
  • All is movement: that’s been the guiding principle for modern dance pioneer Linda Rabin, a dancer, teacher, choreographer, somatic educator and the co-founder with Candace Loubert of l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. Spirituality, openness to the world and the fluidity of bodies are conveyed in Quebec director Christine Chevarie-Lessard’s Linda Rabin: Everything Is Moving, produced by Marc Bertrand for the French Program Animation Studio.
  • Fernand Dansereau: In a Lifetime traces the long journey of Fernand Dansereau, one of Quebec’s most prolific filmmakers, who travels the pathways of creativity giving voice to people seeking to define the essence of a nation. The film is directed by Sylvie Lapointe and written by the late Quebec documentarian Danic Champoux, and is produced by Pierre-Mathieu Fortin for the Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary Studio.
  • A tribute to an astonishing legacy and a rallying cry for a new generation, Toronto director Sara Elgamal’s Rita Shelton Deverell: Queen Bee brings the remarkable work of broadcaster, actor and thinker Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell into focus, offering an expansive vision for change. Produced by Sherien Barsoum and Jon Montes for the Ontario Studio.
  • Michelle Smith is a Franco-Manitoban with a passion for arts and culture who puts her talents and people skills to work for Francophone arts organizations in her province, so that its language and community may endure and thrive. Winnipeg writer/director Pascal Boutroy profiles the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts recipient in Michelle Smith: Culture at Heart, produced by Denis McCready for the Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary Studio.
  • Vancouver Filipino Canadian filmmaker Joella Cabalu’s Crystal Pite: Wordless Language offers glimpses into a rehearsal of Revisor, an acclaimed work by choreographer and National Arts Centre Award winner Crystal Pite. This short film incorporates images of natural and industrial forms, mirroring the states of tension and connection within the human body, and is produced by Nicholas Klassen for the English Program Animation and Interactive Studio.

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Associated Links

CBC Gem
ICI TOU.TV
Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards
National Arts Centre

French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About the NFB

    The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is one of the foremost creative centres in the world. As a public producer and distributor of Canadian content, a talent incubator and a lever for Canada’s creative sector, the NFB produces nearly one hundred titles every year—from socially engaged documentaries and auteur animation to groundbreaking interactive works and participatory experiences. It was among the first cultural organizations to make clear commitments to gender parity; to launch an action plan with the goal of supporting Indigenous perspectives; and to establish concrete actions and targets that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition to serving as a reference point around the world for digitization and preservation practices, the NFB ensures the long-term conservation of its works as part of the audiovisual heritage of all Canadians.