January 11, 2024 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The NFB will be taking part in the popular Animation First Festival at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York City, held January 23 to 28, 2024, and featuring a special focus on animated films from Quebec. The program will include the New York premiere of The Girl with the Red Beret (La fille au béret rouge), a genuine ode to Montreal by Janet Perlman, who will also host an artist’s talk and screen a selection of her other films. A diverse lineup of animated shorts, spanning the early years of the NFB to the present day, will also be featured, along with the virtual reality (VR) co-production Plastisapiens by Miri Chekhanovich and Édith Jorisch in collaboration with Dpt.
Animation First, the only festival in the US dedicated to showcasing the legacy and innovation of French and francophone animation, is celebrating its seventh edition this year.
Quick Facts
The Girl with the Red Beret (La fille au béret rouge) by Janet Perlman (5 min 35 s) – NEW YORK PREMIERE
Producer: Marc Bertrand for the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/beret
New Francophone Shorts 1 program: Wednesday, January 24, at 7:00 p.m., FIAF Florence Gould Hall
- This joyful, heartwarming animated film portrays Montreal in all its vitality, creativity and diversity, with plenty of humour and good cheer, to the tune of Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s “Complainte pour Ste-Catherine.”
- The short features the voices of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Lily Lanken and Martha Wainwright. Judith Gruber-Stitzer adapted the music and created the sound design.
- On Sunday, January 28, at 3:45 p.m. at the FIAF Skyroom, Janet Perlman will present a selection of her other short films, followed by an artist’s talk about her work and her sources of inspiration. Montreal-born Janet Perlman is a director of short and funny animated films. She was 22 when she completed Lady Fishbourne’s Complete Guide to Better Table Manners (1976) at the NFB. With her sophisticated, absurdist humour she has carved out a unique niche, and her film The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin(1981) earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
NFB Shorts
Saturday, January 27, at 4:30 p.m., FIAF Florence Gould Hall
“In curating this program, my watchwords were eclecticism and diversity, both in terms of the form and content of the films chosen. They show how the NFB has always been at the sharp end of innovation in animated cinema, encouraging technical experimentation while giving voice to filmmakers with a range of backgrounds and influences. This selection speaks to the outstanding quality and singular character of NFB productions, from the organization’s founding in 1939 through to the present day.” – Frédéric Savard (NFB)
The 11 films selected are:
Virtual Reality
January 25 and 26: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
January 27 and 28: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
FIAF Haskell Library – free admission
Plastisapiens by Miri Chekhanovich and Édith Jorisch with Dpt. (15 min)
Co-producers: Raphaëlle Sleurs for Dpt., Marie-Pier Gauthier and Isabelle Repelin for the NFB’s Interactive Studio and Miri Chekhanovich for Lalibela Productions
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/plastisapiens
- Plastisapiens is a virtual reality journey towards a speculative future where organic beings and plastic become one. The project had its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival and received the DocLab Special Jury Award for Creative Technology at IDFA in Amsterdam. It was conceived as part of New Identities, a co-production partnership in digital creation between Canada and Israel.
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French version here | Version française ici.