“The NFB, in partnership with imagineNATIVE, is proud to continue supporting Indigenous artists in Canada’s interactive-media field.

The NFB/imagineNATIVE Interactive Partnership returns in 2017 to support both the development and production phases of one (1) selected project, with a focus on artistic cultural experiences for mobile phone, tablet and virtual reality technologies. The project will premiere to the diverse range of audiences reached through the NFB and imagineNATIVE networks.

An Indigenous Canadian (or international Indigenous artist with Canadian citizenship), working with the NFB Digital Studio in Vancouver, will develop the project during the course of one year starting in October 2017. The NFB Digital Studio will have the option to produce or co-produce the project, with a target launch date of October 2018 at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. The budget for the development phase will consist of cash and in-kind support of up to $50,000, while the final budget for the production phase will be determined by the overall scope of the project.

An NFB and imagineNATIVE selection committee will choose the project through a call for submissions that encourages proposals with culturally, creatively and technologically daring vision.

This initiative will build upon the selected artist’s creative and technical skills through the following:

• Intensive development for the artist and their project with a minimum of two (2) visits to the NFB Digital Studio in Vancouver;
• As part of the residency, the artist would not only work on their own project but would be invited to observe and liaise with the NFB team on the production and development of other projects, furthering cross collaboration, skill building and knowledge sharing;
• The NFB’s Digital Studio in Vancouver would produce the development phase of the project: from idea through conception, interactive design, visual/graphic design, and proof of concept and/or prototyping;
• The development phase will include a DigiLab; this two-day development lab will bring together a small team of key creative thinkers and will be tailored to the needs of the project, in order to support the evolution of the project idea;
• Work to complete the project in the production phase will be determined by the unique requirements of the selected project.

The NFB would have first right (but no obligation) to produce or co-produce the work; imagineNATIVE will coordinate the submission and selection process and highlight the artist as well as the project premiere at the 2018 festival through engagement with the industry and the arts community.

Over the past five years, the NFB and imagineNATIVE have collaborated on a digital partnership that aims to support new forms of Indigenous artistic expression and offers Canadian Indigenous artists an opportunity to create audacious, innovative and socially relevant new-media works. It has resulted in the release of three captivating interactive projects that demonstrate the spirit and heart of Indigenous experiences in Canada today: De Nort (2012) by the ITWÉ Collective, Similkameen Crossroads (2013) by Tyler Hagan, and the 2015 Venice Biennale-selected Ice Fishing (2014) by Jordan Bennett. In 2016, Cara Mumford’s Red Card went through a development residency to further hone her idea.

“We’re thrilled to continue to develop, produce and present the latest work in our partnership with the NFB, and for artists to explore Indigenous storytelling using the newest cutting-edge technologies available,” remarked Daniel Northway-Frank, imagineNATIVE’s Industry Director. Robert McLaughlin, Executive Producer of the National Film Board of Canada’s Digital Studio, added, “Supporting new and underrepresented voices within the Canadian cultural landscape is a key creative criterion of the National Film Board of Canada, and the partnership with imagineNATIVE has been crucial to meeting this mandate.”

The selected artist and proposal will be announced at the 2017 imagineNATIVE festival on October 19, 2017.

Applications for the NFB/imagineNATIVE Interactive Digital Residency will be accepted as of August 22, 2017, at www.imagineNATIVE.org, with a submission deadline of September 18, 2017.”

-from imagineNATIVE website