Hello film! | Free screenings at the NFB

Thursday March 13 – Posthumans

To reserve your seats, click here

Dominique Leclerc, 2025
Length: 88 minutes
Original French version

Director Dominique Leclerc spent years depending on medical devices for her survival. Then, looking for alternative solutions, she entered the world of emerging technologies, where cyborgs, biohackers and transhumanists work to outsmart illness, aging—and even death.

Over time, through her conversations with them, Leclerc finds herself wavering between hope and wariness.

In Posthumans, she looks at issues like what happens if our physical and cognitive “enhancements” are driven by the tech giants, and raises critically important social, ethical and political questions.

The film’s auteur and avant-garde aesthetic is further enriched by composer Frannie Holder’s spellbinding soundtrack.

Posthumans forms part of Dominique Leclerc’s multidisciplinary exploration of these issues and themes, which she’s previously grappled with in sensitive and nuanced works for the theatre such as Post Humains and i/O.

Thursday March 20 – Zero Tolerance

To reserve your seats, click here

Michka Saäl, 2004
Length: 75 minutes
Original French version with English subtitles

Being young is tough, especially if you’re Black, Latino, Arab or Asian. In a city like Montreal, you can get targeted and treated as a criminal for no good reason. Zero Tolerance reveals how deep seated prejudice can be. On one side are the city’s young people, and on the other, its police force. Two worlds, two visions. Yet one of these groups is a minority, while the other wields real power. One has no voice, while the other makes life-and-death decisions.

When a policy of zero tolerance to crime masks an intolerance to young people of colour, the delicate balance between order and personal freedom is upset. A blend of cinéma vérité and personal testimonies, this hard-hitting film will broaden your mind and change your way of thinking.

A roundtable, organized by the Action Against Racism and for Equal Opportunities (SACR), will follow the screening.

Thursday March 27 – Assholes, A Theory

To reserve your seats, click here

John Walker, 2019
Length: 81 minutes
Original English version with French subtitles

With venomous social media, resurgent authoritarianism and rampant narcissism threatening to trash civilization as we know it, the time has come for Assholes: A Theory—an entertaining and oh-so-timely feature doc from acclaimed director John Walker.

Inspired by Aaron James’ New York Times bestseller of the same name, Assholes investigates the breeding grounds of contemporary “asshole culture” and locates signs of civility in an otherwise rude-’n-nasty universe.

Venturing into predominantly male domain, Walker moves from Ivy League frat clubs to the bratty princedoms of Silicon Valley and bear pits of international finance. Why do assholes thrive in certain environments? What explains their perverse appeal? And how do they keep getting elected!

Lively commentary is provided by the likes of actor John Cleese, former Canadian police officer Sherry Lee Benson-Podolchuk, and Italian LGBTQ activist Vladimir Luxuria, who famously locked horns with Silvio Berlusconi, the p***y-grabbing prototype of the 21st-century demagogue.

PAST SCREENINGS

Thursday, February 27 – Oscar®-winning NFB Shorts

To reserve your seats, click here.

Neighbours, Norman Mclaren, 1952
Length: 8 minutes
Without words

In this short film, Norman McLaren employs the principles normally used to put drawings or puppets into motion to animate live actors. The story is a parable about two people who come to blows over the possession of a flower.

Every Child, Eugene Fedorenko, 1979
Length: 6 minutes
Without words

This animated short follows an unwanted baby who is passed from house to house until he is taken in and cared for by two homeless men. The film is the Canadian contribution to an hour-long feature film celebrating UNESCO’s Year of the Child (1979). It illustrates one of the ten principles of the Declaration of Children’s Rights: every child is entitled to a name and a nationality. The film took home an Oscar® for Best Animated Short Film.

Flamenco at 5:15, Cynthia Scott, 1984
Length: 29 minutes
French dubbed version

This short film is an impressionistic record of a flamenco dance class given to senior students of the National Ballet School of Canada by two great teachers from Spain, Susana and Antonio Robledo. The film shows the beautiful young North American dancers—inspired by the flamenco rhythms and mesmerized by Susana’s extraordinary energy—joyously merging with an ancient gypsy culture.

Bob’s Birthday, Alison Snowden et David Fine, 1984
Length: 12 minutes
French dubbed version

When Margaret plans a celebration for her husband Bob, she underestimates the sudden impact of middle age on his mood. A witty, offbeat animated portrait of a frustrated dentist wrestling with the fundamental issues of life proves that birthdays (and surprise parties) can be very tricky indeed.

Ryan, Chris Landreth, 2004
Length: 14 minutes
Original English version with French subtitles

This animated short from Chris Landreth is based on the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Ryan is living every artist’s worst nightmare – succumbing to addiction, panhandling on the streets to make ends meet. Through computer-generated characters, Landreth interviews his friend to shed light on his downward spiral. Some strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Danish Poet, Torill Kove, 2006
Length: 15 minutes
French dubbed version

If you’ve heard of the butterfly effect, how about the falling cow impact? Whimsical, philosophical and absurdly hilarious, this NFB animated short by Oscar®-winning director Torill Kove follows Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, as he attempts to answer some big questions. Can we trace the chain of events that lead to our own birth? Is our existence just coincidence? Do little things matter? It turns out that where Kasper is concerned, seemingly unrelated factors such as bad weather, an angry dog, a careless postman, hungry goats and the aforementioned deadly bovine might play important roles in the grand scheme of things after all.

Thursday February 6 – Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story

Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee, 2024

Length: 99 min

Original English version with French subtitles.

A lost R&B star who eclipsed Etta James and Little Richard, trans soul singer Jackie Shane blazed an extraordinary trail with an unbreakable commitment to her truth. Forty years after vanishing from public view, this 20^th century icon finally gets her second act.

The documentary will be preceded by the short film Oscar (Marie-Josée St-Pierre, 2016, 12 min)

Thursday, March 6 – Studio D : Fifty Years of Feminist Filmmaking

*Special event starting at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.

If you Love This Planet, Terre Nash, 1982
Length: 25 minutes

The NFB’s 7th Academy-Award winning film.

This short film is comprised of a lecture given to students by outspoken nuclear critic Dr. Helen Caldicott, president of Physicians for Social Responsibility in the USA. Her message is clear: disarmament cannot be postponed. Archival footage of the bombing of Hiroshima and images of its survivors seven months after the attack heighten the urgency of her message.

Just-A-Minute (Part 2), Terre Nash, Margaret Pettigrew, Moira Simpson, Mary Aitkin, 1976
Length: 6 minutes

Just-A-Minute was a training program organized by Studio D of the National Film Board in collaboration with the Women’s Program, Department of the Secretary of State. This program gave Canadian women an opportunity to express themselves through the medium of a one-minute film clip. Through humour, caricature, or animation, the clips highlight some of the problems or attitudes encountered by women at home and at work. Entertaining to watch, the films do not disguise the pertinence of their contents.

The two films are part of a short presentation entitled “The Legacy of Studio D for Feminist Media Arts Activism in Canada” by Dr. Rebecca Sullivan and Dr. John Brosz (University of Calgary).

Thursday, January 30 – The Rose Family

Félix Rose, 2020

Length: 127 min

Original French version with English subtitles.

In October 1970, members of the Front de libération du Québec kidnapped minister Pierre Laporte, unleashing an unprecedented crisis in Quebec. Fifty years later, Félix Rose tries to understand what led his father and uncle to commit these acts.

The documentary will be preceded by the short film Hommage à Michel Brault (Alexandre Chartrand, 2014, 10 min)

Thursday, January 23 – Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows

Mathieu Fournier, 2022

Length: 70 min

Original French version with English subtitles.

In this documentary on the first viral phenomenon of the digital age, Ghyslain Raza (the “Star Wars Kid”) breaks his silence and reflects on his story for the first time. In doing so, he also explores our collective experience living in an online world in which we have to make peace with our digital shadows.

The documentary will be preceded by the short film Shop Class (Hart Snider, 2018, 8 min

Thursday, January 16 – Theater of Life

Peter Svatek, 2016

Length: 93 min

Original English version with French subtitles.

Theater of Life captures the remarkable story of how renowned chef Massimo Bottura, joined by 60 of the world’s top chefs, transformed food destined for the dumpster into delicious and nutritious meals for Italy’s hungriest residents—refugees, recovering addicts, former sex workers, and other disadvantaged people. A visual feast in itself, the film puts a human face on its powerful message of social justice and the environmental impact of food waste.

The documentary will be preceded by the short film Soup of the Day (Lynn Smith, 2013, 3 min)

Thursday, January 9 – Unspoken Tears

Hélène Magny, 2022

Length: 75 min

Original French version with English subtitles.

How can refugee children integrate into Quebec’s school system, given the unspeakable violence they’ve experienced? Following a psychologist specializing in conflict-related trauma, Unspoken Tears pays tribute to the admirable resilience and survival strategies of these “small adults,” whose spirit the bombs and camps have not completely crushed, at a time when it is vital to raise awareness in Western societies of migration-related issues and children’s rights.

The documentary will be preceded by the short film Boat People (Kjell Boersma and Thao Lam, 2023, 9 min)

Source: NFB