Although Tom Perlmutter, director of the English Program at the National Film Board, promises an announcement at Hot Docs that will be ‘very interesting and significant,’ the NFB has already made three moves this month that saw its international role grow significantly.

At MIPCOM, the Film Board and National Geographic in the U.S. announced a reciprocal distribution agreement that will see the NFB handle Nat Geo’s footage in Canada and the cablecaster handle NFB stock footage in the U.S. The deal includes 500 hours from each organization’s archive, with the option for more.

The NFB and Film Australia struck a collaborative agreement that will see them cooperating on research and development, coproductions, the application of new technology for the management and distribution of archives, as well as professional exchanges.

Finally, the NFB and French pubcaster France 2 will work together to initiate, develop and coproduce two feature documentaries, the titles of which will be made available on June 26 at the Sunnyside of the Doc film market in Marseilles, France.

-www.nfb.ca