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NFB at TIFF 2020. World premiere for Michelle Latimer’s Inconvenient Indian at the Toronto International Film Festival.

PRESS RELEASE
13/08/2020

August 14, 2020 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Award-winning filmmaker, writer and activist Michelle Latimer’s feature documentary Inconvenient Indian (90th Parallel Productions/National Film Board of Canada) will have its world premiere as part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Docs and TIFF Next Wave programs (September 10–19, 2020).

About the film

Inconvenient Indian dives deep into the brilliant mind of Thomas King, Indigenous intellectual, master storyteller, and author of the bestselling book The Inconvenient Indian, to take us on a critical journey through the colonial narratives of North America. In this time of momentous change and essential re-examination, Latimer’s Inconvenient Indian is a powerful visual poem anchored in the land and amplified by the voices of those who continue the tradition of Indigenous resistance. Artist activists, land protectors, hunters, and those leading cultural revitalization powerfully subvert the “inconvenience” of their existence, creating an essential new narrative and a possible path forward for us all.

Inconvenient Indian is produced by Stuart Henderson (90th Parallel Productions), Justine Pimlott (NFB) and Jesse Wente. The executive producers are Gordon Henderson, for 90th Parallel Productions, and Anita Lee, head of the NFB’s Ontario Studio in Toronto.

About the filmmaker

Michelle Latimer is currently showrunning and directing the CBC series Trickster. Her 2017 eight-part Indigenous resistance series RISE premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was named Best Documentary Program at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards. Michelle’s short Nuuca premiered at TIFF 2017 and screened at the 2018 Sundance and Berlin film festivals. In 2020, she was named the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs and was awarded the Chicken & Egg Breakthrough Award, a prize given to five international filmmakers for their work in social-justice filmmaking. This is her second collaboration with the NFB Ontario Studio, after her 2015 short Nimmikaage (She Dances for People), created as part of the series Souvenir. Michelle’s mixed heritage informs her filmmaking perspective, and much of her work is dedicated to the pursuit of Indigenous rights and sovereignty. She is of Algonquin, Métis and French heritage, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (Maniwaki), Quebec. She grew up on Treaty 9 territory in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and currently splits her time between there and Toronto, Canada.

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Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailer, synopses: Inconvenient Indian

Associated Links

90th Parallel Productions
Toronto International Film Festival

French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • 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.