Announcement: Four NFB feature-length docs screening online
We’ve got four feature-length National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentaries locked and loaded for this year’s online edition running from May 6-16, 2021.
Check ‘em out!
SOMEONE LIKE ME
Directed by: Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams | 80 min | Alberta premiere
Someone Like Me follows the parallel journeys of Drake, a gay asylum seeker from Uganda, and a group of strangers from Vancouver’s queer community who are tasked with supporting his resettlement in Canada. Together, they embark on a year-long quest for personal freedom, revealing how, in a world where one must constantly fight for the right to exist, survival itself becomes a victory.
Produced by Teri Snelgrove and Shirley Vercruysse, and executive-produced by Shirley Vercruysse for the BC & Yukon Studio.
THE MAGNITUDE OF ALL THINGS
Directed by: Jennifer Abbott |85 min
When Jennifer Abbott lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown. Named Best Canadian Feature at the Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, The Magnitude of All Things draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief—both personal and planetary. Stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is everything.
Produced by Andrew Williamson and Henrik Meyer for Cedar Island Films, Jennifer Abbott for Flying Eye Productions, and produced and executive produced for the NFB’s BC & Yukon Studio by Shirley Vercruysse. With the participation of the TELUS Fund and Telefilm Canada and the Rogers Group of Funds, through the Theatrical Documentary Program.
THE FORBIDDEN REEL
Directed by: Ariel Nasr | 119 min
Driven to create amidst war and chaos, Afghan filmmakers gave birth to an extraordinary national cinema. Driven to destroy, Taliban extremists set out to torch that legacy. Marvelling in the beauty and fragile power of movies, Afghan-Canadian director Ariel Nasr crafts a thrilling and utterly original story of modern Afghanistan. Winner of the Rogers Audience Award at Hot Docs.
Produced by Sergeo Kirby (Loaded Pictures) and Kat Baulu (NFB), with executive producers Sergeo Kirby and Annette Clarke (NFB).
STATELESS
Directed by Michèle Stephenson | 95 min
Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Awards include a Special Jury Prize for Canadian Feature at Hot Docs and the Best Feature Documentary Award at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia.
Produced by Jennifer Holness and Michèle Stephenson (Hispaniola Productions), and Lea Marin (NFB), and executive produced by Anita Lee (NFB), Joe Brewster (Rada Film Group) and Sudz Sutherland (Hungry Eyes Media).