NFB Film Club’s stellar programming for fall 2014

Are you a librarian or a library-lover who’s also a cinephile? Got a public library in your neighbourhood and want to see free public screenings of some of the latest and greatest NFB productions? Well, the NFB Film Club is for you.

How does it work?

The NFB Film Club is a turn-key initiative created specifically for public libraries which grants free privileged access to new, relevant, thought-provoking documentaries and also award-winning, entertaining animation for the whole family. If you’re a librarian and you want to host a screening at your branch, contact Marianne Di Domenico at 514-283-8953 or m.didomenico@nfb.ca. If you’re a library-loving cinephile and you want to attend a screening at your local branch, contact your local librarian and ask them to put one together.

And now (drumroll)… the Film Club’s fall programming!

Allow us to take a moment to point out that the NFB has a rich and acclaimed history of creating provocative, socially-relevant documentaries. We recently added to this bold tradition with the following new productions and a re-release of a beloved classic.

Shameless Propaganda

Released in 2014, the NFB’s 75th-anniversary year, Robert Lower’s Shameless Propaganda explores NFB films and still photos created between 1939 and 1945, recreating the picture of Canada they gave us. Lower examines the images in search of the Canada we know today, and what he finds is by turns enlightening, entertaining, and unexpectedly disturbing.

Shameless Propaganda, Robert Lower, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

John Kastner’s Out of Mind, Out of Sight gains unprecedented access to the patients and workers inside the Brockville Mental Health Centre, a forensic psychiatric hospital for people with mental illness who have committed violent crimes. You can watch the trailer below:

Out of Mind, Out of Sight, John Kastner, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

This film was named Best Canadian Feature Documentary at this year’s Hot Docs International Documentary festival. The jury said Kastner’s film found “deep empathy and humanity in one of the most physically and emotionally harrowing environments imaginable, and (brought) insight to the emotional complexity surrounding the issue of mental illness.” The film has racked up accolades from both film critics and mental health advocates, and has aired on TVO’s Doc Studio.

Ariel

Another striking doc featured in the Film Club is Laura Bari’s Ariel, an inspiring and confounding journey through the strength of the human spirit and the malleability of the human body. After losing his legs in an industrial accident, our protagonist Ariel begins to rediscover his identity as he embarks on exhilarating, superhuman task: creating his own prosthetic legs. Watch the trailer:

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

One of the NFB’s most successful and beloved films of all time is making a comeback after years of being unavailable. Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives has now been re-released in a new, remastered HD version. This feature documentary delves into the rich history of Canadian queer women’s experiences in the mid-20th century, bringing an important and empowering history of lesbian sexuality in Canada out of the closet. The soundtrack incorporates hit pop songs of the period, against a backdrop of tabloid headlines, book covers and dramatizations from pulp novels. Watch a clip:

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives, Aerlyn Weissman & Lynne Fernie, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Something for the kids, too

The Film’s Club’s Children’s Program features two classic Aesop fables brought to life (The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and The Lion and the Mouse), a stubborn elephant who causes much consternation (The Feather and the Elephant), a musician who writes a song for his beloved son (Draw Me a Song), and a series of shorts for kids aged 3 to 5 (Peep and the Big Wide World) that will help them get to know a few sprightly animal characters.

Organize a screening today!

We’re counting on librarians and all library-loving cinephiles to get their communities engaged in watching and talking about these stellar films. To organize a screening, contact Marianne Di Domenico at 514-283-8953 or m.didomenico@nfb.ca. Happy watching!