Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards 2018 | Watch 8 Short Docs on Famous Canadians

This year, nine of Canada’s greatest performing arts stars and champions were awarded a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, a prestigious annual distinction presented in collaboration with the National Arts Center.

As is now tradition, we produced a series of short documentary films that celebrate the artistic achievements of this year’s laureates.

Enjoy the films!

Angela Hewitt

One of the world’s leading pianists and foremost interpreters of Bach’s music, Angela Hewitt appears in recital and with major orchestras throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. This short film gives us a glimpse of Hewitt’s creative process as she interprets a Bach fugue—transforming the famed composer’s notoriously mathematical work into a musical experience that approaches the spiritual.

Solo: A Portrait of Angela Hewitt, Jason Buxton, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Ginette Laurin

Seated in the middle of a square room, choreographer Ginette Laurin looks back at revealing key aspects of her artistic process. What initially seems like a simple filmed interview takes a twist when a young dancer explores the same work, seeming to defy gravity. O Vertigo !

Ginette Laurin: Front and Centre, Jean-François Caissy, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Geneviève Bujold

This portrait of one of Canada’s most famous actresses was inspired by the filmmaking aesthetic of her friend, Michel Brault. Geneviève Bujold: Art = Life evokes Brault’s observational and improvisational approach in a stylized, black-and-white look at the actress that’s both intimate and introspective.

Geneviève Bujold: Art = Life, Robin McKenna, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Andrew Alexander

In this short set in the lo-fi, cable-access world of yesteryear, Andrew Alexander returns to his roots as a taxi driver, shepherding Second City alums on a revealing trip down memory lane. They delve into everything from Andrew’s early years, to creating the hit show SCTV and building a global comedy empire.

Andrew! Alexander!, Josh Raskin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Murray McLauchlan

Murray McLauchlan says his battered second-hand guitar is haunted by all the musicians who ever played it. Murray’s songs are haunted too, by all the experiences and music that have filled his life. Ever curious and generous, he shares music and stories with us, and with the spirits that still inhabit the legendary studio where he records in Toronto’s Kensington Market.

The Haunts of Murray McLauchlan, Michael McNamara, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Tegan and Sara

In this joyful portrait, filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming animates the formative days and musical career of Calgary-born identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin. Their remarkable journey over the past 20 years has often intersected with notions of identity—as artists, as individuals, as sisters, as queer women, and as leading activists in the LGBTQ community. Their musical progression parallels and amplifies their commitment to bringing the marginal to the mainstream.

A Short Film About Tegan & Sara, Ann Marie Fleming, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Florence Junca Adenot

This collaborative project brings together some of the biggest names in the Quebec contemporary dance scene: Simon Ampleman, Daina Ashbee, Marie Claire Forté, Margie Gillis, Benoît Lachambre and Andrew Tay. Inspired by honoree Florence Junca Adenot’s energy, the dancers capture her infectious vitality and fascinating, impassioned life through powerful and poetic improvised performances.

Florence, Thibaut Duverneix & Mathieu Léger, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Peter A. Herrndorf

In this fusion of fiction and documentary film, a Special Investigator catches a break when Peter A. Herrndorf volunteers to come in for questioning on an ongoing case. The Investigator quickly finds himself in a charming game of cat and mouse however, as he must determine whether this self-professed immigrant kid could really be the nation-building super hero he’s been pursuing all these years.

Capturing Captain Canada (a.k.a. Peter A. Herrndorf), Tara Johns, provided by the National Film Board of Canada