November 17, 2014 - Montreal, Quebec - National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and France Télévisions are launching the Cancer of Time mobile app (canceroftime.com), a fun, interactive fable that invites users to explore the concept of wasting time. Starting today, the app is available on tablets and smart phones via the App Store and Google Play, free of charge and in three different language versions: French, Quebec French, and English. Cancer of Time was incubated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with the help of the Open Documentary Lab, and intentionally blends different genres, blurring the boundaries between game and animation.
Concept
Typically, whenever we have a moment to ourselves or manage to take a break from a hectic schedule, we immediately pull out our cell phones. Our tolerance for waiting is close to zero: at home, at work, on vacation, we live in a constant state of connection, existing both here and elsewhere simultaneously. Cancer of Time raises a question that gets at the heart of a very contemporary issue: Can we still tolerate being alone with ourselves? The app has taken a rather paradoxical approach to answering this: it explores our growing inability to do nothing via devices that are often used to continually fight boredom!
Background
Users 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. We follow him through a series of everyday activities, from one scene to the next—in the doctor’s waiting room, in his car, at a family gathering, etc. The crux of this meditation on time lies in the users’ physical interaction with the app—minimal gestures, carried out slowly,
even passively. In the end, we’ve got nothing to lose but our time… and nothing to gain but a chance to think about how we spend it.
Creators
Cancer of Time brings together a creative team from various backgrounds to tackle interactive storytelling formats in new ways: Ko-op Mode (a video game artistic collective that explores the junction between music, visual arts and experimental design), Dominic Turmel (a designer and independent screenwriter for interactive media), Stefan Boucher (a musician and soundscape architect) and Jean-François Nadeau (a versatile actor-creator who also wrote the Quebec French texts). The French version was written by novelist Véronique Ovaldé.
This mobile app is the first co-production between the NFB’s Digital Studio (Hugues Sweeney) and francetv nouvelles écritures (Boris Razon), two pioneers of interactive storytelling who have joined forces to push the boundaries of these forms of artistic expression and cross the borders between genres.
The Cancer of Time mobile app is being offered exclusively onsite in the UXdoc interactive section of the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), from November 13 to 22, 2014.
Quick Facts
• Team
Concept and creative direction: Dominic Turmel
Concept, design and development: Ko-op Mode (Saleem Dabbous, Samuel Boucher, Nick Rudzicz and Bronson Zgeb)
Concept and writing: Jean-François Nadeau
Concept and music: Stefan Boucher
Producers: Boris Razon (France Télévisions) and Hugues Sweeney (NFB)
An NFB and France Télévisions co-production
• Length and number of scenes
Maximum length: 15 minutes
In five scenes:
Stopped Time (doctor’s office)
Private Time (sleepless night)
Dead Time (in the car)
Pass Time (family dinner)
End Time (diagnosis and treatment)
Related Products
Press kit: http://cancerdutemps.com/epk-canceroftime-en/index.html
Associated Links
Trailer: http://youtu.be/1CH8F18mOEQ
Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM): http://www.ridm.qc.ca/en
Stay Connected
Online screening room: NFB.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nfb.ca
Twitter: www.twitter.com/thenfb
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Media Relations
Pat Dillon
NFB Publicist
Cell: 514-206-1750
E-mail: p.a.dillon@nfb.ca
Twitter: @PatDoftheNFB
Lily Robert
Director, Corporate Communications and Corporate Affairs
Tel.: 514-283-3838
Cell: 514-296-8261
E-mail: l.robert@nfb.ca
About the NFB
Beginning May 2, 2014, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) marks 75 years of innovation and leadership in film and interactive media. The NFB is one of the world’s leading digital content hubs, creating groundbreaking interactive documentaries and animation, mobile content, installations and participatory experiences. NFB interactive productions and digital platforms have won 100 awards, including 10 Webbys. To access acclaimed NFB content, visit NFB.ca or download its apps for smartphones, tablets and connected TV.
