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7 battements minute, Yuqi Kang (1 h 40 min) – espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/7battementsminute

Une mère à part, Laurie Townshend (89 min) – espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/une-mere-a-part

Seguridad, Tamara Segura (76 min) – espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/seguridad

Vivre et laisser vivre : la voix de Jackie Shane, Michael Mabbott et Lucah Rosenberg-Lee (99 min) – espacemedia.onf.ca/epk/jackie-shane

NFB and its co-producers are pleased to have six films, five feature-length documentaries and one short documentary, programmed at this year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, April 25 to May 5, 2024.

This stellar lineup showcases the NFB’s contributions to Canadian documentary this past year:

7 Beats Per Minute – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/7beatsperminute

A Mother Apart – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/a-mother-apart

Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen? – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/am-i-the-skinniest-person-youve-ever-seen

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/any-other-way-jackie-shane

Seguridad – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/seguridad

Wilfred Buck – mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/wilfred-buck

Complete press release here.

Screening Schedule.

Persister Program | World Premiere

2024 | 88 min 53 sec

How do you raise a child when your own mother abandoned you? In a remarkable story of healing and forgiveness, Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin, renowned for performances in Def Poetry Slam and hit solo shows like MotherStruck!, radically re-imagines the essential art of mothering. In seeking her elusive mother—a trail that leads to Brooklyn, Montreal, Cologne and, finally, Jamaica—Staceyann and her daughter forge a new sense of home.

A film by Laurie Townshend
Produced by Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George (Oya Media Group); Justine Pimlott (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/a-mother-apart

Screening schedule

April 26, 2024 | 7:45 PM | Scotiabank Theatre
April 28, 2024 | 11:15 AM | TIFF Lightbox

Shorts Program | World Premiere

2024 | 22 min 8 s

WARNING: This film contains imagery of anorexia and eating disorders that may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

“Hey, let’s go on a diet together.” As kids in a small Quebec town, Eisha and Seema were more than sisters, they were soul mates, and a joint diet offered a shared sense of purpose.

But their carefree project would take a dark turn, pushing Eisha to the very brink of death.  Consumed by anorexia, she found herself battling her own fragile body—stranded between childhood and adulthood.

Decades later, she revisits her past in an exquisitely crafted work of auto-ethnography, evoking her unusual youth with aching lyricism. In addressing a tender love letter to the troubled girl she once was, she reaches contemporary audiences with a timely reflection on body image and self-acceptance.

A film by Eisha Marjara
Produced by Joe Balass (Compass Productions); Ariel Nasr (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/am-i-the-skinniest-person-youve-ever-seen

Screening schedule

April 29, 2024 | 11:45 AM | Scotiabank Theatre
May 5, 2024 | 10:15 AM | TIFF Lightbox

2024 | 100 min

During a world-record attempt, freediving champion Jessea Lu blacked out and was lifeless for four minutes. Director Yuqi Kang’s documentary captures the descent of a lifetime, when Jessea returns to the site of her near-death experience to face the traumas of her past and find a way back to connection.

A film by Yuqi Kang
Produced by Ina Fichman (Intuitive Pictures); Sherien Barsoum (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/7beatsperminute

Screening schedule

April 26, 2024 | 8:45 PM | TIFF Lightbox
May 2, 2024 | 7:00 PM | TIFF Lightbox
May 5, 2024 | 12:00 PM | TIFF Lightbox

2024 | 98 min 50 s

A star is reborn. With an outsize stage presence that eclipsed even the greatest R&B artists, trans soul singer Jackie Shane shattered barriers with raw talent, courage and an unbreakable commitment to truth. Through never-before-heard phone conversations, dazzling animation and an incredible soundtrack, the full scope of her extraordinary life and career is finally revealed in this remarkable portrait.

A film by Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Produced by Amanda Burt, Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen and Michael Mabbott (Banger Films); Justine Pimlott (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/any-other-way-jackie-shane

Screening schedule

April 27, 2024 | 9:00 PM | TIFF Lightbox
April 28, 2024 | 8:45 PM | TIFF Lightbox

2024 | 76 min

In Seguridad, Cuba’s “youngest soldier” uncovers a family secret that compels her to explore her father’s troubled past and its connection to the Cuban Revolution.

A film by Tamara Segura
Produced by Annette Clarke and Rohan Fernando (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/seguridad

Screening schedule

April 29, 2024 | 3:00 PM | TIFF Lightbox
April 30, 2024 | 12:00 PM | Scotiabank Theatre

2024 | 96 min

Moving between earth and stars, past and present, this hybrid feature documentary follows the extraordinary life of Wilfred Buck, a charismatic and irreverent Indigenous Elder who overcame a harrowing history of displacement, racism, and addiction by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge and ceremony.

A film by Lisa Jackson
Produced by Lisa Jackson and Lauren Grant (Door Number 3 Productions); Alicia Smith (NFB)

Press Kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/wilfred-buck

Screening schedule

April 29, 2024 | 3:00 PM | TIFF Lightbox
April 30, 2024 | 12:00 PM | Scotiabank Theatre

Mighty Jerome

2010 | 83 min

From acclaimed filmmaker Charles Officer comes the story of the rise, fall and redemption of Harry Jerome, Canada’s most record-setting track and field star. Gorgeous monochrome imagery, impassioned interviews and astonishing archival footage are used to tell the triumphant and compelling story of what Harry Jerome’s own coach called “the greatest comeback in track and field history.”

A film by Charles Officer
Produced by Selwyn Jacob

Screening schedule

May 4, 2024 | 1:30 PM | Hot Docs Ted Rogers cinema