Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Unpredictable, a screwball feature screenplay by writer/director Allison Beda (NSI Features First) and writer Eileen Cook, has been announced as a top 10 finalist in BET Network Project CRE8.

In Unpredictable, Sophie Kintock poses as a psychic to win her ex-boyfriend back, failing to predict how much fun she will have and how much trouble it will get her into.

You can vote for an Allison-directed clip of the film on the BET CRE8 website. Voting ends July 25, 2018. The winner gets their screenplay bought by BET for $55K.

The post Allison Beda’s Unpredictable one of BET CRE8’s top 10 finalists appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Mediocre camp counsellor Mindy may finally get her due when she’s trapped in the snack shack turned speakeasy for the night after the absent-minded camp director Johanna comes sniffing around.

Creative team

Writer: Cody Peterson
Director: Jesse Lupini
Producers: Amanda Verhagen, Synnove Godeseth

Filmmaker’s statement

When producer Amanda Verhagen approached me about directing Mindy, I didn’t even have to think about it. I’ve worked as a camp counsellor myself and know very well the joys and headaches that come along with it.

Based on a concept he’d been workshopping for quite some time, writer Cody Peterson mainly focuses on the headaches, but that’s really the fun of it. While I’ve worked with kids many times before, this was my first time doing so in the context of film, and it was just as fun as I thought it would be.

Having the opportunity to work with so many great actors is always fantastic, and this was no exception. Brianna Wiens was cracking us all up on set as the camp-weary Mindy, and I think the fun we had really shows through in the finished film. This film was written for the Women in Comedy Festival, so our only constraint was that we had to open with the line “I’ll take whatever you’ve got.”

We actually shot and finished the whole film in only 14 days, and I’m super proud of the whole team for making it happen. Shooting this short really made me want to go back to summer camp, but maybe one without so many children drumming …

About Jesse Lupini

Jesse Lupini is a writer, director and musician, best known for his Sci-Fi Crazy8s short Iteration 1, which screened worldwide and won best sci-fi short at the Atlanta Shortsfest.

His most recent short, Day 34, won best film and best director at the Run n’ Gun Film Competition, among others.

He has also directed commercials for brands including Postmark Brewing, Kanso Coffee, DigiTech and Belgard Kitchen, as well producing a video about the BC election that was watched by over half a million BC residents.

He has a number of recently completed shorts that will be in the 2019 festival circuit.

The post Mindy and the Snack Shack appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

High-schooler Merit discovers his sexuality through a tumultuous relationship with his friend Julien.

Creative team

Writer/director: Jesse Gotfrit
Producers: Sean Brennan, Ethan Lammie

About Jesse Gotfrit

Jesse Gotfrit is a 23-year-old musician, filmmaker and writer, currently operating in Montreal.

Previously he spent four years at Simon Fraser University doing English literature and film productions.

Originally from Vancouver, he has done a lot of journalistic work regarding the housing, arts and culture crisis undergone by the city in recent years.

As a storyteller, in music and film, his subject matter thus far has focused on destabilization, emotional and otherwise, which many adolescents and young adults experience, whether from their sexuality, income status or mental health, etc.

He is now a film studies major at Concordia University in Montreal where he hopes to expand his engagement and understanding as a student and as an emerging artist.

The post Sunlight Over Water appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Brian is 11 years old and failing socially in his neighbourhood.

In 1977, being slightly on the autistic spectrum just means you’re weird and a target. He is repeatedly beat up and abused by a bully. Meanwhile his mother, Helen, doesn’t fit into her role of housewife and mother either as she struggles with the stresses of being at home and raising three kids completely on her own.

As the two stories come together, Helen finds herself by helping her son stand up for himself in the only way that makes sense to her. Regardless of what ‘proper’ society thinks of it.

Creative team

Writer/director: Michael Clowater
Producer: Jessica Miller

Filmmaker’s statement

I’ve always been attracted to stories about loneliness (embracing it or fighting it). And I definitely saw these two main characters as outsiders as I was writing it.

It’s loosely based on events in my own life and so I wanted to set it in the 70’s. It wasn’t just a stylistic choice but I wanted to create a world where kids had more room without adults and larger ‘in between’ spaces where they were left alone. If you were the type of kid that had a hard time navigating that, life could be a bit tough.

To me, this story isn’t about bullying, but rather about figuring out a way to stand up for yourself. And I wanted both Helen and Brian to have that struggle. I took a lot of inspiration from films that I grew up with as well, like E.T. and The Bad News Bears.

I hope you like it.

About Michael Clowater

Michael Clowater is a New Brunswick-born filmmaker. This is his first live-action short dramatic film.

His first animated short film (Alfred’s New Dog) played at TIFF Kids Film Festival (formally Sprockets) as well as Interfilm (Berlin), the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival (Toronto), the marketplace at Clermont Ferrand and was showcased at the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum in NYC as part of an exhibit on independent children’s films.

Michael’s TV commercial work has won creative awards worldwide (including at Cannes) and has been written about in such publications/media as CBC, Adweek and The Guardian.

He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife, two sons and a gecko named Michaelangelo.

The post Four Eyes appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

The story of local Red Deer community kokums Bertha Poor and Rosina Winnie as they remember their survival of residential school in northern Saskatchewan.

Creative team

Director: Rueben Tschetter
Producer: Valerie Miller

Filmmaker’s statement

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada report has 94 recommendations, or calls to action.

A Historic Survival is a powerful short film inspired by a talk from Senator Murray Sinclair, commissioner of the TRC, at Red Deer College in March 2016 shortly after the publication of the TRC report. A Historic Survival is informed by a history that Canada is reconciling, or attempting to reconcile with. This film checks several calls to action mentioned in the TRC report.

This film is an example of recommendations 84, 85 and 86, which call upon the media to help with reconciliation.

The film also exemplifies 67 through 76, calling on museums and archives to step forward to help with reconciliation. Red Deer Museum & Art Gallery has created an exhibit to tell the story of residential schools and the impact to the central Alberta community, with this film as a central element in the exhibit.

Within the story are examples of how gathering information about missing children and burials can help with reconciliation. I could go on, but most of all A Historic Survival is a powerful story of two people sharing and using their brutal childhood experiences to imagine a better world.

I encourage viewers to see Being Kokum, the story of Rosina Winnie and Bertha Poor making their community in central Alberta a better place to live. This story and more can be found on The CACHE Project website.

About Rueben Tschetter

I am the creator of the The CACHE Project and 50% owner of CACHE Productions. My partner Rickie Yeoman and I create films that tell stories about Alberta and Western Canada.

Our modus operandi is best explained by The CACHE Project. This project creates and archives (caches) human interest stories told from a non-thematic, geographically significant, humanistic perspective. What does that mean? It means our stories are considered on the merits that they inform and include everyone in the community, rather than tell about a specific theme or point of view.

The stories encapsulate the innovation, diligence, energy and emotion within a strong Albertan and Western Canadian identity. The CACHE Project aims to tell stories with high-quality original visual narratives and to develop an original style of storytelling that compliments Western Canadian culture. We celebrate this community and its people by telling their story, so that history and its efforts can be appreciated.

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