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.
The talents of three emerging Saskatchewan filmmakers are on display at free public screenings in February with the premieres of the short docs To Wake Up the Nakota Language (Nakón-wįcó’i’e oǧų́ǧa) by Louise BigEagle, Talking at Night by Eric Thiessen and Ride by Kristin Catherwood—all produced through Doc Lab Saskatchewan (#DocLabSK), a new initiative led by the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with Creative Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative.
The Enemy, a virtual reality installation by photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa will be presented by the NFB and Phi from February 10 to March 10. It is an unprecedented experience, available in English and French, that reveals the human side of war through the stories of six combatants fighting in three of the world's most complex wars: the gang wars in El Salvador, the civil war in Democratic Republic of Congo and the Israel-Palestine conflict. By meeting these combatants face-to-face through virtual reality, visitors find themselves in the journalist's seat and become invested in trying to bring the world's attention to these conflicts and the suffering they produce.
Juancito Jean has been named the Regard sur Montreal Filmmaker-in-Residence for 2018, which will allow him to devote the year to writing, directing and working on the post-production and distribution of his film Printemps Now.
On Friday, February 16, Luc Bourdon’s feature documentary The Devil’s Share (La part du diable) begins its theatrical run at four different venues: Cinéma Beaubien and Cinéma du Parc (with English subtitles at the latter) in Montreal, Cinéma Cartier in Quebec City, and La maison du cinéma in Sherbrooke. Produced at the NFB by Colette Loumède, the doc offers a fresh look at a pivotal period in recent Quebec history—1967 to 1980—using excerpts from NFB films made by some of Quebec’s greatest directors. The Devil’s Share is an intense and exhilarating experience, a moving blend of sound and images that inspires viewers to reflect. The documentary had its world premiere at the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) in Montreal, receiving a standing ovation from a packed theatre. It was named Best Feature- or- Medium-Length Documentary at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA) in Moncton.
Seven National Film Board of Canada films have been selected to screen at the Available Light Film Festival, taking place in Whitehorse from February 3–11. The festival will feature the Whitehorse premieres of two works from the NFB’s BC and Yukon Studio: Christopher Auchter’s animated short The Mountain of SGaana and Marie Clements’ feature documentary The Road Forward, as well as screenings of Alanis Obomsawin’s Incident at Restigouche, Charles Officer’s Unarmed Verses, Attiya Khan and Lawrence Jackman’s A Better Man (Intervention Productions/NFB), Matthew Rankin’s THE TESLA WORLD LIGHT, and Amanda Strong’s satirical PSA Naked Island: Hipster Headdress.
Director Jean-François Caissy returns to the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival for the third time with the feature documentary First Stripes (Premières armes), which will be having its world premiere in the festival’s Forum section. First Stripes follows his documentaries Journey’s End (2009) and Guidelines (2014), both of which screened at the Berlinale, while the latter film was also produced by the NFB. The earlier films dealt with old age and adolescence respectively, and his latest work provides a rare look at the beginning of adulthood—that period when individuals must begin to build their future and make important choices, including deciding on a career. The 68th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival runs from February 15 to 25, 2018.
On Friday, February 2, Céline Baril’s feature documentary 24 Davids begins its theatrical run at the Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal. Produced at the NFB by Colette Loumède, the film takes us across three continents on a quest driven by a simple yet original idea: to shine a spotlight on the inimitable Davids of this world. The 24 Davids in the film are of varying ages and professions, ranging from cosmologist to recycler; together, they construct a playful “ecosystem” of ideas that touches on every sphere of knowledge. A refreshingly freewheeling cinematic experience, 24 Davids had its world premiere last November as the opening night film at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), where it was warmly received by the audience. Some of the upcoming Cinémathèque screenings will be held with the director present.
Dominic Desjardins, Executive Producer at the NFB’s Canadian Francophonie Studio – Acadie in Moncton, today announced the appointment of Christine Aubé as the studio’s Interim Producer. She replaces Jac Gautreau, who has been serving as Executive Producer of the Ocean School interactive project (NFB/Dalhousie University) since December 1. Gautreau will be reprising his role as Producer in October 2018. Ms. Aubé will start in her new position on January 4, 2018.
Legendary First Nations filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and BC animator Hart Snider will be in attendance at the 2018 Victoria Film Festival (February 2–11, 2018), along with a selection of eight animated and documentary works from the National Film Board of Canada.