MONTREAL — Former Parti Quebecois VP and documentary maker Monique Simard has been appointed the National Film Board’s director general of French program.

An outspoken supporter of Quebec independence and long-time labor leader, Simard, 58, was a high-profile campaigner for the ‘Yes’ side during the 1995 referendum. She takes over the post from Claude Bonin.

For the last decade, Simard has been at the helm of Montreal-based Productions Virage, where she has produced over 15 documentaries, including A hauteur d’homme (2003) Jean-Claude Labrecque’s Jutra award-winning film about former Quebec prime minister Bernard Landry, and Francine Pelletier’s recent doc about Cinar head Micheline Charest La Femme qui ne se voyait plus aller. Simard has also done a number coproductions with the NFB, including The Refugees of the Blue Planet/Les réfugiés de la planète bleue.

‘She’s involved with the documentary film community here. She’s viewed as a leader,’ Karl St. Victor, spokesman for the Documentary Organization of Canada Quebec chapter, tells Playback Daily. ‘When people need help or support, she is often there. And she helps younger people.’

In a statement announcing Simard’s appointment, NFB head Tom Perlmutter lauded her experience. ‘Her arrival at the NFB is very positive, at a time when we’re consolidating our creative leadership with the launch of the new Strategic Plan and the recent appointment of Cindy Witten as head of the English Program. Ms. Simard’s strengths are her support for socially engaged film, her energy and her clear vision for auteur documentary.’

‘The NFB is currently at a turning point and I find this evolution very stimulating. I strongly believe in the social power of documentary, the extraordinary possibilities of animation and the creativity that new digital technologies generate. As a public producer, the NFB can take risks and remain a unique place uniting engagement, creation and innovation,’ Simard said in a statement.

From 1983 to 1991, Simard was the VP of one of the province’s most powerful labor groups, the Confederation of National Trade Unions. The film producer has also been a commissioner with the Quebec Human Rights Commission as well as a member of the Quebec Conseil du statut de la femme (Council on the Status of Women). She is currently a board member of several organizations, including the Quebec producers association and Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal.

Simard will assume her new position on Aug. 18.

In other NFB news, seven of its better-known shorts will screen on YouTube’s new channel The Screening Room, which features the best animated shorts from around the world.

Two Oscar-winning NFB docs kick off the series: Torill Kove’s The Danish Poet, which screened June 19, followed on July 18 by Chris Landreth’s ‘animated documentary’ Ryan, inspired by the life of Ryan Larkin, who nearly 40 years ago at the NFB made some of the greatest animations of his era.