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Ghosts of the Sea

Les enfants du large
Virginia Tangvald
2024 | 97 min
Documentary
English, French with English subtitles

Awards and Festivals

  • TV5 Audience Award for Best French-language film - Feature filmsFestival du nouveau cinéma - FNC, Montreal, Canada (2024)

  • Official SelectionHot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto, Canada (2025)

  • Official SelectionVictoria Film Festival, Canada (2025)

  • Official SelectionFestival cinéma du monde de Sherbrooke, Canada (2025)

  • Official SelectionFestival du film de l’Outaouais, Canada (2025)

  • Official SelectionFestival Vues sur mer, Canada (2025)

  • Official SelectionDocLands Documentary Film Festival, U.S.A (2025)


Long Synopsis


One-Liner and Two-Liner synopses


Interview with Virginia Tangvald


Biographies of Thomas Tangvald and Peter Tangvald

Trailer


Excerpts

Excerpt 1 - Questions of freedom


Excerpt 2 -Haunted by ghosts


Excerpt 3 - Uncovering a family's dark secrets



Poster

Images

















Team


Virginia Tangvald
Filmmaker


Photo
Photo : Justine Latour




Isabelle Couture
Producer, micro_scope


Photo
Photo : Julie Artacho




Élaine Hébert
Producer, micro_scope


Photo
Photo : Danny Taillon




Nathalie Cloutier
Producer, NFB


Photo
Photo : Valérie Sangin




Frédéric Corvez
President and Founder, Urban Factory


Photo




Maéva Savinien
Producer, Urban Factory


Photo




Luc Déry
Executive Producer, micro_scope


Photo
Photo : Caroline Hayeur




Kim McCraw
Executive Producer, micro_scope


Photo
Photo : Caroline Hayeur



Credits

RESERVOIR DOCS and the NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA present
a Canada-France co-production produced by
MICRO_SCOPE with the NFB and URBAN FACTORY

GHOSTS OF THE  SEA

A film by
VIRGINIA TANGVALD

Editing
ELRIC ROBICHON

With the collaboration of
MARIE-PIER DUPUIS

Cinematography
GLAUCO BERMUDEZ
ETIENNE ROUSSY

Sound Recording
CAMILLE LIMOUSIN

Sound Design and Mix
PHILIPPE GRIVEL

Original Score
RÉMI BOUBAL

Produced by
ISABELLE COUTURE
ÉLAINE HÉBERT and
NATHALIE CLOUTIER (NFB)

Co-produced by
FRÉDÉRIC CORVEZ
MAÉVA SAVINIEN

Executive Producers
LUC DÉRY
KIM McCRAW

Written and Directed by
VIRGINIA TANGVALD

 

 

 

 

 

This film is a Canada-France co-production produced with the financial participation of Eurimages, SODEC, Quebec Tax Credit, Telefilm Canada, Rogers Documentary Fund, MELS Fund, Canada Tax Credit, CNC, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund, CALQ and SACEM, in collaboration with VRAI. The film also received support from the Gotham Film & Media Institute and the Best Pitch Award at the FNC Forum 2020.

 

 



Media Relations

  • Nadine Viau
    NFB Publicist – Montreal
    C.: 514-458-9745
    n.viau@nfb.ca

Sales and Distribution

  • 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.

  • About micro_scope

    micro_scope is one of the most important film production companies in Canada.

    Founded in 2002, the company mainly focuses on the development and production of innovative and accessible feature films. Led by producers Luc Déry and Kim McCraw, micro_scope strives to make sure each of the company’s films reaches its full potential. micro_scope has produced over 15 features that have distinguished themselves in many international festivals, notably in Cannes, Venise, Berlin, Locarno, Sundance and Toronto. Among those, Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) and Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau) have been nominated for an Academy Award as Best International Film.

    Other highlights include Shepherds (Bergers) by Sophie Deraspe, Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres) by Ivan Grbovic, Endorphine by André Turpin, My Salinger Year, My Internship in Canada (Guibord s’en-va-t-en guerre), It’s not me, I swear (C’est pas moi, je le jure) and Congorama by Philippe Falardeau, Viking, Tu dors Nicole (You’re sleeping Nicole), En terrains connus (Familiar Grounds) and Continental, a film without guns (Continental, un film sans fusil) by Stéphane Lafleur, Enemy by Denis Villeneuve, Gabrielle and Familia by Louise Archambault, Inch’Allah by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, Whitewash by Emanuel Hoss-Demarais, Allure by brothers Carlos and Jason Sanchez, and For Those Who Don’t Read Me (À tous ceux qui ne me lisent pas) by Yan Giroux.

    micro_scope has also produced the documentary feature All That We Make (Fermières) directed by Annie St-Pierre as well as the short films Go Play Outside (Va jouer dehors) directed by Adib Alkhalidey, The Swimming Lesson (Le cours de natation) directed by visual artist Olivia Boudreau, La ronde directed by Sophie Goyette, Life Begins (La vie commence) et The Refuge (Les réfugiés) directed by Émile Proulx-Cloutier.

  • About Urban Factory

    Established in 2011, Urban Factory produces films by talented directors from around the world, without constraints of genre or budget.

    Among our recent releases:

    The Shameless by Konstantin Bojanov, a co-production between France, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Taiwan, and India, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard, UCR Award for Best Actress for Anasuya Sengupta).

    If Only I Could Hibernate by Zoljargal Purevdash, a co-production between France and Mongolia, had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard).

    Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa, a co-production between Japan, France, and the Philippines, had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard, Caméra d’Or Special Mention).

    Our catalog also includes Good Manners by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra (2017), a Brazilian genre film, Une part d’ombre by Belgian director Samuel Tilman (2018), Mobile-Home by François Pirot (2012), Incident Light by Ariel Rotter (2015), El Mundo by Daniel & Diego Vega (2013), Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica by Marcelo Gomes (2012), Invisible by Pablo Giorgelli (2017), as well as the documentaries Il nous reste la colère by Jamila Jendari and Nicolas Beirnaert (2022), and Francesca i l’amor by Alba Sotorra…

    We have just completed production of the documentary Ghosts of the Sea by Virginia Tangvald, co-produced with micro_scope and the National Film Board of Canada, as well as Sima’s Song by Roya Sadat. We currently have three feature films in development: My Traitor by Santiago Amigorena, co-written with Marion Quantin, an adaptation of the novels “My Traitor” and “Return to Killybegs” by Sorj Chalandon, Let Us Not Be Strangers by Julien Trauman, co-written with Sebastian Echegorri, and the partially animated documentary Dream of Grape Gardens by Sahra Mani.