The month of May brings a pair of inspiring new docs to nfb.ca: Saturday, by Jessica Hall, and Incandescence, by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper. Plus, special programming to mark Asian Heritage Month, and more.

Continue to Stream Canadian in May on nfb.ca! This month, explore two new documentaries from Yukon and British Columbia. Each in its own way offers an inspiring perspective:

• In Saturday, by Jessica Hall, the filmmaker explores the joyful, creative life of her sister, who has an intellectual disability.

• Incandescence, by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper, leads us to a new understanding of massive wildfires, a worldwide challenge.

May is also Asian Heritage Month in Canada, which will be celebrated with a rich themed channel. The NFB wants to highlight the importance of sharing the distinctive stories and important contributions of people from Asian communities across the country. This is all the more crucial in the wake of the terrible attack on Vancouver’s Filipino-Canadian community on April 26, Lapu-Lapu Day.

In addition, a blog post in conjunction with Mental Health Week (May 5–11) will explore animation filmmakers’ perspectives on the subject.

Is Montreal on your itinerary? Starting Thursday, May 8, stop by the Alanis Obomsawin Theatre in the Quartier des Spectacles to enjoy a few gems from the NFB’s collection on the big screen, at the Hello Film! series. Free films, first-come, first-wowed!

Remember, nfb.ca is home to more than 7,000 streaming films and a collection of over 100 interactive works.

NEW ONLINE RELEASES 

Starting May 16

Saturday by Jessica Hall (2025, NFB)
Documentary (13 min 8 s) / Press kit

• Filmmaker Jessica Hall’s sister Katherine manages her intellectual disability by leading an independent, creative and joyful life. Saturday documents her story. An inspiring tribute to a daughter and mother’s close and supportive relationship.

• The film has been screened at a number of Canadian festivals, including the Available Light Film Festivalin Whitehorse, where it was shot.

Starting May 26

Incandescence by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (2024, NFB)
Documentary (105 min 22 s) / Press kit

• Wildfires are burning with increasing intensity around the world. Following the rhythms of the seasons, the film is an immersive cinematic experience, weaving on-the-ground footage with extraordinary stories of survival and adaptation that transform our understanding of wildfire. From the flightpath of bees to an osprey’s aerial perspective, floating over the landscape: the Earth comes back.

• The doc has been selected for festivals in Canada and the US, including the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. This spring, it played at sold-out screenings across British Columbia.

• Incandescence will be shown in Montreal on Thursday, May 22,* as part of the Hello Film! series at the NFB’s Alanis Obomsawin Theatre.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING
THEMED CHANNEL AND BLOG POSTS

Marking Asian Heritage Month

Channel: Asian-Canadian Perspectives

Watch close to 30 NFB animated films and documentaries that centre around Asian communities and stories told from Asian perspectives. The selection includes Eisha Marjara’s Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen?, which won the prestigious Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Celebrating the NFB’s 86th anniversary 

• English Collection Curator Camilo Martín-Flórez is publishing a new blog post on April 30. 

• “The NFB: 86 Years, 7,000+ Awards… and Counting!” celebrates the NFB’s anniversary on May 2 by taking a deep dive into its long list of awards—a staggering total of more than 7,000 honours received between 1941 and 2025!

Marking Mental Health Week (May 5–11)

• French Collection Curator Marc St-Pierre will publish the blog post “An Animated Journey into Mental Health,” available soon.

• In it, he explores a variety of perspectives on the subject, drawn from several animated films. A few examples: Zeb’s Spider by Alicia Eisen and Sophie Jarvis, The Great Malaise by Catherine Lepage, I Am Here by Eoin Duffy, The Head Vanishes by Franck Dion, Mystery of the Secret Room by Wanda Nolan, LOCA by Véronique Paquette, Lipsett Diaries by Theodore Ushev and Animal Behaviour by Alison Snowden and David Fine.

HELLO FILM! – FREE SCREENINGS IN MONTREAL

Free admission (reservations required)

Details: events.nfb.ca/hello-film-free-screenings-at-the-nfb

Each of the films below will be preceded by a short to open the program.

• Marking Asian Heritage Month

  Thursday, May 8, 2025, 7 p.m.: The Apology by Tiffany Hsiung (104 min)

  The film follows three former “comfort women” who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

• Marking the International Day of Families

  Thursday, May 15, 2025, 7 p.m.: Seguridad by Tamara Segura (76 min)

  Once dubbed “Cuba’s youngest soldier” in a militia publicity stunt, Tamara Segura uncovers family secrets and portrays her troubled relationship with her father.

• Marking International Day for Biological Diversity

  *Thursday, May 22, 2025, 7 p.m.: Incandescence by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper (105 min 22 s)

  See the announcement about the film’s May 26 online premiere on nfb.ca.

• Looking ahead to Father’s Day in June

  Thursday, May 29, 2025, 7 p.m.: Sons by Justin Simms (70 min)

  As Donald Trump is elected to a first term in 2016, a first-time dad wrestles with traditional methods of raising boys. How do we teach our boys to become better men?

The Hello Film! series will continue through July 31, with more films to discover or rediscover. 

To get to the NFB’s Alanis Obomsawin Theatre 

1500 Balmoral Street
Montreal
Place-des-Arts Metro 

Accessible to persons with reduced mobility.

French version here | Version française ici.

About the NFB

Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 7,000 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.