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Three NFB docs featured at DOXA 2022. Intimate and inspiring portraits by legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and Montreal director Jeremiah Hayes.

PRESS RELEASE
13/04/2022

April 13, 2022 – Vancouver – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The DOXA Documentary Film Festival will feature three moving National Film Board of Canada (NFB) profiles of love and dedication, as the festival presents two short docs by Alanis Obomsawin and a feature by Jeremiah Hayes.

Taking place in Vancouver and online from May 5–15, 2022, DOXA will host the BC premieres of Obomsawin’s latest film, Bill Reid Remembers, and her 2021 short, Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair.

A member of the Abenaki Nation and one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, Ms. Obomsawin has directed 54 films to date in a career spanning 55 years—chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all.

The festival is also presenting the Vancouver premiere of Jeremiah Hayes’ NFB/Cineflix feature doc Dear Audrey, documenting acclaimed activist-filmmaker Martin Duckworth’s devotion to the most important cause he’s ever faced: caring for his wife, Audrey Schirmer, through the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Bill Reid Remembers (24 min.)  — BC premiere; In competition
A film by Alanis Obomsawin
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/bill-reid-remembers

  • Despite spending his early life away from his nation’s culture, renowned Haida artist and long-time Vancouver resident Bill Reid always kept Haida Gwaii close to his heart. While working for CBC Radio, he started learning how to make jewelry, then later sculpture, using Haida techniques and images, a move that would forever change his life and the Canadian artistic landscape.
  • Reid’s powerful narration in the film—recorded by Obomsawin and interspersed with her own—recounts his complex childhood, his emergence as an accomplished artist, and his profound connection to his homeland.
  • Decades after his passing, Reid remains an enduring force and one of Canada’s greatest artists, in this beautiful tribute from Obomsawin to her friend’s remarkable life and rich legacy.

Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair (29 min.) – BC premiere; Spotlight
A film by Alanis Obomsawin
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/honour-to-senator-murray-sinclair

  • As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system.
  • In her film, Obomsawin shares the powerful speech the Senator gave when he accepted the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersing the heartbreaking testimonies of former students imprisoned at residential schools.
  • Honour to Senator Murray Sinclairwas one of Canada’s Top Ten short films for 2021, as chosen by the Toronto International Film Festival.

Dear Audrey (90 min) – Vancouver premiere; Official selection, Canadian competition
A film by Jeremiah Hayes
Co-produced by Cineflix Media and the NFB
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/dear-audrey

  • Acclaimed Canadian activist-filmmaker Martin Duckworth puts down his camera to care for his wife Audrey Schirmer. While Audrey gradually fades away—and their autistic daughter, Jacqueline, struggles with her mother’s illness—Martin commits everything he’s got to making their lives creative and meaningful.
  • Dear Audreyweaves an intricate portrait of the couple’s gritty yet tender reality and takes us back to their adventures, from the front lines of the anti-Vietnam War protests to the hippie counterculture movement, using excerpts from Martin’s films and Audrey’s stunning photography.
  • Jeremiah’s first job after film school was with Martin, as assistant editor on his 1991 NFB documentary Peacekeeper at War. To make Dear Audrey, Jeremiah shot at least 90 hours of footage with Martin, Audrey and Jacqueline over a four-year period.
  • The film received the People’s Choice Award at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) in 2021.
  • Jeremiah Hayes is a director, editor and writer in Montreal, most noted as co-director, co-writer and editor of Reel Injun(Rezolution Pictures/NFB).

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Associated Links

DOXA Documentary Film Festival
Cineflix Media

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.