October 22, 2014 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) will be showcasing its productions at Montreal’s 17th annual International Documentary Festival (RIDM), November 12–23, with eagerly awaited screenings of six films in competition that have won accolades at major national and international festivals and the presentation of the Cancer of Time mobile app, exclusively offered on-site in RIDM’s interactive section, UXdoc.
The NFB has five feature-length documentaries in national competition. Jean-François Caissy’s Guidelines (NFB) arrives in Montreal after its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and awards at IndieLisboa and the Camden International Film Festival (theatrical release November 28). Where I’m From (NFB), by Claude Demers, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and was showcased at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto. It’s scheduled for theatrical release on December 26. Trick or Treaty? (NFB), by acclaimed Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The Wanted 18 (Intuitive Pictures/NFB/Bellota Films/Dar Films), by Paul Cowan and Amer Shomali, also premiered at TIFF. It was shot in Palestine, where Mr. Shomali, who will attend RIDM, lives. Everything Will Be (NFB), the first feature-length film by Sundance award winner Julia Kwan, premiered at Hot Docs and received an honourable mention at the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre’s animated documentary, Jutra (MJSTP Films/NFB), will be presented in RIDM’s international short-film competition, having already been selected for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and the Cinéma du Québec event in Paris.
The mobile app Cancer of Time (NFB/France Télévisions), an interactive fable about our chronic inability to do nothing, will be available exclusively on-site in RIDM’s UXdoc program (formerly known as Docs 2.0).
The NFB, along with other community partners, will also be presenting the Magnus Isacsson Award. It will also be the presenter of free weekday screenings for students and seniors, as well as special RIDM events. At Doc Circuit Montreal, the professional documentary market, the NFB will take part in a number of events and present an award at the Cuban Hat Pitch.
• NFB works featured at RIDM:
National competition
o Guidelines, Jean-François Caissy (76 min) – filmmaker in attendance
World premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival
World Pulse Award at IndieLisboa, the International Independent Film Festival in Lisbon, and Special Jury Mention at the Camden International Film Festival in the U.S.
A work of patient observation, the documentary chronicles the sometimes hard reality of teenagers at a rural high school. The film gradually reveals the hidden inner drama of the teenage experience, teetering as it does between vulnerability and indifference. Produced at the NFB by Johanne Bergeron with executive producer Colette Loumède.
The film opens in theatres in Montreal and Quebec City November 28.
o Where I’m From, Claude Demers (78 min) – filmmaker in attendance
World premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
Showcased at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto
Claude Demers revisits the working-class neighbourhood where he grew up, in search of answers to the mysteries of his origins. In this intimate chronicle, his journey merges with the stories of two young boys who are discovering the world. The city of Verdun, with its colourful characters, and the magical banks of the St. Lawrence, are the backdrop for a moving coming-of-age story that is also a profound inner journey. Bringing together realism and soaring lyricism, Where I’m From is as deeply human as it is poetic. Produced by Colette Loumède for the NFB.
The film opens in theatres in Montreal and Quebec City December 26.
o Trick or Treaty?, Alanis Obomsawin (84 min) – filmmaker in attendance
World premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival
The documentary follows Indigenous leaders in their quest for justice as they seek to establish dialogue with the Canadian government. By tracing the history of their ancestors since the signing of controversial Treaty No. 9 respecting land rights in 1905, they want to raise people’s awareness about the issues that affect them. The director focuses on various social movements led by the Grand Chiefs, women and young people to give those who refuse to surrender a chance to speak out. Produced at the NFB by Alanis Obomsawin, with executive producer Annette Clarke.
o The Wanted 18, Paul Cowan and Amer Shomali (75 min) – filmmakers in attendance
World premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival
It started simply enough, with the purchase of 18 cows. Bought by residents of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, the cows were a symbol of freedom and resistance, allowing the Palestinians to provide milk for their children rather than buying it from an Israeli company. But these were not ordinary times. The first Palestinian popular movement in the West Bank was rising, and soon the Israeli army was searching for the Palestinians’ highly cherished but illegal cows. With humour and passion, The Wanted 18 captures the spirit of the 1987 uprising through the personal experiences of those who lived it. The film brings to life one of the strangest chapters in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using a unique combination of stop-motion animation, interviews, drawings and archival material.
Produced by Ina Fichman (Intuitive Pictures) and Nathalie Cloutier (NFB) with executive producers Saed Andoni (Dar Films), Dominique Barneaud (Bellota Films) and Colette Loumède (NFB).
o Everything Will Be, Julia Kwan (86 min)
Premiered at Hot Docs, Toronto
Honourable Mention for BC Spotlight – Vancouver International Film Festival
As dawn breaks, the long-time merchants of Vancouver’s Chinatown are hard at work preparing for what they hope will be a busy day. But this once-thriving neighbourhood is in flux as new condo developments and non-Chinese businesses gradually move into the declining hub of the Chinese community. Everything Will Be captures this fascinating transformation through the intimate perspectives of the neighbourhood’s residents, merchants and new entrepreneurs, who offer their poignant reflections on change, memory and legacy. Produced and executive produced for the NFB by David Christensen.
International short-film competition
o Jutra, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (13 min) – filmmaker in attendance
Selected for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and the Cinéma du Québec event in Paris
Jutra is a clever and cinematic portrait of the man who gave us the NFB classic Mon oncle Antoine, the late Claude Jutra. The Quebec filmmaker is seen in dialogue with himself at various stages of his life, becoming the witty narrator of his own biography. Animated sequences, clips from home movies, interviews and well-known works by the filmmaker blend and overlap to tell the story of a life devoted to creation. Produced by Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (MJSTP Films) as a co-production with the NFB (Marc Bertrand).
UXdoc
o Cancer of Time – producers Hugues Sweeney and Boris Razon in attendance
Created by Ko-op Mode, Dominic Turmel, Jean-François Nadeau and Stéphan Boucher, Cancer of Time was incubated at MIT with the help of Open Documentary Lab. This is the first co-production by the NFB’s Digital Studio (Hugues Sweeney) and France Télévisions’ Nouvelles Écritures (Boris Razon).
This philosophical tale in the form of a mobile app that blurs the boundaries between game and animation will be available exclusively on-site at RIDM. We tag along with an ordinary yet likeable character as he leaves a medical exam, where he’s been told he may have the disease of the century: cancer of time. Because today, we have dozens of devices—smart phones, TVs, radios—to fend off boredom before it can set in. Something’s always on, even if it’s just in the background. The app is an allegory of our growing inability to do nothing. Though anything but didactic, it makes us think about the value of just stopping for a moment and discovering the priceless benefits of doing “nothing”—without being bored.
Magnus Isacsson Award and other NFB-RIDM joint initiatives
• For the third year, the NFB, along with other community partners, will be presenting the Magnus Isacsson Award. The prize includes $5,000 worth of technical services from the NFB through its independent film support program (Aide au cinéma indépendant – Canada), ACIC.
• The NFB is also the presenter of the free weekday screenings for students and seniors before 7:00 p.m. and an array of special screenings.
Doc Circuit Montreal
• At this important market for documentary film professionals, the NFB will be awarding a prize of $5,000 in technical services through its ACIC program, at the Cuban Hat Pitch. The initiative provides Canadian filmmakers with collective support for their documentary projects.
• NFB professionals will be taking part in Doc Circuit Montreal events: Hugues Sweeney, executive producer of the French Program’s Digital Studio, will talk about live documentary at the opening CLLBR breakfast, while Nathalie Cloutier, producer at the French Program’s Documentary Studio, will participate in the One-on-One for Up and Comers.
Beginning May 2, 2014, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) marks 75 years of innovation and leadership in social-issue documentaries, auteur animation, and most recently, groundbreaking interactive works. The NFB has produced over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 10 Webbys, 9 Canadian Screen Awards, 12 Oscars and more than 90 Genies. To access acclaimed NFB content, visit NFB.ca or download its apps for smartphones, tablets and connected TV.
