Headline, Industry News

Next Government Film Commissioner

MONTREAL, Oct. 16 /CNW/ – Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada Jacques Bensimon has announced that he will end his current mandate, as anticipated, on December 17, 2006. The Government and the Board of Trustees of the NFB have consequently decided to undertake a selection process to recruit the next Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada.

Audacity and brilliance are the hallmarks of Jacques Bensimon’s five-and-a-half year mandate. He became head of the NFB on June 18, 2001 and implemented a five-year strategic plan in collaboration with the institution’s management committee. In the course of his mandate, he has successfully guided on several fronts the NFB, which has won numerous awards, including an Oscar™ for the

short film Ryan in 2005. He has fostered the production of socially committed films by encouraging, in particular, access to film production among filmmakers from the cultural communities or upcoming filmmakers, and by emphasizing training and mentoring. He has established numerous avenues for collaboration with the Canadian independent film sector and carried out several missions that have enabled the sector to engage in international coproductions, in particular with Brazil, Japan, France, England and Australia.

He has modernized the NFB by fostering an array of innovative projects such as the development of content for new technological platforms. Since May 2006, he has restored to the NFB and its staff the glory they deserve by allowing the production and worldwide distribution of the restored works of Norman McLaren, a pioneering animator at the NFB. The project was given a striking launch at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The appointment process for the new Government Film Commissioner will be initiated shortly.