Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Documentary feature What Walaa Wants from director Christy Garland (NSI Drama Prize) is one of five curated films screening nationally as part of the Academy’s Canadian Screen Arts Festival.

What Walaa Wants is an NFB co-production about a spirited girl from the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank who is determined to become one of the few policewomen in the Palestinian Security Forces. Beginning soon after her mother’s return from eight years in an Israeli prison, the documentary follows Walaa from the ages of 15 to 21 in an engrossing tale of a defiant young woman determined to reach her goals.

The Canadian Screen Arts Festival is a curated screening series offering the best in contemporary filmmaking. Other films included in the series are Dans la brume, Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt, Sashinka and Stockholm. Films screen at various venues nationally throughout March.

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A young mother with weekend custody struggles with the ambiguity of her child’s safety.

Her fear of harm to her daughter, lack of power, clarity and surety plague their weekend together.

Creative team

Writer/director: Taylor Olson
Producer: Sylvia Bell

Filmmaker’s statement

This film explores the question: what do we do when we are without power, unsure of our child’s safety, but faced with ambiguity in the matter of potential abuse? How do we make the most of an awful situation?

It is an intimate piece, designed to put the viewer in the room with the characters and action. It examines the relationship and love between a daughter and her mother, and questions the idea of safety and consequences.

About Taylor Olson

Taylor is an ACTRA-nominated actor and Screen NS nominated writer/filmmaker based in Halifax.

He is one half of Afro Viking Pictures, and has directed/written films such as Hustle & Heart, Cut, Perfectly Sane, Grace and Masc. His films have screened internationally and won prizes at CBC’s Short Film Face Off, FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival, Emerging Lens Film Festival, Bluenose Ability Film Festival and Big Terror Film Festival.

Next, Taylor will direct the feature film Bone Cage under Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program.

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

Excited to attend Fareed’s birthday party, Danny finds out why his mother is concerned about this friendship.

Creative team

Writer/director: Zahra Faraji
Producers: Zahra Faraji, Reza Shirvani

Filmmaker’s statement

My childhood is filled with war memories: eight years of war between Iran and Iraq. In my teenage years, unaware of the effects, I could see myself joining the army and going to the battlefield.

Film study changed my world. Film school opened my eyes to see the bitter truth that my society was trying to hide: the violence behind the war and its long-term psychological effect on people. I moved to Canada to experience a diverse society and a different lifestyle where society does not encourage you to be ready for a probable war.

I started to discover how it feels to live in a peaceful environment, with no hatred, no discrimination and no hard feelings. And becoming a Canadian gave me a new personality, something that does not happen to everyone who picks the third country to reside in.

Living peacefully is not easily achievable for people who have experienced living in a war zone. Most people who deal with war PTSD carry the problem to the new land and even unconsciously transfer the anger to their next generation.

My short film The Gift tries to realistically portray a mother who has lost a loved one in war and struggles to recover.

About Zahra Faraji

Zahra Faraji is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. She has years of experience as a script writer and assistant film editor.

Zahra’s short films have been promoted by film festivals, earning her awards and recognition. Her previous experience of working closely with successful Iranian filmmakers has made her develop a good sense of storytelling.

She is passionate about social issues and her stories often relate to what affects human society.

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

An intelligent, devout young woman announces to her family she’s going to abandon academics and become a nun but, in so doing, finds herself in opposition to her family’s wishes and questioning her own spiritual convictions.

Creative team

Writer/director: Aren Bergstrom
Producer: Tabitha Grove

Filmmaker’s statement

How do you communicate something as personal as spiritual conviction? How do you convince the people around you you’re not throwing your life away when you’re making a decision that goes against all conventional wisdom?

These are the questions I pondered when writing and directing A Consecrated Life, a very personal short film that tries to convey the spiritual struggles of a devout young woman making a life-changing decision.

Through heartfelt conversations and glimpses into Laura’s life, the film attempts to convey the internal life of a religious person as a universal struggle, one that’s familiar to any young person fighting to choose their own way in the world.

Although we live in a world that is increasingly irreligious and atomized, I believe Laura’s journey and the overwhelming questions about destiny and calling she faces are relatable to people in all walks of life. The film is my attempt to use cinema – the world’s greatest empathy machine in the words of the late Roger Ebert – to share a personal religious journey with those people that find such journeys unfathomable.

About Aren Bergstrom

Aren Bergstrom is an independent writer, director and film critic based out of Toronto. He hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and holds an English degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a certificate in advanced television and film from Sheridan College.

In addition to filmmaking, he co-founded the film website 3 Brothers Film and works as a content writer for a travel company. His short films include the sci-fi comedy QuanTom, which played festivals worldwide, and the absurdist dark comedy Läck.

He directed a recent episode of the web series Walk in the Park and is currently pitching a dark mystery limited television series entitled Lazarus.

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One woman’s foray into motherhood and her harrowing experience with postpartum depression.

Creative team

Writer: Heli Kennedy
Director: Joe Kicak
Producer: Cat McCormick

Filmmaker’s statement

During high school, I opened up to a teacher about my mother’s lifelong battle with bipolar disorder. She then shared her struggle with postpartum psychosis, which the film is based on.

Coming from an immigrant family that didn’t believe in (let alone speak about) mental illness, I find sharing stories of people’s struggles important. That way we can get through the isolated horror, and begin the hard discussions to heal together.

About Joe Kicak

Joe is a Toronto-born director and writer currently in post-production on the first CBC Gem original digital series, Detention Adventure (CBC).

His most recent film, the award-winning dark comedy short Must Kill Karl, financed by bravoFACT!, has screened at over 15 festivals and won awards including best comedy at HollyShorts, Golden Sheaf for best comedy, best international short, best director. The project was also selected by the National Screen Institute’s Features First program to be developed as a feature film.

Shaftesbury Films recently optioned Joe’s family TV adventure series, Magical Geographic. His previous credits include the award-winning short film Frigid, created with the generous participation of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council, and the award-winning short film Distilled Love, which was developed through the National Screen Institute’s Drama Prize program.

His feature film Two Days Till Tomorrow screened at festivals across North America and won a limited Canadian theatrical release with AMC Theatres.

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