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Lisa Jackson’s feature doc Wilfred Buck premieres in CPH:DOX’s prestigious DOX:Award competition

PRESS RELEASE
15/02/2024

February 15, 2024 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Acclaimed Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson’s Door Number 3 Productions/National Film Board of Canada (NFB) co-produced feature-length documentary Wilfred Buck will have its world premiere at the CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, which takes place March 13–24, 2024.

Wilfred Buck has been chosen for the international main competition, eligible for the prestigious DOX:Award.

Wilfred Buck (92 min 26 s)

  • Producers: Lisa Jackson, Lauren Grant and Alicia Smith (NFB)
  • Executive Producers: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, David Christensen (NFB)
  • Co-Executive Producers: Janice Dawe, Kathy Avrich-Johnson, Greg Boustead, Jessica Harrop
  • Editor: David Schmidt; Co-Editors: Eui Yong Zong, Matt Lyon
  • Drama DOP: Justin Black

Written and directed by Jackson, known for her groundbreaking cross-genre work, Wilfred Buck is a hybrid feature documentary that follows the extraordinary life story of the eponymous charismatic and irreverent Cree Elder, who overcame a harrowing history of displacement, racism and addiction by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge and ceremony.

Adapted from his freewheeling memoir I Have Lived Four Lives, a beat poet’s insider view of colonization that took Buck from the land to the streets to the stars, the film blends verité, archive and stylized re-enactments to reveal what it means to heal and reconnect with Indigenous knowledge that is as relevant today as ever.

Wilfred Buck, a Door Number 3 and National Film Board of Canada production, in association with Clique Pictures, is produced in association with Crave, the Canada Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, the Rogers Documentary Fund, Indigenous Screen Office, in association with Justfilms | Ford Foundation, APTN, and with the support of Sandbox Films and the Sundance Institute.

About the filmmaker

Lisa Jackson is an Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang) filmmaker whose work has garnered two Canadian Screen Awards, been nominated for a Webby and screened at top festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, London BFI and Hot Docs. Her 2018 NFB VR experience Biidaaban: First Light was viewed by more than 25,000 people, while her film Indictment won Best Doc at imagineNATIVE and is one of CBC’s most-watched documentaries. Jackson won the 2022 Chicken & Egg Award and the 2021 DOC Vanguard Award, and has an MFA from York University. She’s a member of the Indigenous Screen Office’s Membership Circle and an alumna of the CFC Directors Lab and the TIFF Talent Lab and Writers Studio.

About Door Number 3

Door Number 3 Productions is a Toronto-based company that makes innovative media content telling compelling and important stories. Established in 2020, the company is helmed by Lisa Jackson, an award-winning creator who works across and between genres. Door Number 3 is developing both fiction and non-fiction projects, and is known for out-of-the-box thinking and a commitment to making positive change, embracing collaboration to make work that is story-driven, accessible and visually striking, but never style over substance.

About the NFB

The NFB is Canada’s public producer and distributor of award-winning documentaries and auteur animation. Since 1968, the NFB has produced over 300 works by First Nations, Métis and Inuit filmmakers—an unparalleled collection that pushes past dominant narratives and provides Indigenous perspectives to Canadian and global audiences. The NFB is implementing an action plan with commitments that include devoting a minimum of 15 percent of overall production spending to Indigenous-led productions and making these works more accessible via Indigenous Cinema, a destination on NFB.ca.

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French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • 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.