Images provided by the filmmakers. From left to right: Tara Johns and Monique LeBlanc.
February 20, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
For the 17th year, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is bringing together filmmakers, NFB producers and creative teams from across the country to create short cinematic tributes to Canadian performing arts legends, as the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) gets set to honour seven new laureates.
Acclaimed Canadian directors Tara Johns and Monique LeBlanc will direct the films, which are produced for the NFB by Christine Aubé and Robert Vroom.
These films will premiere at the GGPAA Celebration Night, June 14, 2025, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and simultaneously online on nfb.ca and CBC Gem—giving all Canadians the opportunity to take part in this unique celebration of performing arts excellence.
“The NFB is proud to be part of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards since 2008, celebrating GGPAA laureates through portraits that are filmmaking gems in their own right. These shorts are a testament to the power of collaboration, jointly conceived by laureates, directors and NFB producers, capturing the essence of these extraordinary individuals and their passion, vision and dedication. This cinematic tribute to Canadian performing arts excellence is a precious legacy we’re committed to sharing with all Canadians, now and in the years to come,” said Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.
To watch the NFB’s GGPAA films free online, visit: nfb.ca/channels/governor_generals_awards.
About the films
- Alberta-born, Montreal-based director Tara Johns is directing five short films, produced for the NFB by Robert Vroom.
- Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award laureates:
- Music and entertainment producer, music education advocate and serial activist Bob Ezrin, O.C.;
- Actor Graham Greene, C.M.;
- Composer Denis Gougeon;
- Comedian, film and television actor, host, screenwriter and producerPatrick Huard.
- Composer, performer, language carrier, ethnomusicologist and activist Jeremy Dutcher, recipient of the National Arts Centre Award.
- A prominent figure in Eastern Canadian cinema, Monique LeBlanc will pay tribute to two recipients in works produced for the NFB by Christine Aubé.
- Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award laureate Sandra Laronde, multidisciplinary artist, artistic director, choreographer, producer and author;
- April Hubbard, recipient of the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts.
About the directors
Tara Johns
Tara Johns is an Alberta-born writer-director who’s built her cinematic career in Montreal. Tara’s debut short film, Killing Time, was awarded Best Canadian Short at the 2001 Toronto Worldwide Short Film Festival and named one of the Top 10 Best Québécois Shorts of the Decade at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois. Her debut feature was the award-winning The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom. After going on to direct two short fiction documentary films with the NFB for past GGPAAs, Tara was most recently tapped by MarVista Entertainment to direct Our Christmas Mural for Hallmark. Currently, Tara is in development on her new original feature project, Good Bones, with Palomar Films.
Monique LeBlanc
Director, actress, screenwriter, writer and producer Monique LeBlanc is a prominent figure in Eastern Canada’s film industry, working in both documentary and fiction. Her films explore the worlds of painters, musicians and writers, as well as ordinary people confronted with poverty, racism or exile. Monique’s works weave different stories together, delving into the intricate complexities of human relationships and offering a vivid portrayal of contemporary societies. Acclaimed recent credits include her 2020 adaptation of Louise Dupré’s book of poetry, Higher Than Flames Will Go (2010), and The Geographies of DAR (2023), her fourth feature documentary and fifth collaboration with the NFB.
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French version here | Version française ici.