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NFB’s GGPAA collection now 98 films. Seven new National Film Board of Canada shorts celebrate Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards laureates.

PRESS RELEASE
27/02/2020

February 27, 2020 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

For the 12th consecutive year, the National Film Board of Canada is bringing together acclaimed filmmakers to create short cinematic tributes to Canadian performing arts legends, as the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) gets set to honour laureates at its 28th annual Awards Gala, taking place Saturday, April 25, 2020, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

“Since 2008, we’ve been thrilled to partner with the GGPAA to honour excellence in Canadian performing arts, creating film portraits that capture the talent and dedication of our laureates, in an inspired artistic collaboration. These films stand on their own as cinematic works and are a wonderful way to celebrate great Canadian stories and achievements, both at the gala and online at NFB.ca,” said Claude Joli-Coeur, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.

The NFB is producing seven new films, bringing its GGPAA film collection to a total of 98 titles. All completed GGPAA films can be streamed free of charge at: nfb.ca/channels/governor_generals_awards.

Unique film portraits of Canadian performing arts excellence

Lifetime Artistic Achievement:

  • Film, television and stage actor and activist Tantoo Cardinal, C.M., takes centre stage in a portrait by Darlene Naponse, an Anishinaabe writer and filmmaker from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario—whose latest feature, Falls Around Her, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
  • Composer Alexina Louie, O.C., is the subject of a film by Josephine Anderson, an award-winning Vancouver director who’s an alumna of the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Canadian Film Centre, where she was a resident at the NFB/CFC Creative Doc Lab.
  • Actor and writer Catherine O’Hara, O.C., is celebrated in a work by Helen Lee, a Seoul-born, Toronto-based writer/director whose films have premiered at TIFF and screened at other prestigious festivals, including Busan and Oberhausen.
  • The multi-faceted career of choreographer, dancer, instructor, philosopher and writer Zab Maboungou is explored by Montrealer Carmine Pierre-Dufour, who wrote and co-directed the short film Mahalia Melts in the Rain, nominated for a Canadian Screen Award.
  • Singer–songwriter and guitarist Florent Vollant is honoured in a work by Nicolas Renaud, a veteran filmmaker, editor and video installation artist from the Huron-Wendat First Nation of Wendake, whose credits include the Hot Docs award-winning Brave New River.

National Arts Centre Award:

  • Actor, producer, screenwriter, entrepreneur and activist Ryan Reynolds is the focus of a short film by Haida director Christopher Auchter, whose most recent film Now Is the Time was selected to screen at TIFF and Sundance, and recently premiered online in The New York Times’ Op-Docs series.

Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts:

  • A dedicated and tireless supporter of Canadian performing arts, Lynda Hamilton is featured in a portrait by writer, designer, scenographer, and theatre and film director Claude Guilmain, whose stage credits include the multi-award-winning trilogy AmericanDream.ca.

These NFB cinematic tributes are produced by the Ontario Studio, the British Columbia & Yukon Studio, the North West Studio, the Documentary Studio, the Canadian Francophonie Studio, and the English and French-language Digital Studios.

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Associated Links

Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards
National Arts Centre
NFB GGPAA channel

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  • About the NFB

    For more than 80 years, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has produced, distributed and preserved those stories, which now form a vast audiovisual collection—an important part of our cultural heritage that represents all Canadians.

    To tell these stories, the NFB works with filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds, from across the country. It harnesses their creativity to produce relevant and groundbreaking content for curious, engaged and diverse audiences. The NFB also collaborates with industry experts to foster innovation in every aspect of storytelling, from formats to distribution models.

    Every year, another 50 or so powerful new animated and documentary films are added to the NFB’s extensive collection of more than 14,000 titles, half of which are available to watch for free on nfb.ca.

    Through its mandate, its stature and its productions, the NFB contributes to Canada’s cultural identity and is helping to build the Canada of tomorrow.