October 15, 2015 – Toronto – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival announced today that they are renewing and enhancing their digital media partnership, one that will provide Canadian Indigenous artists with an even better way to create audacious, innovative and socially relevant digital media works.
First announced in 2012, the NFB/imagineNATIVE partnership has already resulted in three groundbreaking interactive projects that capture the spirit and heart of Aboriginal experiences in Canada today: ITWĒ Collective’s interactive installation De Nort, Tyler Hagan’s interactive audio essay Similkameen Crossroads and Jordan Bennett’s interactive installation Ice Fishing.
The NFB and imagineNATIVE have now enhanced the program to allow greater synergy and collaboration between the NFB and the selected artist, as well as greater flexibility in project content and budget.
Under the new agreement, the NFB in partnership with imagineNATIVE will provide an in-house Artist Residency to a Canadian Aboriginal creator at the NFB’s Webby Award-winning Digital Studio in Vancouver. The successful candidate will benefit from one-on-one mentorship as they develop their proposal, including a specially tailored DigiLab that will bring together a team of key creative thinkers for a multi-day rapid prototyping and story development lab.
They’ll also have the opportunity to collaborate with the Digital Studio’s world-renowned team on other projects now in development, furthering cross collaboration, skill building and knowledge sharing. The program will offer cash and in-kind support up to $50,000.
The NFB would have first rights to produce the project. imagineNATIVE would provide coordination of the submission and selection process and highlight the selected artist at next year’s festival.
Full details including application info and deadlines will be posted on the imagineNATIVE website by early December.
The NFB is Canada’s leading producer of internationally acclaimed innovative interactive digital media works, and has been producing audiovisual works by First Nations, Métis and Inuit directors since the late 1960s. No other organization in Canada is developing such a rich slate of interactive works, and this improved NFB/imagineNATIVE partnership represents a major commitment to Canadian Indigenous digital artists.
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Jennifer Mair
Publicist
Tel.: 416-954-2045
Cell: 416-436-0105
E-mail: j.mair@nfb.ca
Twitter: @NFB_Jennifer
Lily Robert
Director, Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs
Tel.: 514-283-3838
Cell: 514-296-8261
E-mail: l.robert@nfb.ca
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) creates groundbreaking interactive works, social-issue documentaries and auteur animation. The NFB has produced over 13,000 productions and won over 5,000 awards, including 14 Canadian Screen Awards, 11 Webbys, 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.
