The NFB at the 2022 Festival du nouveau cinéma . A strong, diverse lineup of short and feature-length animated, documentary and VR works.

The National Film Board of Canada is making a strong showing at the Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) with six productions or co-productions—one animated short, two documentary features and three virtual reality (VR) works—in the lineup. Two of these projects are world premieres; the remainder have already made their mark on the national and international festival circuits. The 51st Festival du nouveau cinéma takes place in Montreal from October 5 to 16, 2022.

Quick Facts – The NFB at the 2022 FNC

• Screening as a world premiere in the FNC’s Nouveaux alchimistes short film competition: Par vents et marées (By Winds and Tides) by Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach.
• Screening as a special presentation: the Quebec premieres of Ever Deadly (Chasseuse de son) by Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan, and Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections (Theodore Ushev: liens invisibles) by Borislav Kolev.
• VR works presented at the Phi Centre as part of FNC Explore: making its world premiere, Blood Relations (Liens de sang) by Analee Weinberger with Dpt.; making its Canadian premiere, Plastisapiens by Miri Chekhanovich and Édith Jorisch with Dpt.; and making its Quebec premiere, THIS IS NOT A CEREMONY (CECI N’EST PAS UNE CÉRÉMONIE) by Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon).

Les nouveaux alchimistes short film competition

Par vents et marées (By Winds and Tides) by Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach (2 min 24 s) – WORLD PREMIERE
Produced by Anne-Marie Bousquet for the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/by-winds-and-tides

• Exploring the conscious, the unconscious and the self, By Winds and Tides takes a deep experimental dive into the birth of an idea—how it takes shape, how it is released. A short film from the Alambiccollection, a creative lab designed for emerging animation filmmakers.
• Screening schedule: World premiere on Monday, October 10, at 5 p.m. in the main screening room of the Cinémathèque québécoise; Friday, October 14, at 9:15 p.m. in the Fernand-Seguin room of the Cinémathèque québécoise.

Special presentations

Ever Deadly (Chasseuse de son) by Tanya Tagaq and Chelsea McMullan (90 min) – QUEBEC PREMIERE
Produced by Lea Marin, Anita Lee and Kate Vollum for the NFB’s Ontario Studio
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ever-deadly

• Avant-garde award-winning Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, one of the most innovative musical performers of our time, leads the audience through pain and triumph in this visceral music and cinema experience. The documentary had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
• Screening schedule: Quebec premiere on Monday, October 10, at 7 p.m. at the Cinéma du Musée; Sunday, October 16, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cinéma Moderne.

Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections (Theodore Ushev: liens invisibles) by Borislav Kolev – QUEBEC PREMIERE
Co-produced by Borislav Kolev, Maria Landova and Eli Kovalev for Projector Ltd., and Marc Bertrand for the NFB’s French Program Animation Studio
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/theodore-ushev-unseen-connections

• Theodore Ushev, the seasoned auteur behind a number of renowned animated shorts, including the Oscar-nominated Blind Vaysha, reveals his inner universe, formed by a half-century of personal experience acquired in a constantly changing world. The documentary will have its world premiere at the 2022 Ottawa International Animation Festival.
• Screening schedule: Quebec premiere on Friday, October 14, at 5 p.m. at the Quartier latin (theatre 11); Sunday, October 16, at 1:15 p.m. at the Quartier latin (theatre 12).

FNC Explore (VR works presented at the Phi Centre)

Blood Relations (Liens de sang) by Analee Weinberger with Dpt. (18 min) – WORLD PREMIERE
Co-produced by Analee Weinberger for Genetic Media, Marie-Pier Gauthier and Isabelle Repelin for the NFB’S Interactive Studio and Daniella Koffler for Moofa Production House
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images, financial participations and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/blood-relations

• “What makes us who we are?” is the question that drives Blood Relations, a whimsical VR documentary about an adopted child and an ancestral mystery.

Plastisapiens by Miri Chekhanovich and Édith Jorisch with Dpt. (15 min) – CANADIAN PREMIERE
Co-produced by Raphaëlle Sleurs for Dpt., Marie-Pier Gauthier and Isabelle Repelin for the NFB’s Interactive Studio and Miri Chekhanovich for Lalibela Productions
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images, financial participations and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/plastisapiens

• Plastisapiens is a virtual reality journey towards a speculative future where organic beings and plastic become one. The project had its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.

THIS IS NOT A CEREMONY (CECI N’EST PAS UNE CÉRÉMONIE) by Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon) (20 min 56 s) – QUEBEC PREMIERE
Produced by Dana Dansereau for the NFB’s English Program Animation and Interactive Studio, in partnership with imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Press kit (synopsis, biographies, images and credits): mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/this-is-not-a-ceremony

• You’re invited to witness an unforgettable cinematic VR experience, guided with care and kindness by tricksters, matriarchs and buffalo as you confront some of the darker sides of living life in Canada while Indigenous. The project had its virtual world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and its in-person installation premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.