Five Feminist Minutes

2019

In 1990, the NFB made waves with Five Feminist Minutes, a series of short films produced by the trailblazing Studio D, the world’s first all-woman production unit. As the NFB celebrates its 80th anniversary, four contemporary directors pick up the thread.

Camera Test

Length: 5 min

What gets lost when female voices are stymied during the creative process? Pairing intimate interviews with absurdist re-enactments, Joyce Wong crafts a tartly subversive look at patriarchy and racism in the film industry.

CREDITS

Written and Directed by
Joyce Wong

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Actresses
Amy Matysio
Gail Maurice
Rakhee Morzaria

Director of Photography
Maya Bankovic csc

Editor
Avril Jacobson

Music by
Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk

Production Designer
Helen Kotsonis

Costume Designer
Vanessa Fischer

Interview Subjects
Aurora Browne
Lucy Decoutere
Nyla Innuksuk
Vivian Lin
Carolyn Taylor

Additional Voices
Anita Bradizza
Rebecca Davey
Maggie Dort
Alixandra Holtby
Veronika Holubova Sinoeun Kim
Marie-Claire Marcotte
Andrew Martin-Smith
Samantha Pereira da Silva

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Production Manager
Andrew Martin-Smith

First Assistant Director
Rony Valencia

Researcher
Shayla Howell

Script Supervisor
Jenny McLauchlin

Sound Recordist
Trisha Harris

Art Director
Ashley Devereux

Hair and Makeup Artist
Misty Fox

Production Coordinator
Laura Bergeron

Gaffer
Cheska Appave

First Assistant Camera / Second Camera Operator
Gabriela Osio Vanden

Grip / Digital Media Technician
Cassie Shiell

Wardrobe Assistant
Sarah Friedlander

On Set Wardrobe
Loretta Vivianca Diaz-Lada

Still Photographer
Robin Cymbaly

Executive Director, English Program
Michelle van Beusekom

Manager: Studio Operations
Mark Wilson

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Marketing Manager
Lydia Côté

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Sound Editors
Mimi Scowen
Patience Bradford

Re-Recording Mixer
Grant Edmonds

Post-Production Services provided by
SIM Video International

Colour Assistant
Sofya Lifanova

Colourist
Marc Bachli

Finishing Producer for Sim Post
Cailyn Webster

Thanks to

Shane Smith

Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Lindsay Allikas
Maya Gallus
Sonia Hong
Aylwin Lo
Stephanie Ntoukas

Premiered at Hot Docs 2019 on the occasion of the NFB’s 80th anniversary.

NFB.ca

Camera Test was inspired by the following short from 1990 Edition:

The Untilled Story

In a mischievous feminist riff on vintage NFB instructional films, Quinn and Leeming tip their hat to Busby Berkeley, enlisting a kaleidoscope of petals in their resistance against the patriarchy.

Directors: Cathy Quinn and Frances Leeming

Lake

Length: 5 min

Cree director Alexandra Lazarowich riffs off classic verité cinema to craft a contemporary portrait of Métis women net fishing in Northern Alberta.

CREDITS

Written and Directed by
Alexandra Lazarowich

With the participation of
Maureen Caudron-Bell
Jamie Linington
Kevin Bell
Keith Calahasen
Louis BellRose

Filmed on location in Joussard, Alberta

Director of photography
Lindsay McIntyre

Editing
Asia Youngman

Location sound recording
Charlene Moore
Camera Assistant
Jade Baxter

Sound design
Johnny Blerot

Colour Correction
Brittany Nguyen

Colourist Mentorship and Service Provided by:
Zachary Cox
Victory Social Club

Technical coordination
Luc Binette

Titles
Jason Ludwig
Online editing
Jason Ludwig

Recording & re-recording
Johnny Blerot

Additional technical services
Hans Olson

Transcription
Lori Heath

Thanks
Shane Smith
Wes Miron
Larry Kelly
Conor McNally
Chase Gardener
The Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta

Executive Director, English Program
Michelle van Beusekom

Legal counsel
Christian Pitchen

Studio operations manager
Darin Clausen

Studio administrator
Devon Supeene

Production coordinator
Faye Yoneda

Production supervisor
Esther Viragh

Marketing manager
Lydia Côté

Associate producer
Coty Savard

Executive producer
David Christensen

Premiered at Hot Docs 2019 on occasion of the NFB’s 80th anniversary

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada
© 2019

Lake was inspired by the following short from 1990 Edition:

Minqon Minqon: Wosqotomn Elsonwagon (Shirley Bear: Reclaiming the Balance of Power)

Decades before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Shirley Bear was defying repressive colonial narratives with inspiring imagery of Indigenous womanhood. Catherine Martin profiles the Wolastoqiyik/Malecite artist known as Minqon Minqon (Rainbow Rainbow).

Director: Catherine Martin

Question Period

Length: 5 min

A group of Syrian women, refugees recently resettled in Canada, are negotiating life in their new home. They have some questions. Directed by Anne Marie Fleming, one of the original FFM filmmakers.

CREDITS

Thank you for your voices
NEHAL ABAZIED
MZGEEN ABDO
MANAR ALSAID AHMED
RASSELL LABASH
IBTISAM SALEH
NISREEN SHEIKHO
KHAWLA WAKAA

Written and Directed by
Ann Marie Fleming

Producer
Shirley Vercruysse

Featuring
Manar Alsaid Ahmed

Line Producer
Jennifer Roworth

Director of Photography
Lindsay George

Editor
Jessica Dymond

Sound Designer
Eva Madden

Colourist
Alissa Roode

Re-Recording Mixer
May Guimaraes

Production Coordinator
Kristyn Stilling

Technical Coordinator
Wes Machnikowski

Studio Administrator
Carla Jones

Executive Producer
Shirley Vercruysse

Executive Director, English Program
Michelle van Beusekom

Question Period was inspired by the following short from 1990 Edition:

New Shoes: An Interview in Exactly Five Minutes

Combining astonishing narrative shorthand with heightened visual poetics, Fleming traces the trajectory of a love affair gone bad. The romantic ballad “My Old Flame” has rarely sounded so unsettling.

Director: Ann Marie Fleming

Selections and Awards

Official SelectionSt. John's International Women's Film Festival, St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador (2019)

Radical

Length: 5 min

Deanne Foley profiles fellow Newfoundlander Mary Walsh, the Great Warrior Queen of Canadian comedy, musing on time wasted as an object of desire and time well spent as the fearless agent of her own destiny. A joyous call to action.

CREDITS

WRITTEN BY
Mary Walsh

DIRECTED BY
Deanne Foley

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Sylvaine Dufaux

EDITOR
Justin Simms

SOUND DESIGN and ORIGINAL MUSIC
Lori Clarke

PRODUCED BY
Annette Clarke

Radical was inspired by the following short from 1990 Edition:

Come into My Parlour

Joyously reclaiming “spinsterhood” from its sexist implications, the filmmaker recalls the undauntable great aunt who provided her first driving lesson. Female agency grabs the wheel in a beautifully constructed animated homage.

Director: Mary Lewis

Media Relations

Jennifer Mair
NFB Publicist – Toronto
C.: 416-436-0105
j.mair@nfb.ca | @NFB_Jennifer

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.