Montreal – International Women’s Day, March 8, has a special significance for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as it honours Studio D, its trailblazing English Program feminist film unit and the landmark French Program series En tant que femmes—both of which were founded in 1974 in anticipation of the UN’s International Women’s Year, and marked their 50th anniversaries last year.
Highlight events this month include:
- A special Studio D event on March 6 in the NFB’s Alanis Obomsawin Theatre in the heart of Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles;
- Community screenings across the country, featuring Donald McWilliams’ A Return to Memory;
- Online content with films, channels and blogposts—including the online premiere of Toronto filmmaker Laurie Townshend’s feature doc, A Mother Apart (Oya Media Group/NFB).
The NFB is also continuing to meet or exceed its parity commitments, first announced in 2016.
- In 2023–2024, women directed 56% of 126 NFB productions, for a total of 70 works, with 55% of production budgets allocated to works by women.
- Furthermore, all NFB animation and documentary units are currently led by women, who also make up a majority of staff producers—ensuring that women’s stories and perspectives are fully reflected throughout the NFB.
“It’s important to underline the legacy of all these trailblazing women whose films, passion and talent remain an inspiration for all of us. The 1970s and International Women’s Year were key moments for women and our struggle for full and equal rights. For 85 years, the NFB has been exploring vital issues and telling Canada’s stories, and today, our strong results in gender parity are further proof that, a half-century after Studio D was founded and the series En tant que femmes was produced, the NFB remains a unique creative environment for women and their diverse experiences,” said Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB.
Studio D special programming and events
The NFB will explore Studio D’s powerful legacy with a public event in Montreal on March 6, in the presence of some of its visionary filmmakers—as well as a great selection of online programming.
- March 6, Alanis Obomsawin Theatre, Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles
A Celebration of Studio D: Fifty Years of Feminist Filmmaking (event in English).
Free film screening and discussion on Thursday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m.
Introduced by Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the NFB.
- If You Love This Planet, Terre Nash’s Oscar-winning short documentary, featuring a lecture by Helen Caldicott, president of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
- Accompanied by the Studio D short Just-a-Minute II, directed by Terre Nash, Margaret Pettigrew, Moira Simpson and Mary Aitkin, featuring one-minute clips on women’s experiences.
Accompanied by a short presentation on the legacy of Studio D by Rebecca Sullivan and John Brosz of the University of Calgary.
Discussion moderated by Rebecca Sullivan and journalist, critic and author Matthew Hays, with Studio D filmmakers in attendance.
En tant que femme special event
The NFB will be taking part in the book launch of Olivier Ducharme’s Nous ferons les films que nous voulons – ONF féministe (1971–1976) at the Cinémathèque québécoise on March 12. Published by Éditions Écosociété, Ducharme’s book is available in stores starting February 25.
- The event will be followed by a screening of the En tant que femmes film Souris, tu m’inquiètes by Aimée Danis, featuring Micheline Lanctôt, starting at 7 p.m.