NFB at the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie 2017. NFB brings Canada’s francophone and francophile communities together around 224 free screenings in 63 cities, with an additional film offer available online

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) will be joining the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie (RVF) festivities for the 12th consecutive year, from March 2 to 22, 2017. This is the 19th edition of the ambitious RVF tour, which supports the key NFB objective of making its works as accessible to the public as possible. The RVF will travel to the country’s 10 provinces and three territories, bringing French-speaking and francophile communities together around three NFB film programs designed for audiences of all ages.

UNIQUELY VIOLA AVAILABLE FREE AT NFB.CA AS OF THURSDAY, MARCH 2. Rodolphe Caron’s feature doc celebrates long career of acclaimed actor who embodied “La Sagouine”.

Rodolphe Caron’s feature documentary Uniquely Viola will be available for free streaming at NFB.ca starting Thursday, March 2, the day after its Quebec premiere at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois festival (RVCQ). This intimate portrait of actor Viola Léger, renowned for her performances as “La Sagouine,” will also be available to purchase via download-to-own on the same date. Uniquely Viola was produced at the NFB by Jac Gautreau and Maryse Chapdelaine of the Canadian Francophonie Studio-Acadie, with Dominic Desjardins as executive producer, and with the collaboration of Radio-Canada.

NFB.ca streams Theodore Ushev’s Oscar-nominated animated short Blind Vaysha free of charge, from Feb. 19 to Oscar night, Feb. 26. Will this Canadian short take home Oscar gold? Watch it and decide for yourself!

As the Academy Awards approach, Canadians will be able to watch Theodore Ushev’s Oscar-nominated National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short Blind Vaysha free of charge at NFB.ca―starting February 19 right up to the Academy Awards on February 26―and then tune in to see if Canada takes home the Oscar.

Steve Patry’s NFB doc Waseskun screening in Sherbrooke on February 23 More screenings to come in other regions of Quebec

Steve Patry’s new feature-length documentary Waseskun, produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), will screen at the OFF Festival cinéma du monde de Sherbrooke on Thursday, February 23. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. at Salle le Tremplin with the director in attendance. Shot in an alternative detention centre run by Indigenous people for members of Indigenous communities, the film has just received two Canadian Screen Award nominations: the Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary award and Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary (for editor Nathalie Lamoureux). Waseskun is produced by Nathalie Cloutier and Denis McCready with executive producer Colette Loumède.

NFB offers a special playlist of films for free family viewing during Spring Break (February 27 to March 31, 2017).

Spring Break can seem to last forever—especially if the kids are bored. But no need to panic: the NFB is there to lend a helping hand with nfb.ca/springbreak, a playlist of 40 films specially chosen for fun family viewing, available for free streaming from February 27 to March 31. The playlist includes three films that will be exclusively available for this limited time in Canada and the US, free of charge. These three recent animated shorts are Me and My Moulton, by Torill Kove (Mikrofilm AS/NFB), nominated for an Oscar in 2015; Molly in the Springtime, by Pierre-Luc Granjon (Divertissement Subséquence/Piwi+/Folimage/NFB); and Big Mouth, by Andrea Dorfman (NFB).

NFB at the 2017 Festival international du film pour enfants de Montréal (FIFEM). Two animated shorts about first love: Nadine by Patrick Péris and J’aime les filles (I Like Girls) by Diane Obomsawin.

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is back at the Festival international du film pour enfants de Montréal (FIFEM) with two animated shorts in competition: Patrick Péris’s Nadine, in its world premiere, and Diane Obomsawin’s J’aime les filles (I Like Girls), which returns to Montreal after winning two major awards since its world premiere at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and being nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. J’aime les filles will also be shown in a program of short films for kids aged 10 and up, followed by a discussion with the director. Both films offer humourous and whimsical explorations of first love. The 20th FIFEM will take place from March 4 to 12, 2017, during spring break. [Note that all films will screen in French.]

Strong NFB lineup of 12 films at 2017 Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois includes 9 titles in competition, an Oscar-nominated short, a world premiere and a Quebec premiere

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) returns to the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois (RVCQ) with 12 films, nine of which will be in competition. They include the animated short Vaysha l’aveugle (Blind Vaysha) by Theodore Ushev, nominated for an Oscar this year; the world premiere of the documentary short La dernière clé (The Last Key) by Julien Capraro, produced as part of the Tremplin competition by the NFB in collaboration with ICI Radio-Canada Télé; and the Quebec premiere of Simplement Viola (Uniquely Viola) by Rodolphe Caron. The NFB is also participating in the RVCQ’s Rendez-vous Pro event with the interactive documentary Streamers by Guillaume Braun, due for release in the coming months. The 35th RVCQ will take place from February 22 to March 4, 2017.

National Film Board of Canada closes first TV licence deal with Cuban state broadcaster for Havana International Book Fair

Nine Canadian films will soon be broadcast on Cuban state television. This is the first television licence between the National Film Board of Canada and a Cuban broadcaster. The nine NFB films—a selection of documentaries, animated shorts, and one drama—will be broadcast in Spanish-language versions. Negotiations were carried out in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada.

kimura byol-nathalie lemoine selected for the Regard sur Montréal residency by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, SODEC, NFB and Les Films de l’Autre

The South Korean-born filmmaker kimura byol-nathalie lemoine has been chosen for the 2017 Regard sur Montréal residency, enabling her to work on the writing, directing, post-production and distribution of her short film Projet Montréal #6261. Valued at $65,000, this residency is offered jointly by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, SODEC and NFB, in collaboration with Les Films de l’Autre.