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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

    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.