1. Media Space

  2. Press Releases

White Noise (Le fond de l’air) by Simon Beaulieu (NFB) opens in Montreal cinemas on March 19.

PRESS RELEASE
12/03/2020

March 12, 2020 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Simon Beaulieu’s feature-length documentary film White Noise (Le fond de l’air), produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), comes to the big screen in Montreal at Cinéma Moderne (March 19 and 29 with English subtitles) and the Cinémathèque québécoise (April 1 and 9 in its original French version). The director will be present at the screenings. In these times of climate change and eco-anxiety, his film couldn’t be more topical, delivering a visceral experience about everyday apathy and social inertia. It is a reflection on the fate of humanity in the Anthropocene epoch.

White Noise made its world premiere at the 2019 Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), where it played to a packed house. The film was also presented at this year’s Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma (RVCQ) and is due to screen in Gatineau and Rimouski later in April.

About the film

White Noise by Simon Beaulieu (77 min)
Produced at the NFB by Nathalie Cloutier

White Noise is a hard-hitting auteur work that plunges viewers into a direct physical encounter with the information overload of daily life. A hybrid of documentary, experimental film and fiction, this disturbing roller coaster of a movie transforms the imminent collapse of our civilization into a visceral aesthetic experience.

Screenings starting March 19

  • Montreal:
    March 19 and 29, Cinéma Moderne (original French version with English subtitles)
    April 1 and 9, Cinémathèque québécoise (original French version)
  • Gatineau:
    April 15, La Galerie UQO (Université du Québec en Outaouais)
  • Rimouski:
    April 28, Cinéma Paraloeil

About the filmmaker

Simon Beaulieu has written and directed three feature-length documentaries exploring the issues of the artist’s engagement with society and the survival of Quebec culture: Lemoyne (2005), Godin (2011) and Miron: un homme revenu d’en dehors du monde (2014). The latter, an experimental documentary about Quebec poet Gaston Miron, has screened at many festivals, including Visions du réel in Switzerland, and, like Godin, has won many awards. Beaulieu co-wrote the 2019 award-winning feature drama La grande noirceur (The Great Darkened Days), directed by Maxime Giroux. White Noise is Beaulieu’s fourth feature film.

– 30 –

Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailer, synopses: White Noise

French press release here.

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.