Six acclaimed NFB animated and documentary works featured at the Victoria Film Festival

Vancouver – National Film Board of Canada

Six National Film Board of Canada (NFB) produced and co-produced feature-length documentaries and animated shorts are being showcased at this year’s Victoria Film Festival (February 5–14, 2021).

Festival screenings will take place online, available across British Columbia, and can be streamed at any time over the 10-day festival. For the full lineup and more information, visit victoriafilmfestival.com.

Three award-winning feature docs:

• The Forbidden Reel (Loaded Pictures/NFB) by Afghan-Canadian director and Oscar-nominated producer Ariel Nasr

• Stateless (Hispaniola Productions/NFB) by distinguished Haitian-Canadian director Michèle Stephenson

• Wintopia (EyeSteelFilm/NFB), Montreal filmmaker Mira Burt-Wintonick’s portrait of her late father, renowned documentarian Peter Wintonick

Three acclaimed animated shorts, presented in the program Animate Me

• Altötting (Studio Film Bilder/NFB/Ciclope Filmes) by German animation filmmaker Andreas Hykade (BC premiere)

• The Great Malaise by Quebec animator and illustrator Catherine Lepage

• I, Barnabé by Montreal-based Capilano College grad Jean-François Lévesque (BC premiere)

Features

The Forbidden Reel by Ariel Nasr (119 min.)

• Official SelectionIDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (2019)

• Winner, Rogers Audience Award Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto (2020)

• Official Selection DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Vancouver (2020)

• Official Selection FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, Halifax, Nova Scotia (2020)

• Official Selection Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival (2020)

• Official Selection It's All True / Documentary International Film Festival, Brazil (2020)

• Special Mention RIDM - Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (2020)

The story of Afghanistan’s fearless and visionary moviemakers—who gave birth to an extraordinary national cinema amidst war and chaos—and the films we almost never got to see. Winner of the Rogers Audience Award at Hot Docs 2020. Special Mention at RIDM - Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (2020).

Stateless by Michèle Stephenson (95 min.)

• Best Feature Documentary Award BlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, USA (2020)

• Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto, Canada (2020)

• Best Feature Film Audience Award Boston Latino International Film Festival, USA (2020)

• Official Selection (World Premiere)Tribeca Film Festival, New York, USA (2020)

• Official Selection DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (2020)

• Official Selection Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), Montreal, Canada (2020)

Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Awards include a Special Jury Prize for Canadian Feature at Hot Docs and the Best Feature Documentary Award at the BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia.

Wintopia by Mira Burt-Wintonick (88 min.) Official SelectionIDFA 2019

• Official Selection Hot Docs 2020

• Colin Low Award for Canadian DocumentaryDOXA 2020

• Official SelectionRIDM 2020

Winner of the Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary at DOXA, Wintopia is part Utopian odyssey, part mourning ritual, as a young filmmaker traces the enigmatic footsteps of her late father, renowned documentarian Peter Wintonick.

Shorts

Altötting by Andreas Hykade (11 min) Grand Prize Cinanima International Animated Film Festival of Espinho, Portugal (2020)

• Official Selection Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, France (2020)

• Official Selection Animafest Zagreb – World Festival of Animated Film, Zagreb, Croatia (2020)

• Craft Award for Best Script Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection Bucheon International Animation Festival, Bucheon, South Korea (2020)

• Official Selection New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Hokkaido, Japan (2020)

• Official Selection Festival du nouveau cinéma - FNC, Montreal, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie – FICFA, Moncton, New Brunswick (2020)

• Official Selection Victoria Film Festival, Victoria, British Columbia (2021)

“You know, when I was a boy, I fell in love with the Virgin Mary. It happened in a little Bavarian town called Altötting.” Winner of the Grand Prize at the Cinanima International Animated Film Festival in Portugal and the Craft Award for Best Script at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

The Great Malaise by Catherine Lepage (5 min)

• People's Choice Award - International Competition Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation, Montreal, Quebec (2019)

• Jury's Special Mention - Canadian Competition Les Sommets du cinéma d'animation, Montreal, Quebec (2019)

• Official Selection - Generation 14plus Berlinale, Berlin, Germany (2020)

• Best Short Film Manchester Animation Festival (2020)

A young woman describes herself and her life in glowing terms, but the visual narrative tells a different story, illustrating the heavy burden of anxiety carried by this worried overachiever. Winner of the People’s Choice Award and Jury’s Special Mention/Canadian Competition at the Sommets du cinéma d’animation in Montreal.

I, Barnabé by Jean-François Lévesque (15 min)

• Official Selection Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Annecy, France (2020)

• Official Selection Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF), Seoul, South Korea (2020)

• Official Selection International Weekend of Animation, Wiesbaden, Germany (2020)

• Official Selection Off-Courts Trouville, Trouville-sur-Mer, France (2020)

• Craft Award for Best Technique Ottawa International Animation Festival, Ottawa, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection Edmonton International Film Festival, Edmonton, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary, Canada (2020)

• Official Selection World Festival of Animated Film - WFAF, Varna, Bulgaria (2020)

• Silver Spike for Best Short Film Valladolid International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain (2020)

• Official Selection Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie – FICFA, Moncton, New Brunswick (2020)

• Official SelectionSommets du cinéma d'animation, Montreal, Canada (2020)

• Official CompetitionTokyo Anime Award Festival, Tokyo, Japan (2021)

• Official SelectionVictoria Film Festival, Victoria, British Columbia (2021)
  

During a night of stormy drunkenness, a man receives a visit from a mysterious bird and is forced to reconsider his life. Winner of the Craft Award for Best Technique from the Ottawa International Animation Festival and the Silver Spike for Best Short Film, Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain.