February 28, 2023 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The National Film Board of Canada returns to the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) with four productions and co-productions that offer unique perspectives on diverse forms of artistic expression. FIFA 2023 will be held March 14 to 26 in Montreal and Quebec City.

NFB films at FIFA:

• A world premiere screening in competition, Oana Suteu Khintirian’s feature documentary Au-delà du papier (Beyond Paper) takes us on a fascinating journey around the globe to understand the future of human memory and the transmission of knowledge, as paper and books continue to be abandoned in the digital era.
• A Quebec premiere, Brian D. Johnson’s feature documentary The Colour of Ink (La couleur de l’encre) uncovers the medium’s mystery and power through the eyes of Jason Logan, a visionary Toronto inkmaker and world-renowned artist.
• As part of the carte blanche series on identity issues, John Blouin’s short documentary Lou, la Vie! (Hey Lou!) shows life and death intertwined in a condensed look at our humanity, and the animated short Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics (Meneath: l’île secrète de l’éthique), by Orkney Cree Métis artist Terril Calder, charts a challenging journey for a precocious Métis baby girl as she contemplates her path to Hell.

Quick Facts

International feature competition

• Au-delà du papier (Beyond Paper) by Oana Suteu Khintirian (130 min) – WORLD PREMIERE
  Producer: Nathalie Cloutier for the NFB’s Quebec, Canadian Francophonie & Acadian Documentary Studio
  Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/beyond-paper

• At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, how can we grasp the impact of the ongoing abandonment of books on thought and learning? What’s the future of our individual and collective memories? In this personal, cinematic quest with universal resonance, the filmmaker embarks on a journey to understand how to preserve her cultural history, both Armenian and Romanian, and share it with her son. Introducing us to various “guides” from around the world—including Maria Sebregondi, president of the Moleskine Foundation, and Maria Kodama, widow of Jorge Luis Borges and president of the Borges Foundation—and visiting locations like Milan, San Francisco, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires and Montreal, Au-delà du papier blends reflection and emotion, reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.
• FIFA screenings (with French subtitles):
  • In Montreal: Wednesday, March 15, at 8 p.m. at Théâtre Outremont, with the filmmaker in attendance.
  • In Quebec City: Thursday, March 16, at 7 p.m. at Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, with the filmmaker in attendance.
• The film, whose poster was designed by renowned animation filmmaker Theodore Ushev, will have its theatrical release on April 7.

Official feature selection

• The Colour of Ink (La couleur de l’encre) by Brian D. Johnson (105 min) – QUEBEC PREMIERE
  Producers: Brian D. Johnson for Sphinx Productions; Sherien Barsoum, Lea Marin and Kate Vollum for the NFB’s Ontario Studio
  Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-colour-of-ink

• Working with ingredients foraged in the wild—weeds, berries, bark, flowers, rocks, rust—Toronto inkmaker Jason Logan makes ink from just about anything. Jason sends custom-made inks to an eclectic range of artists around the world, from a New Yorker cartoonist to a Japanese calligrapher. As the inks take on a life of their own, his playful alchemy paints a story of colour that reconnects us to the earth and returns us to a childlike sense of wonder.
• The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the 2022 Calgary Underground Film Festival.
• FIFA screening (with French subtitles):
  • In Montreal: Thursday, March 23, at 8 p.m. at the Cinéma du Musée.
• The film will have its theatrical release starting March 24.

Carte blanche – Issues of identity

• Lou, la Vie! (Hey Lou!) by John Blouin (2015, 5 min 41 s)
  Producers: Nathalie Cloutier and Colette Loumède for the NFB’s Quebec, Canadian Francophonie & Acadian Documentary Studio and Catherine Benoit for Spira (first edition of the 5 Shorts Project)
  Details: onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=61916Footsteps in a rocky desert. Human shadows cast upon the ground. A bedridden woman suffering in the twilight of her life. A feverish birth in a delivery room. In just a few shots, the film unexpectedly intertwines life and death.

• Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics (Meneath: l’île secrète de l’éthique) by Terril Calder (2021, 19 min 22 s)
  Producers: Jelena Popović for the NFB’s English Program Animation & Interactive Studio; Consulting Producer: Jason Ryle
  Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/meneathThis award-winning stop-motion film dives deeply into the innate contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride and Envy) and the Seven Sacred Anishinaabe Teachings (Love, Respect, Wisdom, Courage, Truth, Honesty and Humility), as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby.

• FIFA screenings:
  • In Montreal: Saturday, March 25, at 8 p.m.
  • Both films will be streaming during FIFA Online, from March 24 to April 2, on the ARTS.FILM platform, available by subscription.

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French version here | Version française ici.