Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Ignite Worldwide is seeking feedback from Canadian filmmakers.

Founded by Lilian Sue, Rachelle Chartrand, Titus Heckel and Sarah Kalil, the site is a community-driven social platform that brings together genre storytellers to ignite real-world change.

They’re currently in the research stages for a product intended to help filmmakers access audiences and financing.

If you’re interested in helping them out, complete this online survey.

The post Ignite Worldwide seeking feedback from Canadian filmmakers appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Gimli Film Festival went online for 2020 and celebrated regional talent.

Mary Galloway (TELUS STORYHIVE) won the ACTRA Manitoba Achievement in Acting Award for her role in Ruthless Souls, produced by Darcy Waite (NSI IndigiDocs, CBC New Indigenous Voices).

Joanne Roberts won the RBC $10,000 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition with her short film Anak. Joanne will be mentored by NSI’s Elise Swerhone over the next year as she produces her film for the 2021 festival.

The post Mary Galloway and Joanne Roberts win at Gimli Film Festival appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

The Curse of Willow Song by director Karen Lam

Congratulations to the following NSI graduates who shone in the film and television categories at the recent 2020 Leo Awards.

• Best Motion Picture – Rustic Oracle by producer Jason Brennan (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program)

• Best Direction, Motion Picture – Karen Lam (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Totally Television), The Curse of Willow Song 

• Best Cinematography, Television Movie – Amy Belling (NSI Features First), Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas

• Best Picture Editing, Television Movie – Simon Davidson (NSI Totally Television), Stolen By My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story 

• Best Short Drama – We Came from the Sea by producer Jeremy Lutter (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First)

• Best Dramatic Series – Fortunate Son by producers Erin Haskett (NSI Drama Prize), Tom Cox (NSI DramaLab)

• Best Direction, Youth of Children’s Program or Series – Heather Hawthorn Doyle (NSI Global Marketing), Odd Squad – Raising The Bar

• Best Performance, Youth or Children’s Program or Series – Peter Benson (NSI Totally Television), The Healing Powers of Dude – Middle School Musical 

If we missed celebrating your award, please let us know.

The post NSI alumni win big at Leo Awards appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel by producer Trish Dolman

Films from Tracey Deer, Daniel Bekerman, Michelle Latimer, Trish Dolman, Zoe Leigh Hopkins, Jenna Neepin and Dusty Mancinelli have been announced in latest round of features for the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

• Beans by director/writer Tracey Deer (NSI Storytellers, Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program)

Based on true events, Tracey Deer’s debut feature chronicles the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 in Quebec.

• Falling by producer Daniel Bekerman (NSI Features First)

In his feature directorial debut, Viggo Mortensen stars as a gay man on a patience-testing mission to care for his ailing, solitary and homophobic father.

• Inconvenient Indian by director Michelle Latimer (NSI Drama Prize)

Michelle Latimer’s affecting adaptation of Thomas King’s award-winning book explores the cultural colonization of Indigenous peoples in North America.

• The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel by producer Trish Dolman (NSI Features First)

The sequel to The Corporation exposes how companies are desperately rebranding as socially responsible – and how that threatens democratic freedoms.

• Trickster by writer/director/executive producer Michelle Latimer, writer Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program) and associate producer Jenna Neepin (NSI IndigiDocs)

Based on Eden Robinson’s bestselling novel, this series follows an Indigenous teen struggling to support his dysfunctional family as myth, magic and monsters slowly infiltrate his life.

• Violation by writer/director/producer Dusty Mancinelli (NSI Features First)

TIFF runs September 10 to 15. The full schedule will be announced August 25. Register for industry accreditation. Visit the TIFF website for more information.

The post Six features from NSI alumni announced for TIFF 2020 appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).