Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Two projects from NSI alumni will be part of the Frontières genre market next month in Montreal, presented as part of Fantasia International Film Festival’s slate of programming.

The Retreat from writer/producer Alyson Richards (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First) and director Pat Mills (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Totally Television, NSI Features First, NSI Script to Screen) and NSI Features First-developed We Came From the Sea from writer Ryan Bright and director Jeremy Lutter will participate in this year’s market.

In The Retreat, a lesbian couple with a rocky relationship go to a friend’s pre-wedding retreat and end up fighting for their lives when a group of militant serial killers tries to murder them.

We Came From the Sea is about ruined athlete and recovering addict Einar, who fights to keep his wife and daughter safe when a stranger of unknown origin washes up on the shore of their remote island home. Einar must kill the stranger and a part of himself.

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Syfy Network has unveiled the trailer for new project The Banana Splits, a horror reboot of the ’60s Hanna-Barbera kids show. Danishka Esterhazy (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First) is directing.

The revival, which incorporates singing and dancing as well as slasher violence, follows Harley and his brother, Austin, and their parents, Beth and Mitch. While attending a taping of The Banana Splits TV series things take an unexpectedly deadly turn for Harley and his family.

The project is scheduled for release later this year.

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Karla Homolka is one of Canada’s most famous criminals. After serving only 12 years in prison she was released and is now living in Quebec, Canada. But is she really free?

Creative team

Writer: Maggie Parkhill
Director: Jordan Steinhauer
Producer: Maureen McEwan

Filmmaker’s statement

Writer Maggie Parkhill, producer Maureen McEwan and I initially bonded over our mutual interest in true crime. So when Maureen discovered the Watching Karla Homolka Facebook page and pitched the idea for this documentary, we all knew we had stumbled upon something great.

Watching Karla Homolka is a social media group with over 9,000 followers who have dedicated almost 15 years to tracking Karla Homolka’s every move and posting it for the public.

Ever since I took my initial deep dive into the crimes of Karla Homolka and the Facebook page, I’ve asked myself the same questions: what is the purpose of the Canadian justice system – to punish or rehabilitate? If you do the crime and serve the time – no matter how short it may be – do you deserve to be free?

Nearly two years later I’m not sure I have an answer.

About Jordan Steinhauer

Jordan Steinhauer is a filmmaker and journalist from St. John’s, NL, currently based in Toronto.

Some of her previous work includes the St. John’s Women’s Film Festival documentary selection The View From Here, CBC’s It Is Good, the TVO Short Doc Contest top 10 finalist I Am Apollo and the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival [Interactive] Incubator web series, Absorbed.

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Albertan apiarist Eliese Watson shares her beekeeping philosophy and provides us with an introspective look into why people connect with these tiny creatures we call bees.

Creative team

Director: James Frislev
Producer: Hali Belanger

Filmmaker’s statement

Eliese Watson has an undeniable Albertan charm. Through her educational work as founder of ABC Bees and as a respected apiarist, Eliese is an approachable and relatable subject.

I was so captivated by her philosophy of beekeeping and her outlook on life that I was faced with a real challenge of selecting what would appear on screen. With Eliese we had a surplus of knowledge and a very limited amount of time to show it, both a blessing and a curse. We were very fortunate to feature her thought-provoking dialogue in a short amount of time.

Keeper of Bees takes the viewer on a show-and-tell excursion into a day-in-the-life of an apiarist. We learn that being an apiarist is more than a career – for some, it’s a lifestyle. That is a huge part of what made this project such a joy for me, knowing I was going to learn so much making the film and just being so thankful to share what I learned with the community.

About James Frislev

James Frislev is a 23-year-old filmmaker born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. Pulling from a background in marketing and visual arts, James is a driven, creative personality with a love for earth’s wonders.

James has worked on such notable productions as Hell on Wheels, Mutant World, Van Helsing (the series) and The Order in a visual effects capacity. Keeper of Bees is James’ first foray into documentary directing; he will be a graduate of SAIT’s film and video production program this spring.

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