Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

NSI grads pick up awards at 2018 imagineNATIVE film fest

Posted: 22 Oct 2018 01:45 PM PDT

Darcy Waite, Ryan Cooper, Adeline Bird, Alexandra Lazarowich / Link to imagineNATIVE

Above from left: Darcy Waite, Ryan Cooper, Adeline Bird, Alexandra Lazarowich

Congratulations to the NSI grads who took home awards at the 2018 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto this past weekend.

Best Interactive Work

Biidaaban: First Light by Lisa Jackson (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program, NSI IndigiDocs program advisor)

The Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Best Short Work

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) by Amanda Strong (NSI IndigiDocs)

Best Documentary Work Short Format

FAST HORSE by Alexandra Lazarowich (NSI IndigiDocs)

APTN and imagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch

Ryan Cooper (CBC New Indigenous Voices, NSI IndigiDocs) and Adeline Bird (CBC New Indigenous Voices)

The Rising Director Mentorship Award

Alexandra Lazarowich

The Rising Producer Mentorship Award

Darcy Waite (CBC New Indigenous Voices, NSI IndigiDocs)

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Apply for STORYHIVE Indigenous edition, $20K production grant

Posted: 22 Oct 2018 12:56 PM PDT

STORYHIVE Indigenous edition 2018 / Link to STORYHIVE

The latest STORYHIVE edition is now open for applications. In this edition, STORYHIVE will greenlight 20 Indigenous-led projects from storytellers in British Columbia and Alberta, selected by an all-Indigenous jury.

Apply for one of 20 x $20k production grants and distribution on select TELUS platforms by submitting a pitch video, budget and script draft or treatment.

Eligibility requirements:

  • The project lead must be an Indigenous creator of any territory, including First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Indigenous people from other countries that are citizens of Canada that reside in BC or Alberta.
  • The project lead can be a first time producer/filmmaker – previous experience is not required to be eligible.
  • The project must have a self-identified female in at least one of the following key creative roles: producer, director, writer, director of photography, head animator (for animation projects only), storyboard artist (for animation projects only), editor, composer, production designer.
  • The project lead needs to fill one of the key creative roles (listed above) and at least one other key creative role must be filled by an Indigenous creator.

Deadline to apply is December 4. Find out more and submit your application.

Once the finalists are chosen, NSI provides mentorship and training for the selected projects and their creators.

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The Hollow Child hits theatres in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary

Posted: 22 Oct 2018 11:26 AM PDT

The Hollow Child / Link to Twitter

Supernatural horror film The Hollow Child from Jeremy Lutter (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First) and Ben Rollo (NSI Script to Screen) hit theatres in Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary over the weekend, with additional screening dates this week. Catch the film in the following cities:

Toronto – Imagine Cinemas Carlton
Daily from now until Thursday, October 25 at 4:10 and 9:30 p.m.

Ottawa – Mayfair Theatre
Monday, October 22 at 9 p.m.

Calgary – The Globe Cinema
Daily from now until Thursday, October 25 at 9:10 p.m.

This Telefilm Canada micro-budget production follows troubled teen Samantha (Jessica McLeod) whose position in her new foster family is jeopardized when her new sister Olivia goes missing in the woods, only to reappear, apparently unharmed, days later. When Samantha suspects that what emerged from the woods is not Olivia, her investigation brings her face to face with an evil presence which has haunted their town for generations.

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Skip

Posted: 18 Oct 2018 11:37 AM PDT

In a coastal town in Newfoundland a man named Skip cares for his widowed grandfather, admires the local store clerk from afar and dreams of making something of his life through an unlikely endeavor: rock skipping.

Creative team

Writer/director: Jenina MacGillivray
Producers: Kelly Davis, Tamara Segura

About Jenina MacGillivray

Jenina MacGillivray

Jenina MacGillivray is a musician/writer/director based in St. John’s, NL.

A former Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) international intern, she trained with the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-op (NIFCO) and studied screenwriting in Prague, Czech Republic.

Jenina attended the Summer Institute of Film and Television (SIFT) session run by Peter Wintonick, her longtime mentor. She has an MA in philosophy in the area of phenomenology and film theory.

In 2015 she received the RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award for her script of The Tour. She was recently awarded the prestigious Picture Start grant from NIFCO for her latest short film Skip.

Jenina is interested in developing both documentary and dramatic film projects.

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

Martin’s Hagge

Posted: 18 Oct 2018 11:32 AM PDT

Martin, a middle-aged despondent writer, is burdened with Hagge, his wily personification of anxiety and depression but, after freewheeling Norah encroaches on his workspace, he learns apathy is a choice.

Creative team

Writer: Gordon Pinsent
Director: Penny Eizenga
Producers: Rebekah Boisvert, Penny Eizenga, Ben Robinson

Filmmaker’s statement

Hagge, a character created by Gordon Pinsent, is female, taking on a crusty, ancient decrepitude who loves nothing more than taunting her prey.

The Hagge captured me. I’ve never seen a fantasy character in film depict anxiety and depression, particularly a character so theatrical. I wanted to tell a story about anxiety and depression that included some humour and weirdness.

Hagge is definitely not an angel on Martin’s shoulder. Quite the opposite.

I love how Hagge desperately clings to Martin in order to stay pertinent, invaluable. Without his acknowledgment, she is nothing but a wizened creature of his imagination. In re-joining humanity, Martin takes the wind out of Hagge’s sails.

When her grip on Martin begins to slip, she’s forced to change tactics. First teasing, then dismissive, shifting to flattery, to empty threats, but Martin doesn’t bite.

On the verge of disappearing altogether and desperate to find another victim, she whispers dire warnings into the ears of pedestrians passing by, to no avail. Finally, settling on her last hope, takes the man’s head in her hands, happily home again.

About Penny Eizenga

Penny Eizenga

Penny Eizenga is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker and actor.

Penny recently directed the short film Martin’s Hagge, written by Canada’s icon Gordon Pinsent and starring Sheila McCarthy, now in the festival circuit.

The Run, her first foray into directing, won an award of merit at the Best Shorts Competition in La Jolla, CA. The film also screened at the Blue Stocking Film Series in Portland, Maine, Raindance Canada’s Indie Fest, Long Beach Indie International Film Festival, the LA Femme Film Festival and Houston Worldfest.

She was producer on the 2015 feature film Go Fish, with award-winning director/writer Brett Heard, which won audience choice award at the Muskoka Independent Film Festival.

Penny has produced over 20 concept television pilots and short films in collaboration with The Incubator Studio. She has also written, produced and starred in two award-winning shorts, Margaret Finds Her Mojo and Wilderness, directed by CFC grad Dawn Wilkinson.

Her web-based experience includes writing and directing pilot Grateful Tails, as well as producing a 21-episode series called The Giant Comes Out which screened at the LA Comedy Fest.

Penny has written two feature film screenplays, Put Your Lips On and Pretend to Sleep.

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