NFB Screenings
NFB films at the Rendez-vous de la francophonie 2012
From March 9 to 25, 2012, the National Film Board of Canada will participate in the 14th Rendez-vous de la Francophonie by showing films all across Canada and on the Web.
Two programs to appeal to all tastes
The NFB is presenting two programs of films selected for a general audience and their relevance to this year's theme of Understanding Builds a Better Future. These powerful, timely works will take viewers to Abitibi, France, Acadia and the Prairies, highlighting the diversity and vitality of Canada's Francophonie.
Les Fros (
The Lumberfros) by Stéphanie Lanthier is a feature-length documentary about brush cutters in the remote logging camps of Abitibi. These modern-day lumberjacks of all ages and nationalities leave their families behind to go to work – in French – in Quebec's north woods.
Watch the trailer »
The film will be preceded by
Ici par ici (
Here and There). In this autobiographical animated short, Diane Obomsawin (a.k.a. Obom) takes us through the major events of her childhood with engaging candour and gentle humour. Moving back and forth between Montreal and France, she revisits Expo 67, her parents' divorce and her high school years, sketching a family portrait and her relationship to the significant places and events of her early years.
Watch the trailer »
Esprits de famille (
Family Spirits) by Lysanne Thibodeau is a tribute to the origins of the French-speaking communities in North America, their resilience and their vision for the future.
Three generations of a Quebec family set off to trace their roots back to the arrival of their ancestors in the Maritimes. On their journey, family members meet distant cousins… and the spirits of their Acadian ancestors.
Watch the trailer »
The feature-length documentary will be preceded by the animated short
Sur la route (
Big Drive), Anita Lebeau's story of a family road trip across the Canadian prairies in the 1970s. An exuberant exploration of childhood imagination, the film invites audiences of all ages to see the world as it appears “from the back seat”.
In an era before in-car movies and video games, four sisters squeeze into the back of the family car for a long journey. While the parents keep a steady watch on the road ahead, restlessness gradually gives way to mayhem in the car's close quarters. Just before the ride becomes unbearable, the sisters are inspired to combine their creative energy and the big drive becomes an even bigger adventure.
Watch the trailer »
Plus four films available online!
Pour la cause (For the Cause) by Rodolphe Caron – Web premiere
A documentary about the pioneering sisters of the Congrégation Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Cœur (NDSC) and their tremendous contribution to preserving French language and culture in Acadia and educating women. Nowadays, they campaign with the same fervour for the rights of the poor and a greater role for women in the Catholic Church.
La dernière batture (Turning Tides) by Mathieu D'Astous
Summer trippers line up for the famous local fried clams, and whole families dig for the white mollusc in the tangy air of the sandbars. But as the stocks dwindle, so do these scenes from Acadian culture. The clams in New Brunswick's Kouchibouguac National Park are not immune to the sorry fate of the world's fisheries. For commercial fishermen, it's the end of a livelihood; for others, it's the death of a tradition. This short documentary asks "Can this really be the end of a resource that used to be as plentiful as the air we breathe?"
Un dimanche à 105 ans (A Sunday at 105) by Daniel Léger
A 105-year-old Acadian woman agrees to be filmed one Sunday as she goes about her daily routine and ruminates on life. From getting up in the morning to drinking her nightcap before bed, every moment is punctuated with a witticism or existential thought captured in this documentary tribute by her great-grandson.
Canada vignettes : Instant French by André Leduc
This animated short is a take on the As Seen on TV commercials, or the K-Tel ads of yesteryear. In this version, the ad attempts to sell an electronic device that allows one to speak fluent, effortless French.
