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The NFB at the 2024 Festival du nouveau cinéma. Three films selected, including the world premiere of the compelling documentary Les enfants du large by Virginia Tangvald.

PRESS RELEASE
24/09/2024

September 24, 2024 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is back at the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) this year with three films, including two in competition. The feature Les enfants du large (Ghosts of the Sea, micro_scope/NFB/Urban Factory), the only documentary in the National Competition section, will screen as a world premiere. Filmed all over the world, it charts director Virginia Tangvald’s fascinating quest to unravel a family mystery. Tangvald won the Pitch Premières Œuvres session, presented by Netflix at the FNC Forum, when she pitched the film in 2020. Meanwhile, Ehsan Gharib’s animated short Samaa (NFB), which will have its Quebec premiere, explores the transcendent power of music and movement. The festival will also screen the restored version of Michel Brault’s masterful Les ordres to mark the 50th anniversary of this landmark of Quebec cinema. The 53rd FNC takes place in Montreal from October 9 to 20, 2024.

National Competition

Les enfants du large (Ghosts of the Sea) by Virginia Tangvald (97 min) – WORLD PREMIERE
Screenings: Cinéma du Musée, Monday, October 14, at 7 p.m. (original version with English subtitles); Cineplex Odeon Quartier Latin Cinema, Friday, October 18, at 6:30 p.m. (original version with French subtitles)

A Canada-France co-production produced by micro_scope (Isabelle Couture and Élaine Hébert) with the NFB (Nathalie Cloutier) and Urban Factory (Frédéric Corvez and Maéva Savinien)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ghosts-of-the-sea

  • While searching for clues about the death of her brother Thomas, who was lost at sea, Virginia Tangvald embarks on a fascinating, cinematic investigation into her family’s dark secrets. Calling into question the idyllic life of her father, legendary sailor Peter Tangvald, her quest dismantles the myth of absolute freedom. At the end of a courageous journey that’s both deeply personal and universal, she finds hope that a toxic cycle has been broken.
  • Born in the Caribbean Sea, Virginia Tangvald grew up in Montreal, where she studied theatre and classical guitar before settling on filmmaking as her art of choice. After graduating from INIS in 2015, she made several short films and videos for Montreal bands. She now lives in Paris. Les enfants du large, a fascinating quest to uncover the dark secrets of her family and her father, the famous adventurer Peter Tangvald, is her first feature documentary.

Les nouveaux alchimistes Short Film Competition

Samaa by Ehsan Gharib (2 min 27 s) – QUEBEC PREMIERE
Screenings in a short-film program: Cinémathèque québécoise, Sunday, October 13, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, October 17, at 5 p.m.

Produced by the NFB (Maral Mohammadian)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/samaa

  • A caged bird, yearning to fly, finds release through the transcendent power of music and movement. Revelling in the magic and mechanics of cinema, Ehsan Gharib crafts a striking, hand-painted animated short on the themes of freedom and ecstasy. In Iranian culture, samaa is the meditative practice of achieving a spiritual awakening through rhythm and movement. The film had its world premiere at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
  • Iranian-born Ehsan Gharib integrates photography, animation and design into his cinema. He created the animation for the award-winning NFB production Oscar(2016), Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre’s portrait of Oscar Peterson, and was part of the animation teams for the feature Jasmine Road (2020) and Disney-produced Disenchanted (2022). His directorial debut, the experimental short Deyzangeroo (2017), won a Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig. In Samaa (2024), he continues to experiment with the interplay between music and animated film.

Histoire(s) du cinéma section

Les ordres (Orders) by Michel Brault (1974, 107 min)
Screenings: Cinémathèque québécoise, Wednesday, October 16, at 7 p.m. (original French version with English subtitles)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/orders

This masterwork of Quebec cinema celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The NFB is pleased and proud to be distributing the film to festivals, film clubs and other venues, in a version recently restored by Éléphant: mémoire du cinéma québécois.

Drawing on the testimonies of some 50 civilians who were detained after the War Measures Act was invoked in Quebec in October 1970, Les ordres (Orders) blurs the line between documentary and drama to tell the story of five fictional characters (three men and two women) from their arrest through to their release. The film won the award for Best Director at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.

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French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • Nadine Viau
    NFB Publicist – Montreal
    C.: 514-458-9745
    n.viau@nfb.ca

  • Lily Robert
    Director, Communications and Public Affairs, NFB
    C.: 514-296-8261
    l.robert@nfb.ca

  • 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.