August 23, 2022 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has put together a diverse and exciting range of content for audiences going back to work and school! Besides the new projects streaming for free on nfb.ca starting in September, including the world premiere of the Alambic animated shorts collection, several documentaries will be screening free of charge at Montreal’s Maisons de la culture as part of the ONF à la Maison (NFB at les Maisons) program, a new digital work will be available to experience in person, and students all over Canada will be able to try their hand at digital storytelling with the online Media School workshop. This wide-ranging offer is in addition to the more than 5,500 titles already available on nfb.ca, along with our collection of some one hundred interactive works, almost all of which are available for free online viewing. Dive in today!
New at nfb.ca
Starting September 12
Comme un fleuve (Flowing Home / Nhu môt dòng sông) by Sandra Desmazières (2021, Les Films de l’Arlequin / NFB’s French Program Animation Studio)
Animated short (15 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/flowing-home-nhu-mot-dong-song/
The child of a Vietnamese mother and French father, Sandra Desmazières has crafted an award-winning animated short about two sisters who are separated by war for nearly 20 years. The letters they exchange are their only way to connect, as Thao and Sao Maï write about their everyday lives, their memories, war and its ghosts. The film has screened at more than 80 festivals worldwide and was among the 15 works shortlisted for the Academy Award in the Best Animated Short category in 2022. This online launch is presented in national partnership with the Vietnamese Cultural Centre in Montreal, as part of Vietnamese Culture Weeks, taking place September 12 to October 4.
Starting September 19
Alambic – WORLD PREMIERE
A creative lab by the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio
Three animated shorts, each less than 3 minutes
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/alambic
Alambic provides a space for creative ferment where ideas can gel and be distilled, drop by drop, and then shared with audiences, giving them the opportunity to get to know the work of new artists. This collection of very short films features early-career creators. During this experimental lab, they draw on their own interior worlds as well as the creative energy from the group to craft original visual stories in the space of a few months. The films produced by the inaugural Alambic cohort in 2022 are Solid Ground (Beatriz Carvalho), Modern Alchemy (Bren López Zepeda) and By Winds and Tides (Bogdan Anifrani Fedach).
Starting September 30 – to mark Truth and Reconciliation Week
Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair by Alanis Obomsawin (2021, NFB’s Quebec and Atlantic Studio)
Short documentary (29 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/honour-to-senator-murray-sinclair
As the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Senator Murray Sinclair was a key figure in raising global awareness of the atrocities of Canada’s residential school system. In her film, the great Alanis Obomsawin shares the powerful speech the Senator gave when he accepted the WFM-Canada World Peace Award, interspersing the heartbreaking testimonies of former students imprisoned at residential schools. The documentary was one of Canada’s Top Ten short films for 2021, as chosen by the Toronto International Film Festival.
ONF à la Maison (NFB at les Maisons)
Running throughout the fall, the ONF à la Maison (NFB at les Maisons) program at Montreal’s Maisons de la culture will include 25 free public screenings in French, 17 of which will be followed by question-and-answer sessions with a guest. The lineup includes the new feature-length documentaries Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows by Mathieu Fournier and Unspoken Tears by Hélène Magny. There’s plenty for children to enjoy as well, with three programs put together especially for them. Details here: montreal.ca/en/articles/nfb-les-maisons-free-documentary-screenings-19652
Digital experience
Starting October 4 at the Montreal Botanical Garden
Second souffle is a digital work of contemporary art intrinsically linked to an area of phytoremediation research. Born of an inspiring encounter between art and science, it charts the regeneration of a plot of land at the Montreal Botanical Garden in real time. A light and sound installation turns abstract data captured by sensors into tangible content. This project is a co-production of Space for Life and the NFB, created by artists Alexandre Burton and Mélanie Crespin along with research botanist Joan Laur.
Media School
Media School is an online program that teaches students the fundamental and technical skills of digital storytelling—and it’s available through the NFB’s education portal, CAMPUS, just in time for the new school year. Collaboratively developed by teachers from across the country, media education experts, filmmaker Paul Tom, and the NFB Education team, Media School shows students between the ages of 13 and 18 how to use photos, narration and music to create engaging short digital stories.
Learn more about the NFB’s filmmakers and its collection:
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French version here | Version française ici.