February brings a treasure trove of content for all ages and tastes to NFB.ca.  Experience Frances Adair Mckenzie’s VR project The Orchid and the Bee and Michèle Stephenson’s powerful documentary Stateless.

February 9, 2022 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

The NFB continues to provide streaming access to the full range of its productions and co-productions, featuring a wide variety of subjects and artistic approaches—and all created at our studios across Canada. The latest additions, available free of charge on NFB.ca starting in February, include the award-winning feature-length documentary Stateless, directed by Michèle Stephenson, to mark Black History Month; the virtual reality (VR) experience The Orchid and the Bee by Frances Adair Mckenzie, available in both 360 video and VR; the touching short doc Then Sings My Soul by Susan Rodgers; and the return of the Spring Break Channel, with special kids-focussed content. These new offerings join the nearly 5,500 titles already available on NFB.ca, along with our collection of some one hundred interactive works, almost all of which are available for free online viewing. The month of February also sees the Quebec theatrical release of the feature documentary White Noise (Le fond de l’air), directed by Simon Beaulieu.

Celebrating Black History Month

Stateless by Michèle Stephenson (2020, Hispaniola Productions/NFB’s Ontario Studio)
Feature-length documentary (95 min 30 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/stateless

Through the grassroots campaign of electoral hopeful Rosa Iris, acclaimed Haitian-Quebec filmmaker Michèle Stephenson’s documentary reveals the depths of racial hatred and institutionalized oppression that divide Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Stateless has won multiple awards, at festivals such as Hot Docs in Toronto and BlackStar in Philadelphia, and was released theatrically in Canada.

Learn more about NFB activities celebrating Black History Month.

Starting February 9 to mark Stompin’ Tom Connors’ birthday

Then Sings My Soul by Susan Rodgers (2021, NFB’s Quebec and Atlantic Studio)
Short documentary (14 min 59 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/then-sings-my-soul

Prince Edward Island singer and part-time fisherman Chad Matthews is a hardworking father of four and a Stompin’ Tom Connors tribute artist. In a rural town where making a living means only earning minimum wage, Then Sings My Soul follows Chad as he reaches for a guitar to help ease the pain. The film has been selected to screen at a number of Canadian festivals.

Available February 15  in 360 video on YouTube and Vimeo, and in VR on Oculus TV

The Orchid and the Bee by Frances Adair Mckenzie (2020, NFB’s English Program Animation Studio)
Virtual reality experience (5 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-orchid-and-the-bee

Nature is wondrous and clever. As Darwin taught us, those who improvise most effectively prevail. This expressionistic VR work is an ode to life’s struggle for existence, explored through a chain of genetic love affairs. It has been presented at major festivals around the world, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Starting February 25

Spring Break Channel: nfb.ca/channels/spring_break

With new titles added every year, this channel is as popular as ever, featuring documentary and animated shorts that are equal parts entertaining and educational and have become true Spring Break classics. The lineup of perennial favourites includes the animated series Science Please!, Parts 1 and 2, with amusing takes on scientific discoveries and phenomena; animated shorts like the touching Balakrishna by Colin MacKenzie and Aparna Kapur, and the comical Blackberry Subway Jam by Robert Doucet, based on a story by Robert Munsch; and the illuminating documentary Dinosaurs: Piecing It All Together by Michael McKennirey.

In theatres starting February 18 in Quebec

White Noise (Le fond de l’air) by Simon Beaulieu (NFB’s French Program Documentary Studio)
Feature-length documentary (77 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/whitenoise

A reflection on the fate of humanity and the climate crisis in today’s age of angst-inducing hyperconnectivity, White Noise is a roller-coaster of a film, a whirlwind of sounds and images. The fourth feature-length work by Simon Beaulieu, this film essay plunges viewers into a subjective sensory adventure—a direct physical encounter with the daily information overload that has become all too common since the onset of COVID-19. White Noise is a visceral aesthetic experience addressing the imminent collapse of our civilization in the era of climate change and eco-anxiety—the next crises lying in wait for us after the pandemic.

White Noise in theatres

• Montreal:
  February 18, 19 and 20, Cinémathèque québécoise (original French version)
  February 20 at 5:30 p.m., Cinéma Moderne (original French version with English subtitles)
  February 26 at 6:30 p.m., Cinéma Public at Casa d’Italia (original French version with English subtitles)

• Rimouski:
  March 15 at 7: 30 p.m., Cinéma Paraloeil (original French version)

Learn more about the NFB’s filmmakers and its collection:

• nfb.ca/blog/category/directors-notes
• nfb.ca/blog/category/curators-perspective

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