August 15, 2024 – Vancouver – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) selection at the 2024 Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) will feature powerful documentary and animated storytelling while showcasing the talents of a number of Edmonton and Alberta artists.

Taking place September 26 to October 5, EIFF will present three new NFB films, including the award-winning Banger Films/NFB feature documentary Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Edmonton-born filmmaker Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, in which a 20th-century musical icon finally gets her second act.

EIFF is also showcasing two dazzling NFB animated shorts.

Michif/Métis creator Amanda Strong’s Spotted Spotted Fawn Productions/NFB co-pro Inkwo for When the Starving Return is a stop-motion animated adaptation of a short story by Richard Van Camp, in which a gender-shifting warrior uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from a swarm of terrifying creatures—featuring such voice talents as Paulina Alexis and Tantoo Cardinal, both from Alberta.

In Quebec animation filmmaker Véronique Paquette’s LOCA, a woman finds the path to freedom through the energy of tango, in a mesmerizing visual performance created with waves of ink and black-and-white geometric shapes.

About the films

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee (99 min)
Produced by Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Michael Mabbott and Justine Pimlott (NFB)
Executive produced by Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn, Chanda Chevannes (NFB), Anita Lee (NFB), Elliot Page and Matt Jordan Smith (PAGEBOY Productions), Martin Katz, Nia Long and CJ Mac
Produced in association with Bell Media
Original music by Murray Lightburn
Animation directed by Luca Tarantini and Jared Raab
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/any-other-way-jackie-shane

• Nashville-born soul singer Jackie Shaneboldly carved a new path as one of music’s pioneering Black trans performers—but on the edge of stardom, why did she suddenly leave the spotlight?
• Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Storyhands the mic over to one of the most beguiling artists of the 20th century to finally reveal her truth, in her own unmistakable voice. The film combines never-before-heard phone conversations, dazzling animation and an original score by Murray Lightburn (The Dears), in a remarkable portrait that includes Elliot Page (X-Men, The Umbrella Academy) as executive producer.
• To date, Any Other Way has won the Out in the Silence Award at the Frameline International LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco as well as the DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary at Hot Docs, where it was also a Top 10 Audience Favourite.
• Michael Mabbott is an Edmonton-born filmmaker now based in Toronto. His features The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico (Best Canadian First Feature Award) and Citizen Duane both premiered at TIFF. His first documentary, Music Lessons, premiered at Hot Docs.
• Lucah Rosenberg-Lee is a Toronto filmmaker, speaker and entrepreneur. Specializing in both documentary and LGBTQ+ content, he has produced and directed a variety of film projects, includingPassing and For Nonna Anna, which have screened at TIFF, Inside Out and Sundance.

Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong (18 min 27 s)
Producers: Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn Productions), Maral Mohammadian (NFB), Nina Werewka (Spotted Fawn Productions)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/inkwo-for-when-the-starving-return

• In this stop-motion animated short, Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from a swarm of terrifying creatures.
• An adaptation of the short story “Wheetago War” by award-winning Tlicho Dene storyteller Richard Van Camp, Inkwo features the voice talents of Paulina Alexis, from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation Reserve; Tantoo Cardinal, raised in the hamlet of Anzac, Alberta; and versatile television producer, actor and storyteller Art Napoleon.
• Amanda Strong is a Michif/Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films—which include Biidaabanand Four Faces of the Moon—have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.

LOCA by Véronique Paquette (5 min 19 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/loca

• A female silhouette, sketched with fine white lines, disintegrates. A few bars ring out from “Loca”—a classic tune from the golden age of Argentinean tango. The spellbinding music sweeps the woman into a dance. As she whirls, a duo forms, their bodies intertwined in black and white. Their complete abandonment to the music is expressed in abundant waves of ink, creating a mesmerizing visual spectacle.
• LOCA was produced through the NFB’s Cinéaste recherché(e) competition, which gives winners the chance to make their first professional animated film with the NFB’s French Animation Studio.
• Véronique Paquette gained her experience in traditional animation through fiction films, documentaries and advertising, while turning her passion for dance into a powerful creative engine. With a penchant for blending different artistic fields, she has been involved in many multidisciplinary collaborations and combined drawing with dance for various projects. Tango, which she’s danced for more than 20 years, forms the heart of the short film LOCA, the first professional animated film she’s directed.

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French version here | Version française ici.