February 27, 2023 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

New productions from various NFB studios will be streaming free of charge on nfb.ca in March! Join us as we celebrate Francophonie Month with Alexis Normand’s short doc French Enough, and International Women’s Day on March 8 with two thematic channels. And let’s not forget our Spring Break lineup of films for young audiences, including Francis Papillon’s new web series The Great List of Everything – 2, and the launch of Lynn Smith’s animated short What Rhymes with Toxic.

More than 5,500 titles are 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. There are also in-person screenings taking place in Montreal during The NFB March Movie Break event, as well as a screening of Phil Comeau’s L’Ordre secret (The Secret Order) and an installation that showcases several NFB classics at the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma (RVQC).

Starting March 1, to mark Francophonie Month

• French Enough by Alexis Normand (NFB North West Studio)
  Short documentary (18 min, Bilingual, English and French)
  Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/french-enoughAt her family’s summer cabin, singer-songwriter Alexis Normand weaves old home movies with current conversations to illuminate the struggle and triumph of reclaiming francophone Canadian identity on the Prairies. French Enough was selected to screen at Cinéfest Sudbury, at the Cinema on the Bayou Festival in Louisiana, at the RVQC and at the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie (RVF), taking place March 1 to 31 across Canada, where the filmmaker is one of the spokespersons this year.

• The Francophones across Canada Channel offers 59 films that celebrate the Francophonie from one end of the country to the other, and beyond our borders. The channel showcases the cultural richness and diversity of these communities.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, March 8

• Read the blog post by NFB English-language collection curator Camilo Martín-Flórez, “Women at the NFB: Firsts, Nominees and Oscar Winners.” This instalment of Curator’s Perspective offers a brief look at the history of women’s cinema at the National Film Board.
• Women in Film Channel: nfb.ca/channels/international_womens_day_site
  With the list of animated films and documentaries directed by women growing yearly, our new lineup includes the recent titles In Full Voice by Saïda Ouchaou-Ozarowski, Saturday Night by Rosana Matecki and Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics by Terril Calder.

• Studio D Channel: nfb.ca/channels/studio-d-films-women-women
  In 1974 the NFB established Studio D, the first publicly funded feminist film-production unit in the world. The next two decades were marked by enormous success for the studio, which earned three Academy Awards, for I’ll Find a Way by Beverly Shaffer (1977), If You Love This Planet by Terre Nash (1982) and Flamenco at 5:15 by Cynthia Scott (1983). We pay tribute to this visionary studio with this selection of 58 Studio D films produced by women.

Spring Break lineup

• Spring Break Channel: nfb.ca/channels/spring_breakWith new titles added every year, this channel is as popular as ever, featuring documentary and animated shorts that are equal parts entertaining and educational—true Spring Break classics. Recent additions include the animated shorts The Commute by Tarun Padmakumar, straight out of the Hothouse 13 program for emerging animators, and Arctic Song by Germaine Arnattaujuq (Arnaktauyok), Neil Christopher and Louise Flaherty. Among the perennial favourites, you’ll find the animated series Science Please!, Parts 1 and 2, with amusing takes on scientific discoveries and phenomena, and the animated short Blackberry Subway Jam by Robert Doucet, based on a story by Robert Munsch.

• Starting March 13 – Worldwide 

  The Great List of Everything – 2 by Francis Papillon (2022, La Pastèque / NFB French Program Animation Studio, in collaboration with Télé-Québec)
  Animated web series (13 episodes x 3 min 30 s)
  Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-great-list-of-everything-season-2Cathon and Iris are inseparable. One likes to show off her knowledge, the other enjoys sharing off-the-wall theories. The two friends’ quirky humour and wild, free-floating imaginations will make you want to learn more about the objects that surround us. Travel with them through history as they explain the origins of everything from the fishing rod to the refrigerator to the toothbrush. But don’t believe everything you hear!

Academy Awards night, March 12 

Oscars Channel: nfb.ca/channels/oscar-winners-and-nominees

Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis’s animated short The Flying Sailor is the 77th NFB production to receive an Academy Award nomination! As you wait to see whether the film will bring home the coveted statuette, check out our selection of Oscar winners and nominees.

Starting March 22, to mark World Water Day

What Rhymes with Toxic by Lynn Smith (2022, NFB English Program Animation & Interactive Studio)
Animated short (5 min)
Press kit : mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/what-rhymes-with-toxic

Chemical sludge is spilling into the lake. In her desperate hour, one turtle summons up the courage to leave her home and speak truth to power. Directed by veteran animation filmmaker Lynn Smith, this film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sommets du cinéma d’animation in Montreal and was selected to screen at several festivals in Canada and abroad.

In-person screenings in Montreal

• NFB March Movie Break offers family films at the NFB’s theatre on the afternoons of March 1 and 2 

  During the MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE festival, the NFB and the Festival international du film pour enfants de Montréal (FIFEM) have come together to present a program of films that will delight the whole family. During the break, viewers of all ages can enjoy a carefully curated selection of colourful and fun short films. See you at the NFB’s Alanis Obomsawin Theatre at Îlot Balmoral! Admission is free. No reservations required. Details: events.nfb.ca/events/fifem.

• During the RVQC

• • Screening of L’Ordre secret (The Secret Order) by Phil Comeau, Tuesday, February 28, at 8:30 p.m. – Quebec premiere
    Feature documentary (85 min, NFB Quebec, Canadian Francophonie & Acadian Documentary Studio)
    Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-secret-orderRenowned Acadian filmmaker Phil Comeau shines a spotlight on the Ordre de Jacques-Cartier, a powerful secret society that operated from 1926 to 1965, infiltrating every sector of Canadian society and forging the fate of French-language communities. The film has received three honours to date, including the audience choice award at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA). The doc also had a successful theatrical release in the Atlantic region and will be presented at the RVF throughout the month of March.

• • Until March 4, an on-site installation at the RVCQ will present clips from about a dozen NFB Quebec cinema classics, including Le chat dans le sac (The Cat in the Bag) by Gilles Groulx (1964), Geneviève by Michel Brault (1965) and La mémoire des anges (The Memories of Angels) by Luc Bourdon (2008).

Learn more about the NFB’s filmmakers and its collection:

• nfb.ca/blog/category/directors-notes

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French version here | Version française ici.