19th February 2009

The NFB or Draw me a picture

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National Film BoardMontreal – Torill Kove, who won an Oscar in 2006 for her animated short The Danish Poet, has come to the defence of the National Film Board (NFB). In a video unveiled today by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-FTQ), the filmmaker makes a plea for maintaining the NFB’s expertise in film animation. The video is available on YouTube.

“It’s where I trained as an animator really,” Torill Kove explains. Over the years, NFB artists have become experts in film animation, a sector that has greatly contributed to the institution’s worldwide reputation. “They just took you under their wings and looked after your talent … in a little cocoon of creativity… (where) you don’t have to deal with the business of film making,” notes the filmmaker. She stresses the contribution and the support of the NFB staff whose years of experience make a world of difference to the artists. But Torill Kove is worried about the future of the NFB: “The National Film Board is being asked to do a lot for less and less resources… but you can only spread yourself so thin…”

“We are delighted that someone of the stature of Torill Kove is supporting our mission and funding for the NFB,” says Serge Gaspard Gaudreau, President of a CUPE local at the NFB. “We have received a lot of support during our campaign to save the mission of the NFB and to restore its ability to function. We will be able to make our voice heard by the Members of Parliament in order to preserve this national treasure.”

Following Benoît Pilon, Alanis Obomsawin and Roger Frappier, Torill Kove is the fourth artist to join the At the NFB, the economic crisis is fifteen years old. See to it! campaign launched by the Institution’s CUPE unions. Over the next few weeks, three more film personalities will speak out on behalf of the NFB.

Since it was founded in 1939, the NFB has created more than 13,000 titles, won more than 5,000 awards, garnered more than 90 Genies, received over 70 Oscar nominations and landed 12 Oscars.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 11:38 pm and is filed under National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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