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NFB FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES OPEN AND CLOSE
imagineNATIVE MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 24-27

TORONTO, CANADA – Two new feature-length documentaries from the National Film Board of Canada – The Spirit of Annie Mae and Is the Crown at war with us? – will book-end the 3rd annual imagineNATIVE International Media Arts Festival in Toronto, October 24 – 27.

Alanis Obomsawin’s Is the Crown at war with us? is the Festival's Opening Night Film at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 24 at the Royal Cinema. This film by one of Canada's most acclaimed documentarians explores the conflict over fishing rights between the Mi’gmaq people of Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church), New Brusnwick, their non-Native neighbours, and officials from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. NFB Government Film Commissioner and Chair Jacques Bensimon will be in attendance and will speak before the film as well as at the Opening Night Industry Reception at the NFB's Toronto studio.

The Ontario premiere of Catherine Martin's The Spirit of Annie Mae is the Festival's Closing Night film at 7:00 pm on Sunday, October 27 at Innis College. The Spirit of Annie Mae chronicles the remarkable life and brutal murder of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash, a Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw who became an Aboriginal rights champion before her death in 1975.

The inaugural Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award will be presented on the Closing Night and Obomsawin herself will conduct an NFB Master Class for filmmakers called “Image versus Sound: Are We Really Listening?” on Sunday, October 27 at noon at the Quality Hotel on Bloor St.

Four other NFB films will be screened during imagineNATIVE 2002: Deep Inside Clint Star, as part of a tribute to the late Aboriginal filmmaker Clint Morrill, and the classic NFB films The Longer Trail (d. Fergus McDonell) and David Hughes' Pow Wow at Duck Lake and Indian Dialogue.

The imagineNATIVE Media Arts Festival is Canada’s premier Aboriginal media arts festival, and the first annual presentation of film, video, radio, television and multimedia works created by established and emerging Aboriginal artists worldwide.

Since its creation in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada has produced over 10,000 films and other audiovisual works, and won over 4000 awards - including 10 Oscars®. As Canada’s public film producer, the NFB produces and distributes distinctive, culturally diverse, challenging and relevant audiovisual works that provide Canada and the world with a unique Canadian perspective. To purchase NFB releases or for more information, visit NFB or call 1-800-267-7710.