New Director General Set for NFB French Program

MONTREAL, June 23: The
National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has appointed Monique Simard as the
director general of the NFB French Program, taking up her new post on August
18.

Simard has served as the
director general and a producer at the Quebec-based Productions Virage, an
independent documentary outfit, since 1998. She is a board member of several
organizations including the Association des producteurs de films et de
télévision du Québec (APFTQ), where she chairs the documentary section, and Rencontres
internationales du documentaire de Montréal, of which she is a founding member.
She has also been the chair of the Cinémathèque québécoise, and is co-founder
and vice-chair of Observatoire du documentaire.

“Monique Simard is a major
figure in documentary film in Quebec,” said Tom Perlmutter, the government film
commissioner and chairperson of the NFB. “Her arrival at the NFB is very
positive, at a time when we’re consolidating our creative leadership with the
launch of the new strategic plan and the recent appointment of Cindy Witten as
the head of the English program. Ms. Simard’s strengths are her support for
socially engaged film, her energy and her clear vision for auteur documentary.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski