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In October, nfb.ca celebrates Latin American Heritage Month and animated films with a wealth of new streaming offerings

PRESS RELEASE
27/09/2023

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

Even more films will be available for free viewing on nfb.ca this October, highlighting the rich and diverse catalogue of works from the NFB’s studios across the country.

The newly available titles will shine a spotlight on Latin American heritage in different communities with a themed channel. October will also see the online launch of the animated short Zeb’s Spider, by Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis, and the documentary feature Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections, by Borislav Kolev, focusing on this world-renowned animator.

The NFB will also be saluting Halloween with the streaming launch of Georges Hannan’s documentary Undertaker for Life!—which recently won a Gémeaux award, the first one for a film from Acadie in the Best Documentary Program or Series: Society category—as well as a themed channel.

In all, nfb.ca now features more than 6,000 online films and a collection of more than 100 interactive works.

To celebrate Latin American Heritage Month

Latinx-Canadian Cinema Channel: nfb.ca/channels/77-years-of-latinx-canadian-cinema

Discover the different phases of NFB films made in Latin America or by Latin Americans, from the mid-1940s until today. Don’t miss Steel Blues (1976) by Jorge Fajardo, Five Centuries Later… (1991) by Germán Gutiérrez, Chile, Obstinate Memory (1997) by Patricio Guzmán and Alambic – Modern Alchemy (2022) by Bren López Zepeda.

Starting October 13

Zeb’s Spider by Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis (2022, BC & Yukon Studio)
Animated short (10 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/zebs-spider

An eight-legged force of fate spins a complex web of darkness and humour in this stop-motion short. The film was selected to screen at many festivals in Canada and the United States. It received the Special Jury Award for Miniature Design at the Los Angeles Animation Festival and the Most Inspirational Short Film Youth Jury Award at the Reel 2 Real Festival.

Starting October 28, to celebrate International Animation Day

  • Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections by Borislav Kolev (2022, Projector Ltd. [Bulgaria] / NFB’s French Program Animation Studio)
    Documentary feature (78 min)
    Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/theodore-ushev-unseen-connections

    Theodore Ushev is the auteur behind a number of renowned animated shorts, including the Oscar-nominated Blind Vaysha and The Physics of Sorrow, winner of the prestigious Cristal Award. In this documentary, Ushev reveals his inner universe, formed by a half-century of personal experience acquired in a constantly changing world. The film was selected to screen at many festivals in Canada and Europe and won the Best Bulgarian Documentary Award at the Master of Art Film Festival.

  • Theodore Ushev director page
    nfb.ca/directors/theodore-ushev

    Named the world’s most influential animator of the last 25 years by a group of leading animation critics, journalists, curators and festival directors, Theodore Ushev is a prolific, groundbreaking and Oscar-nominated director whose films have won more than 200 awards, including the Annecy Cristal. Ushev was born in Bulgaria and since 1999 has lived in Montreal, where he’s directed 15 films at the NFB, 11 of which are available on this page.

Starting October 31

  • Undertaker for Life! by Georges Hannan (2022, NFB’s Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary Studio in Moncton)
    Documentary feature (52 min)
    Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/undertaker-for-life

    Undertakers are anything but gloomy; they’re funny, generous and dedicated. We would gladly go on vacation with them, but sadly, they never have any dead time. This film won the Léonard-Forest Prize for Best Acadian Feature-Length Work at the 2022 Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA) as well as a Gémeaux award.

  • Halloween channel
    nfb.ca/channels/halloween-movies

    Fill a bowl with candy and turn out the lights: this chilling channel features 27 animated films that will have you quaking in fright! On second thought, with spooky selections like Bone Mother by Sylvie Trouvé and Dayle Hayward and Skin for Skin by Carol Beecher and Kevin D.A. Kurytnik, maybe you’ll want to leave those lights on…

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

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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.