The National Film Board of Canada returns to the Quebec City Film Festival (FCVQ) with three films in the official selection. Two of the filmmakers have strong ties to Quebec City: Catherine Lepage was born and raised there, while Martin Bureau has lived and worked there for several years.
Two animated shorts will be featured in the festival's competition section: Ultra Strong, by Catherine Lepage, and Paradaïz, by Matea Radic. The feature-length All Things Are No Longer Equal, directed by Martin Bureau, will screen out of competition. In addition, four animated shorts from the NFB collection will be included in free outdoor screenings in Place d'Youville. The festival will run from September 9 to 13, 2026.
Quotes
"I'm happy to be presenting my film in my hometown. There are so many shout-outs to Quebec City in the background sets of Ultra Strong: the Nordiques, the Winter Carnival, the Unisson practice studios… It was at the Colisée de Québec that I saw Iron Maiden as a teenager, and it was in Quebec City that we recorded Bruce Dickinson's voice 35 years later! If you'd told 15-year-old Catherine that, she'd never have believed you!" - Catherine Lepage, filmmaker
"I've been going to the FCVQ for a long time, both as an audience member and a filmmaker. I've shown two of my shorts there and in 2018, I won the Prix Cinéaste de la Ville de Québec. It's always an honour to be back, and this time I'm presenting this feature-length work, which I consider to be a synthesis of my concerns as an artist. I'm really looking forward to sharing this film with my community!" - Martin Bureau, filmmaker
Official Competition - Short Films
Ultra forte (Ultra Strong) by Catherine Lepage (NFB, 9 min 35 s) - with the filmmaker in attendance
Screenings: Thursday, September 10, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, September 12, at 6 p.m.
Short Films - Competition 3, Cinéma Beaumont
- Catherine Lepage's inspiration for Ultra Strong comes from her experience growing up in Charlesbourg, and the story is drawn from her books Bouées and Voler au-dessus des trous.
- Special appearance by Bruce Dickinson, legendary singer, songwriter and frontman of Iron Maiden, who plays an idealized version of himself in both the English and French versions of the film. Dickinson recorded his lines for the film at Studio Expression in Quebec City on November 11, 2024.
- Original music by Régine (founding member of Arcade Fire), marking her debut as a solo film score composer; she also voices the narration in English and French.
- The film received the Jury's Special Mention - Canadian Competition along with the Audience Award at the 2026 Sommets du cinéma d'animation de Montréal.
Paradaïz by Matea Radic (NFB, 9 min 28)
Screenings: Friday, September 11, at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, September 12, at 8:30 p.m.
Short Films - Competition 4, Cinéma Beaumont
- In Paradaïz, Matea Radic weaves absurdist animation, family photos, wry humour and her own slippery memories as she revisits Sarajevo, the war‑torn city she fled as a child in the 1990s.
- The film has been selected by more than 35 festivals worldwide and garnered 11 honours to date, including two Oscar-qualifying awards.
Official Selection (out of competition)
Plus rien n'est égal par ailleurs (All Things Are No Longer Equal) by Martin Bureau (NFB, 66 min) - with the filmmaker in attendance
Screening: Friday, September 11, at 9 p.m., Cinéma Beaumont
- Blending documentary and visual art, this radical film dives deep into Western society, steeped in crisis and captive to the excesses of capitalism but still not lacking in collective solutions, which are revealed by philosopher Alain Deneault.
- The film had a sold-out screening at the International Festival of Films on Art in Quebec City in March 2026 and was recently awarded the Jury Grand Prize at the Festival de films pour l'environnement in Saint-Casimir de Portneuf, Quebec.
Free outdoor screenings in Place d'Youville - "Cœur du FCVQ - Desjardins"
Saturday, September 12 | 3 p.m.
15 Years of Quebec Shorts - 2021 to 2026
- La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles (The Girl Who Cried Pearls) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (NFB, 2025, 17 min 28 s)
The 2026 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short Film! A celebration of the magic of stop-motion animation, the film is a meticulously crafted fable about a girl overwhelmed by sorrow, the boy who loves her, and how greed leads good hearts to wicked deeds.
Thursday, September 10 | 3 p.m.
15 Years of Quebec Shorts - 2016 to 2021
- La pureté de l'enfance (Sweet Childhood) by Zviane (Sacrebleu Productions/NFB, 2017, 3 min)
Cartoonist Zviane is transported back to her childhood when she stumbles across a cassette she recorded back in the day. Using an actual recording from the cartoonist's youth, the film hilariously captures the vivid imagination of a child. A slice of everyday life, courtesy of the Comic Strip Chronicles.
Wednesday, September 9 | 3 p.m.
15 Years of Quebec Shorts - 2011 to 2016
- Vaysha l'aveugle (Blind Vaysha) by Theodore Ushev (NFB, 2016, 8 min 13 s)
Nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2017, the film is a metaphoric tale reminding us of the importance of living in the present moment.
- Bydlo by Patrick Bouchard (NFB, 2012, 8 min 53 s)
The music of Mussorgsky provided inspiration for Bydlo, an animated short that depicts a mighty ox emerging from the rain-soaked earth, only to be devoured by greedy, angry humans.
