The NFB at RIDM 2019. Feature documentaries by Simon Beaulieu, Will Prosper, Alanis Obomsawin, Yung Chang and Tasha Hubbard, including two world premieres and three films in competition.

The NFB will also be at Forum RIDM (November 16 to 20), the festival’s industry event, where it will take part in various sessions in addition to awarding a prize at the Cuban Hat Pitch. (File Photo By Chicoutimi – Own work/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is back at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) with eight productions and co-productions, including six feature-length docs. These auteur works tackle complex current events and run the gamut of emotions and characters—from hope to dehumanization, from bridge-building protagonists to deep individualism. Two of these films are having their world premieres: Simon Beaulieu’s White Noise (NFB) and Will Prosper’s Kenbe la, Until We Win (NFB). Four other films will be having their Quebec premieres: Yung Chang’s This Is Not a Movie (TINAM Inc./Sutor Kolonko/NFB), Tasha Hubbard’s nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up (Downstream Documentary Productions/NFB, in association with CBC Docs and APTN), Nance Ackerman, Ariella Pahlke and Teresa MacInnes’s Conviction (Sea to Sea Productions/NFB, in association with the CBC Documentary Channel), and Alanis Obomsawin’s Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger (NFB), screening for the first time in French. RIDM takes place November 14 to 24, 2019.

Two works will be presented in the UXdoc Space, which is dedicated to interactive projects, installations and virtual reality works: the VR experience Homestay by Paisley Smith and Jam3 (NFB), having its Quebec premiere; and Bulle, the latest project from the NFB × UQAM Jeunes pousses interactive school, showing here as a preview only, during a panel featuring an assisted navigation session. The NFB will also be at Forum RIDM (November 16 to 20), the festival’s industry event, where it will take part in various sessions in addition to awarding a prize at the Cuban Hat Pitch.

NFB works selected for RIDM 2019

Canadian Feature Competition

White Noise by Simon Beaulieu (77 min, NFB) – World premiere with the filmmaker in attendance
Theatrical release: early 2020
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/whitenoise

• The fourth feature-length work by Simon Beaulieu (after Lemoyne, Godin and Miron: un homme revenu d’en dehors du monde), White Noise is a hard-hitting auteur work that plunges viewers into a direct physical encounter with the information overload of daily life. A hybrid of documentary, experimental film and fiction, this disturbing roller-coaster of a movie transforms the imminent collapse of our civilization into a visceral aesthetic experience. A reflection on the fate of humanity in the Anthropocene epoch.
• Simon Beaulieu will give a workshop on White Noise at UQAM’s Labdoc on Thursday, November 21, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

This Is Not a Movie by Yung Chang (106 min, TINAM Inc./Sutor Kolonko/NFB) – Quebec premiere with the filmmaker and the film’s subject, Robert Fisk, in attendance. Fisk will open Forum RIDM on November 18.
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/this-is-not-a-movie/

• For more than 40 years, journalist Robert Fisk has reported on some of the most violent and divisive conflicts in the world. Director Yung Chang captures Fisk in relentless action—feet on the ground, notebook in hand, as he travels into landscapes devastated by war.
• The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has been selected to screen at DOC NYC and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up by Tasha Hubbard (98 min, Downstream Documentary Productions/NFB, in association with CBC Docs and APTN) – Quebec premiere with the filmmaker in attendance
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/we-will-stand-up/

• On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. The jury’s subsequent acquittal of Stanley captured international attention, raising questions about racism embedded within Canada’s legal system and propelling Colten’s family to national and international stages in their pursuit of justice.
• The film had its world premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival—the first time the festival’s opening film was made by an Indigenous director—where it won the award for Best Canadian Feature. It also received the Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary at Vancouver’s DOXA Festival.

Panorama/Resistance

Kenbe la, Until We Win by Will Prosper (83 min, NFB) — World premiere with the filmmaker, protagonists and members of the creative team in attendance
Theatrical release: January 31, 2020
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/kenbe-la-until-we-win/

• Some dreamers have the power to inspire us, bring us together, and help us reconnect with our humanity. Set in a lush Haitian countryside that’s not often seen on film, as well as in the icy landscapes of Quebec, this documentary chronicles the inspiring journey of Alain Philoctète, an artist and activist who dreams of developing a permaculture project in his native country. With privileged access to an extraordinary man, the filmmaker offers a contemporary Quebec work with Haitian roots. The film’s score was composed by Jenny Salgado and André Courcy.
• Just prior to the launch of his new film at RIDM, documentarian and activist Will Prosper will be discussing his creative process at the latest edition of Les cinéastes racontent, organized by NFB Executive Producer Nathalie Cloutier, on Wednesday, October 30 at 5 p.m. at the Cinémathèque québécoise.

Jordan River Anderson, The Messenger by Alanis Obomsawin (66 min, NFB) – Quebec premiere with the filmmaker in attendance
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/jordan/

• The 53rd film by veteran filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin tells the story of how the life of Jordan River Anderson initiated a battle for the right of Indigenous children to receive the same standard of social, health and educational services as the rest of the Canadian population.
• The film had its world premiere at TIFF and has been selected to screen at many festivals. It also won the Best Canadian Documentary Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).
• More than 40 works by Alanis Obomsawin are now available for free streaming at NFB.ca—spanning over a half-century of incredible storytelling and activism.

Panorama/The State of the World

Conviction by Nance Ackerman, Ariella Pahlke and Teresa MacInnes (78 min, Sea to Sea Productions/NFB, in association with the CBC Documentary Channel) – Quebec premiere with the filmmaker in attendance and in collaboration with Cinema Politica
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/conviction/

• Conviction envisions alternatives to prison through the eyes of women behind bars and those fighting on the front lines of the decarceration movement. The film compels viewers to examine why we imprison the most vulnerable among us, and at what cost.
• The film had its world premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival.

UXdoc

Homestay by Paisley Smith and Jam3 (NFB, 15 min) – Quebec premiere
Electronic press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/homestay/

• This VR experience is one family’s story of life with international students—a look at how complete immersion in another culture can create a clash of expectations and change our understanding of family, hospitality, nationality and love.
• Homestay has been presented at numerous national and international festivals, and received an award at VIFF.

Bulle by the NFB × UQAM Jeunes pousses interactive school – preview event with assisted navigation
Launch scheduled for winter 2020

• The project takes us to Montreal circa 2050, a world where nothing has been done to curtail climate change.
• The creative team will offer an assisted navigation session on Tuesday, November 19 at 8 p.m. at the UXdoc Space, Cinémathèque québécoise.
• Jeunes pousses is an internship that brings together students from different UQAM programs to work on a project at the NFB’s French Digital Studio. Past projects include Déroutes, un voyage sonore au cœur de Montréal and Clit Me.

NFB at Forum RIDM

• Nathalie Cloutier and Colette Loumède, respectively Executive Producer and Producer at the NFB’s French Documentary Studio, will be participating in the One-on-One meetings on November 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The NFB is supporting the development of two projects, one in French and one in English, at Talent Lab 2019, taking place November 16 to 18.
• The NFB will be giving away $5,000 worth of technical services under its ACIC program at the Cuban Hat Pitch, which provides Canadian filmmakers with support for their documentary project.

About the NFB

The NFB is Canada’s public producer of award-winning creative documentaries, auteur animation, interactive stories and participatory experiences. NFB producers are embedded in communities across the country, from St. John’s to Vancouver, working with talented creators on innovative and socially relevant projects. The NFB is a leader in gender equity in film and digital media production, and is working to strengthen Indigenous-led production, guided by the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. NFB productions have won over 7,000 awards, including 24 Canadian Screen Awards, 21 Webbys, 12 Oscars and more than 100 Genies. To access this award-winning content and discover the work of NFB creators, visit NFB.ca, download its apps for mobile devices or visit NFB Pause.