Vancouver –The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) selection at the 2024 Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) will feature powerful documentary and animated storytelling while showcasing the talents of a number of Edmonton and Alberta artists. Taking place September 26 to October 5, EIFF will present three new NFB films.
Inkwo for When the Starving Return by Amanda Strong (18 min 27 s)
Producers: Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn Productions), Maral Mohammadian (NFB), Nina Werewka (Spotted Fawn Productions)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/inkwo-for-when-the-starving-return
- In this stop-motion animated short, Dove, a gender-shifting warrior, uses their Indigenous medicine (Inkwo) to protect their community from a swarm of terrifying creatures.
- An adaptation of the short story “Wheetago War” by award-winning Tlicho Dene storyteller Richard Van Camp, Inkwo features the voice talents of Paulina Alexis, from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation Reserve; Tantoo Cardinal, raised in the hamlet of Anzac, Alberta; and versatile television producer, actor and storyteller Art Napoleon.
- Amanda Strong is a Michif/Métis artist, writer, producer, director, filmmaker and mother. As the owner and executive producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc., her collaborative creations serve to amplify Indigenous storytelling and ideologies. Strong’s work has received Canadian Screen Award and Emmy nominations, and her films—which include Biidaabanand Four Faces of the Moon—have been shown worldwide at venues such as TIFF, the Cannes film market, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and the American Museum of Natural History.
LOCA by Véronique Paquette (5 min 19 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/loca
- A female silhouette, sketched with fine white lines, disintegrates. A few bars ring out from “Loca”—a classic tune from the golden age of Argentinean tango. The spellbinding music sweeps the woman into a dance. As she whirls, a duo forms, their bodies intertwined in black and white. Their complete abandonment to the music is expressed in abundant waves of ink, creating a mesmerizing visual spectacle.
- LOCA was produced through the NFB’s Cinéaste recherché(e) competition, which gives winners the chance to make their first professional animated film with the NFB’s French Animation Studio.
- Véronique Paquette gained her experience in traditional animation through fiction films, documentaries and advertising, while turning her passion for dance into a powerful creative engine. With a penchant for blending different artistic fields, she has been involved in many multidisciplinary collaborations and combined drawing with dance for various projects. Tango, which she’s danced for more than 20 years, forms the heart of the short film LOCA, the first professional animated film she’s directed.