The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has greenlit five new productions and coproductions, including Montreal-based Jenny Cartwright’s feature-length documentary film La Course.

Cartwright will direct the doc, which is being produced by Pierre-Mathieu Fortin for the NFB’s Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary studio. It is set to follow four candidates from newer political parties through the 2022 Quebec provincial election and up to election day on Oct. 3.

The rest of the greenlit projects are shorts and include Wabano, directed by veteran Indigenous documentary maker Alanis Obomsawin, who is also producing with associate producer Amanda Roy for the NFB’s Quebec and Atlantic studio. The film will profile a Quebec community health centre for Indigenous peoples that’s billed as the only one of its kind in the world.

Director Eisha Marjara will offer a personal tale in the experimental short Skinny, from coproducers Ariel Nasr (the NFB’s Quebec and Atlantic studio) and Joe Balass (Montreal’s Compass Productions). It will provide a look at the severe eating disorder Marjara had as a teen and “the alienation of a Punjabi-Canadian girl in a small Quebec town,” according to a news release.

The short À moitié chemin is also a personal reflection, from directors Anika Lirette and Gop Paosgnmgoe, and producer Christine Aubé for the Quebec, Canadian Francophonie and Acadian Documentary studio. It will feature a family from the Esgenoôpetitj Mi’kmaq First Nation and testimonials by the filmmaker’s parents.

Animation is also on the slate with the short doc Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying from directors Natalie Baird and Toby Gillies, and producer Alicia Smith of the NFB’s North West studio. It will use animation techniques to interpret the thoughts of an 87-year-old living in a personal care home.

Image from La Course courtesy of the NFB. Photo by Jenny Cartwright