Founded as a film collective in 2006 by Montreal based directors Dan Popa and Robby Reis, Natali Film is best known for their captivating films which merge documentary subject matter with poetic imagery. Both filmmakers draw inspiration from their visual art background as a means to continually explore a contemporary cinematic language. Their leading ambition is to pursue writing, directing and producing revealing auteur films, which explore thought-provoking characters through a path of self-discovery.

(Photo by Tania Dos Santos)

Their recent productions have been screened at TIFF, the MoMA, the Lincoln Center for the Arts, Le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Les Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois, Les Rendez-vous du documentaire international de Montréal, the Philadelphia Independent Film Fest and the Brooklyn Film Fest, among many others.

Dan Popa’s most recent Installation project Partitions for Aquamarine is a multimedia installation in dialogue with Symphony in Aquamarine, his first feature film. These two works offer a poetic exploration of human nature in the face of its world in transition. Recipient of three prestigious artistic residencies in Switzerland, Italy and Colombia, he was also invited in 2020-2021 as Aritist-in-Residence at Concordia University in the Film Production department. He is currently in development on a second feature entitled Sisters of the Union, an autobiographical documentary at the crossroads of fantasy and Socialist Realism that takes place during the rise and fall of the socialist republic in Romania.

With the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Robby Reis is developing an experimental non-fiction film titled “Our Father,” which utilizes archival images to explore his relationship with his deceased father while recounting their family’s migration from the Portuguese island of São Miguel to Montreal. The film’s correspondence-like narration between father and son is facilitated by cutting-edge AI voice cloning software graciously provided by ElevenLabs, through which Reis has faithfully recreated his late father’s voice in many of the film’s recently produced sequences.

Natali Film would like to recognize the generous support of all the funding agencies and organizations that have contributed to their productions.