October 29, 2024 – Moncton – National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) returns to the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA) with two documentaries. Trécarré: à la source du son de la Baie Sainte-Marie (Trécarré: Exploring the Saint Mary’s Bay Sound), by Acadian filmmaker Natalie Robichaud, will be opening the festival with its world premiere. And Ninan Auassat: Nous, les enfants (Ninan Auassat: We, the Children), by Abenaki filmmaker Kim O’Bomsawin, is screening in competition and making its Atlantic début. The festival’s opening night will also be celebrating 50 years of NFB French film production in Acadie and the contribution of late filmmaker Léonard Forest, one of the great pioneers of French-language production. The 38th FICFA will be held November 19 to 24, 2024, in Greater Moncton.

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“For 50 years, the NFB has been a privileged witness to the creativity and originality of Acadian cinema. As Natalie Robichaud’s film Trécarré illustrates, Acadian cultural heritage is still a powerful source of inspiration for younger generations who are reaffirming its vitality and relevance. This work is the ideal opening film for FICFA and offers an opportunity for the NFB to reiterate its commitment to supporting filmmakers and production partners in creating original works. Have a wonderful festival!” – Nathalie Cloutier, Executive Producer, NFB French Documentary Unit

Opening night

Trécarré: à la source du son de la Baie Sainte-Marie (Trécarré: Exploring the Saint Mary’s Bay Sound) by Natalie Robichaud (30 min) – WORLD PREMIERE
Produced at the NFB (Moncton) by Christine Aubé
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/trecarre

• Musical culture is part of the DNA in the Nova Scotia Acadian community of Baie Sainte-Marie. Brimming with talent, members of the local music scene are reinventing tradition and taking their vibrant rhythms far beyond the region’s boundaries. Rich in dialect and bursting with local tunes, Trécarré invites us to discover the magic of music that asks us not just to listen, but to share it, dance to it and live it.
• The film will have its world premiere on opening night, Tuesday, November 19, at 7 p.m. at the Théâtre l’Escaouette in Moncton with the filmmaker in attendance.
• Born in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia, Natalie Robichaud has served as executive director of the Société acadienne de Clare since 2017. As part of her role, she’s led numerous cultural projects and helped preserve Acadian heritage while always being on the lookout for sources of vitality and inspiration in her community. In 2023, Francopresse named Natalie one of the most influential members of Canada’s francophone community outside Quebec. Trécarré is her first professional film.

50 years of French NFB film production in Acadie

• Opening night will also highlight this major milestone in Acadian and French-Canadian cinema, with Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB, and Nathalie Cloutier, Executive Producer of the NFB’s French Documentary Unit, in attendance.
• In 1974, the NFB launched francophone film production in Acadie. In large part, the NFB’s production unit came to be through the tireless efforts of the great NFB Acadian filmmaker Léonard Forest, who FICFA will also be honouring on this occasion.

Documentary feature film competition

Ninan Auassat: Nous, les enfants (Ninan Auassat: We, the Children) by Kim O’Bomsawin (93 min) – ATLANTIC PREMIERE
Produced at the NFB by Mélanie Brière, Nathalie Cloutier and Colette Loumède
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ninan_auassat_en

• Ninan Auassat is a captivating documentary celebrating the power and vitality of Indigenous youth. Shot over more than six years, the film brings us the moving stories of three groups of children from three different Indigenous nations—Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree and Innu. Filmed from “a child’s eye-view” and without adult voices and “experts” on young people, the film powerfully reveals the dreams of a new generation poised to take flight.
• Winner of the Tides Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival, the film will have its Atlantic premiere with the filmmaker in attendance on Wednesday, November 20, at 3 p.m. at the Dieppe Arts and Culture Centre.
• Kim O’Bomsawin is an award-winning Abenaki documentary filmmaker and sociologist who’s deeply passionate about sharing the stories of Indigenous Peoples. Her recent credits include the feature-length documentary Call me Human (Je m’appelle Humain), honoured at the Gémeaux Awards in 2020, and her series Telling Our Story, shown in TIFF’s Primetime program in 2023.

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French version here | Version française ici.