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Monique LeBlanc’s feature Plus haut que les flammes (Higher Than Flames Will Go, NFB) screening in Quebec City and Montreal for the first time. Film will be presented at FCVQ and FIL, after its world premiere at FIFA

PRESS RELEASE
14/09/2020

September 14, 2020 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Taking poetry to another dimension, the feature film Plus haut que les flammes (Higher Than Flames Will Go) by Acadian director Monique LeBlanc (NFB) is a moving and powerful cinematic adaptation of Louise Dupré’s acclaimed book of poetry Plus haut que les flammes. The film will finally be shown on the big screen, on September 19 in Quebec City, at the Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec (FCVQ), in collaboration with the Maison de la littérature (it will also be streamed online), and on September 24 in Montreal, at the Festival international de littérature (FIL). LeBlanc will be in attendance for both screenings, and Dupré will also be joining a post-screening discussion in Quebec City. Part documentary and part art film, filmed in Auschwitz as well as locations in Canada, the U.S., Nicaragua and Ukraine, Plus haut que les flammes transposes to the screen the entire book of poetry, which won a Governor General’s Award in 2011, and is voiced by actress Violette Chauveau in the film.

The film had its world premiere this past March as part of the special online edition of the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA), a pioneering initiative at the very start of the stay-at-home restrictions, in which the NFB partnered in an effort to ensure these works would be seen by audiences. The original French version of the film, Plus haut que les flammes, will also be featured during the virtual edition of ONF à la maison, on November 25. It will be followed by online discussion with the director as well as the film’s editor, Geoffrey Boulangé.

Quick facts

About the film

Plus haut que les flammes (Higher Than Flames Will Go) by Monique LeBlanc (104 min)

Produced by Christine Aubé at the NFB’s Canadian Francophonie Studio in Moncton

The poem, like the film, begins with the phrase “Ton poème a surgi de l’enfer” (Your poem rises up from hell). Shaken by a trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau, a woman, a grandmother, tries to continue to live and care for a child. Because beyond the worst horrors created by humanity, there is childhood, for and through which time marches on. There are also those who watch over these small beings, working each day to keep them alive, clean, and safe. Weaving connections between different stories, realities, and landscapes, the filmmaker offers an anchor point for reflecting on an outcome and ensuring that those who will inherit the world are raised as high as possible, “higher than flames will go.”

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Related Products

Electronic Press Kits | Images, trailers, synopses: Higher Than Flames Will Go

Associated Links

Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec
Festival international de littérature

French version here | Version en français 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.