The names of nine finalists were announced today for the 10th Concours Tremplin, a competition launched by the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with Radio-Canada, aimed at emerging filmmakers from Canadian francophone minority communities outside of Quebec. With women accounting for the lion’s share this year, the finalists are Emmanuelle Chapados (Memramcook, New Brunswick), Nathalie Hébert (Scoudouc, New Brunswick), Sylvio Belliveau (Memramcook, New Brunswick), Josiane Blanc (Toronto, Ontario), Sophie Houle-Drapeau (Sudbury, Ontario), Ania Jamila (Ridgeway, Ontario), Nassima Way (Calgary, Alberta), Yoann Priolet (Delta, British Columbia) and Camille Vernet (New Westminster, British Columbia). Submissions came in from francophone communities outside of Quebec across the country. Finalists will attend workshops on March 19 and 20, then submit their projects to a jury for final deliberation in May, with the winning works to be broadcast on ICI RADIO-CANADA TÉLÉ. Radio-Canada has partnered with the NFB on Tremplin since 2007.
For the 10th consecutive year, the National Film Board of Canada is bringing together acclaimed Canadian 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 26th annual Awards Gala, taking place June 2, 2018, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
Adopting a concrete strategy for increasing the number of women creators in Canada’s audiovisual industry, the National Film Board of Canada has announced that it will make its Talent Bank for female professionals accessible to Réalisatrices Équitables (RÉ), Femmes du cinéma, de la télévision et des médias numériques (FCTMN) and Film Fatales. Talks aimed at reaching a similar agreement are also underway with the Vancouver, Alberta, Toronto and Atlantic chapters of Women in Film and Television. These partnerships will increase the impact of the database, bringing its profiles to the greatest number of industry players.
The NFB has all but achieved its parity objectives for the number of productions directed by women (which stood at 47% in 2017–2018), the portion of the production budget allocated to women (46%), and the key creative position of screenwriter (47%), while progress has been made for the position of editor. However, work remains to be done in positions related to cinematography and music composition, where the ratio of men to women is still unequal. The talent is out there: it’s just a question of finding it.
The National Film Board of Canada is pulling out all the stops to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie (RVF), taking place March 1 to 21, 2018. Participating in RVF festivities for the 13th consecutive year, the NFB will be offering an extensive film tour that features a lineup of 24 documentaries and animated works; a wide selection of thematic content that’s more varied than ever, with programs on women artists, love in all its forms, and the strong bond between children and their grandparents; as well as an entertaining group activity. In all, nearly 280 NFB screenings are scheduled in 69 cities throughout Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories—a 24 percent increase over last year.
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is back at the Festival REGARD with eight shorts—a rich selection of acclaimed films that have screened at major festivals around the world.
The Vancouver International Women in Film Festival (VIWFF) is featuring a special presentation of Tidal Traces—a new NFB virtual reality work by new-media artist Nancy Lee, choreographer Emmalena Fredriksson and the NFB’s Digital Studio in Vancouver—along with Torill Kove’s acclaimed Mikrofilm AS/NFB animated short Threads.
he National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and APTN announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will pool the organizations’ efforts and expertise in implementing protocols, programs, training and other initiatives aimed at strengthening relations with Indigenous Peoples and creators. The MOU will have a lasting and positive impact on the Canadian production and distribution landscape and ensure these initiatives are more rapidly implemented. The agreement is the result of actions recently taken by each organization, particularly a three-year plan released by the NFB last June, entitled Redefining the NFB’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples (2017–2020), and the implementation of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Beginning February 14, Valentine’s Day, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is bringing out the love with the award-winning film I Like Girls streaming free of charge on NFB.ca, Facebook and YouTube.
Written and directed by Montreal cartoonist and animator Diane Obomsawin, a.k.a. Obom, based on her graphic novel of the same name, the film uses endearing anthropomorphic figures to tell real-life stories of first love.
Two National Film Board of Canada (NFB) productions have been selected to screen at this year’s TIFF Kids International Film Festival (March 9–18, 2018): Christina Willings’ innovative short documentary Beauty, making its world premiere, and Christopher Auchter’s award-winning animated short The Mountain of SGaana.
At the 2018 Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma (RVQC), Montreal audiences will have the chance to catch acclaimed NFB films that have screened in festivals across Quebec, Canada and the world. A total of 12 NFB films, plus a 360-degree documentary short, will be screening at this year’s event, which runs from February 21 to March 3. Making its world premiere, Patrick Bouchard’s animated short Le sujet (NFB) will open the festival alongside Bernard Émond’s fiction feature, Pour vivre ici. Samara Grace Chadwick’s feature-length documentary 1999 (Parabola Films/Beauvoir Films/NFB) will have its Quebec premiere.
On Wednesday, February 7, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is launching a new four-part series entitled Les cinéastes racontent in collaboration with the Cinémathèque québécoise. The series will offer audiences a unique look at the creative processes of acclaimed filmmakers who’ve worked with the NFB’s French Program Documentary Studio. This talented group of non-fiction storytellers will be sharing their perspectives with members of the public and discussing their key works. The series is the brainchild of NFB executive producer Colette Loumède, who will also host. Loumède has produced more than 50 documentaries, several of which have had a significant impact on the world of documentary film in Canada. The first installment of Les cinéastes racontent, on February 7, features director Céline Baril (24 Davids). Subsequent guests are Luc Bourdon (The Devil’s Share) on March 7 and Jean-François Caissy (First Stripes) and Pascale Ferland (Pauline Julien, intime et politique) in fall 2018. All talks take place in French at the Cinémathèque québécoise.
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) is partnering with several important Canadian institutions – the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the Indigenous Matters Committee of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) – to launch a series of dialogues about reconciliation. The dialogues will take place in public libraries across Canada over an initial three-year period (2018-2021). More than 30 libraries have already expressed interest in taking part. The idea of creating this series came from discussions held with members of Indigenous communities and other partners directly involved in formulating the Calls to Action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Finding that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are still all too often strangers to each other, CCUNESCO has decided to take action by creating safe spaces for the two communities to meet, interact and dialogue with each other.
Key audiovisual industry organizations announced today the appointment of Jesse Wente as Director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, a role he will assume starting January 22, 2018. Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office is an initiative first announced by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, at the Banff World Media Festival this past June.
Canadian excellence in animation and documentary awaits audiences at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival (February 15 to 25, 2018), with four new works from the National Film Board of Canada.