Moncton – The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is delighted to be at the Congrès mondial acadien (CMA — Acadian World Congress), which this year takes place from August 10 to 18 in southwest Nova Scotia. Along with the pre-launch screening of the short film Trécarré: Exploring the Saint Mary’s Bay Sound, which was shot in the host region, the NFB will also present films for all audiences, taking the opportunity to highlight its 50 years of French-language film production in Canada’s Atlantic region.
“The NFB is where Acadian cinema was born”
In 1974, the NFB French Program kickstarted the production of films by and about Acadians by opening a new studio. Studio Acadie, as it was then known, came about largely thanks to the tireless efforts of the late Acadian filmmaker Léonard Forest, an ardent champion of francophone cinema at the NFB. As director Rodolphe Caron explains in the NFB collection 35 ans de création du Studio Acadie, until then, there was no film industry in the language of Antonine Maillet. “The NFB is where Acadian cinema was born,” he says.
The NFB is proud to highlight this milestone of French-Canadian film production that’s now in its 50th year.
Pre-launch screening of Trécarré
As part of the CMA’s film program and in conjunction with the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA), the NFB will present Natalie Robichaud’s short documentary Trécarré: Exploring the Saint Mary’s Bay Sound (30 min) at a pre-launch screening. With its infectious energy and catchy melodies, the film pays vibrant tribute to an Acadian community whose deep connection to music goes back for generations. The screening will be held on Sunday, August 11, at 8 p.m. in Salle Marc-Lescarbot at Université Sainte-Anne in Pointe-de-l’Église, Nova Scotia.
Other screenings at the CMA
Films for all audiences on various aspects of Acadian culture and the region will also be presented throughout the CMA. More information on these screenings can be found at événements.onf.ca and the CMA’s official program. The two short film programs will include NFB titles like Rosemarie Landry: l’art lyrique en partage (Rosemarie Landry: Sharing the Lyric Art) by Renée Blanchar and Maille Maille (Stitches in Time), a pastel-drawing animation by Anne-Marie Sirois.
What’s more, a montage highlighting the films available on nfb.ca (with the accent on the NFB’s Acadian productions and co-productions) will screen continuously at the Government of Canada pavilion.