February 23, 2023 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

For the 15th year, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is bringing together acclaimed 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.

These films will premiere at the GGPAA Gala, May 27, 2023, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and simultaneously online—giving everyone the opportunity to participate in this celebration of Canadian performing arts excellence.

“Since 2008, we’ve been thrilled to partner with the GGPAA in honouring excellence in Canadian performing arts, bringing together talented filmmakers, NFB producers and creative teams from across Canada to celebrate great artists and arts volunteers. These short films are a part of our collective memory, and they help to ensure that the invaluable contributions of GGPAA laureates are accessible to all Canadians,” said Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.

All completed GGPAA films can be streamed free of charge at: nfb.ca/channels/governor_generals_awards.

Lifetime Artistic Achievement Awards

• Playwright, screenwriter, librettist and teacher Michel Marc Bouchard, O.C., is celebrated in a film by veteran Quebec director and screenwriter Martin Talbot. Working in documentary and fiction, in both film and television, Talbot’s credits include the hit Radio-Canada TV series Les Parent and the award-winning 2014 feature Henri Henri. Produced by Marc Bertrand (Animation Studio).
• Singer-songwriter and humanitarian Molly Johnson, O.C., is profiled by her brother, actor/director Clark Johnson, who has starred in such television series as Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire, and directed and appeared in the HBO feature Boycott, winner of a Peabody Award. Produced by Kate Vollum (Ontario Studio).
• Choreographer James Kudelka, C.M., is the focus of a short film by Yung Chang, the Toronto-based director of such award-winning feature docs as Up the Yangtze (2007), The Fruit Hunters (2013), This Is Not a Movie (2019) and Wuhan Wuhan (2021). He’s currently adapting the Giller Prize-winning How to Pronounce Knife into a limited series. Produced by Maral Mohammadian (Animation & Interactive Studio).
• Soprano and voice teacher Rosemarie Landry, C.M., is honoured by Acadian filmmaker Renée Blanchar, director of The Silence (2021; NFB/Ça Tourne Productions), named Best French-Canadian Film at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Best Atlantic Documentary at FIN and Best Acadian Film at FICFA. Produced by Christine Aubé (Quebec, Canadian Francophonie & Acadian Documentary Studio).
• Singer-songwriter and activist d. lang, O.C., is the subject of a portrait by Calgary-based filmmaker Laura O’Grady, chosen as one of Canada’s directors to watch on the 2022 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award Long List. She is currently in production for the digital doc series TELUS Originals. Produced by Chehala Leonard (North West Studio).

Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts

• Distinguished Indigenous leader and activist John Kim Bell, C., is featured in a work by Roxann Whitebean, a media artist from Kahnawà:ke and Akwesasne whose acclaimed credits include Rose (2022), winner of the Oscar-qualifying Live Action Short Award at imagineNATIVE in Toronto. Produced by Amanda Roy (Quebec & Atlantic Studio).

National Arts Centre Award

• Actor, writer, comedian and geek Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is celebrated by Kathleen Jayme, a Filipina-Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver whose feature doc The Grizzlie Truth recently completed its theatrical release. Her breakthrough film Big Country received the People’s Choice and #MustSeeBC awards at the 2018 Vancouver International Film Festival. Produced by Shirley Vercruysse (BC & Yukon Studio).

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French version here | Version française ici.