MONTREAL: A preview of close to 40 National Film Board French Program titles set for upcoming release, or currently in production, reveal the board is staying the course with established categories, such as socially relevant documentaries and auteur-animated films.

But the studio is also opening the door to a greater diversity of projects in the content of its films, in its filmmaking tools and, in certain instances, the period of time it takes to make a film, says French Program director-general Andre Picard.

‘The NFB is a place to take risks with films, to spend a little more time on research, subject matter, theme or number of characters [profiled],’ adds Picard.

Picard says the NFB is expanding its relations with independent producers ‘who want to come and share those risks with us.’

NFB French Program resources used for private-sector coproductions has increased in the past two years from under 5% to more than 25%.

In terms of working with indie producers, Picard says, ‘What’s great about the NFB is that there are no application filing dates, and actually, no applications. Come in, discuss your idea, present it, pitch it in any form whatsoever, bring a CD and we’ll listen to some music, bring a book, a magazine article, a synopsis or a one-pager. Secondly, focus on [topics] that are more risky or [projects] that will carry over a greater number of years and are maybe harder to get financed through Telefilm Canada or the Canadian Television Fund,’ adds Picard.

Picard says the NFB will continue to produce socially engaged docmentaries and short auteur-animation films. ‘We are exploring some avenues to bring back drama to the [board], in a first-step, modest way within our means.’

Upcoming releases

Slated for release this fall is Mission Arctique, the five-film scientific expedition series shot in HD on a budget of nearly $6 million. The series is coproduced by the NFB, Glacialis Productions and France’s Gedeon Programmes. A 90-minute feature-length version is slated for Ex-Centris in November with broadcasts by Tele-Quebec and CBC. France 5 has the miniseries rights and France 2 has licensed the feature-length adaptation.

The six half-hour series Marche Jean Talon is the NFB’s first experience in the ‘docusoap’ genre, says Picard.

‘This is quite unusual for the French Program and the NFB in general because we are not generally associated with documentary miniseries, in this case a docusoap. We’re quite happy. It means we’ll have a large [role] in the fall schedule at Radio-Canada and Tele-Quebec,’ says Picard.

New French Program releases include the one-hour doc Ceci n’est pas Einstein, Catherine Fol’s third entry in her exploration of science and philosophy. The coproducer is Taxi-Brousse of France.

The latest Jacques Godbout doc Les Heritiers (80 minutes for Tele-Quebec) revisits the ambitious political personalities of Mouton Noir, and discovers what they are up to 12 years later.

Upcoming Studio Documentaire B releases include Kun Chang’s 7 km2 d’infini, a portrait of the Scottish descended young inhabitants of isolated Entry Island, a coproduction with Glacialis; the latest Jean-Daniel Lafond feature doc La Cabinet du docteur Ferron, a portrait of writer/scientist Jacques Ferron, budgeted in the $650,000 range; Marilu Mallet’s profile of socially active Chilean women in La Cueca Sola; and two new Reel Diversity (Nouveaux Regards) entries – Hyacinthe Combray’s Histoire de sable and Michka Saal’s La Difference.

Other new projects include Hagop Goudsouzian’s Revivre le passe and Stephane Drolet’s L’Autre.

New releases from the NFB’s Studio Ontario et Ouest (producer Claudette Jai Ko) include Marie Cadieux’s Sentence Vie and from Studio Acadie, Ginette Pellerin’s Durelle, a historical portrait of native son and prize fighter Yvon Durelle, a $350,000 copro with Productions du Phare-Est.

Studio Animation et Jeunesse

New releases from the NFB’s French animation studio, Studio Animation et Jeunesse, include Michele Lemieux’s Nuit d’orage, based on the filmmaker’s prize-winning book, the New Wave collection Generation Extreme, and Nicola Lemay’s Noel Noel, a $1 million (half-hour) French and English Program ‘holiday special’ and coproduction to be simulcast on both Teletoon services. ‘It’s kind of an event production for the board, and the first time we’ve experimented with an auteur-driven film produced in the way animation is done in the private sector,’ says Picard.

New animation in production includes Jacques Drouin’s Empreintes and Michele Cournoyer’s La Vie en boite.

The French program has direct production resources of approximately $15.5 million this year.

The NFB’s International Co-Production Unit is involved in some 20 projects at various stages.

-www.nfb.ca