Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Pour toi Flora, a six-part miniseries produced by Jason Brennan (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program), was greenlit by Radio-Canada and will be their first project written, directed and produced by Indigenous creators.

Pour toi Flora examines the bitter legacy of residential schools in Quebec. The series is story driven and based on the true events of two Anishinabeg who are trying to come to terms with their painful past in the residential school system. Writer and director Sonia Bonspille Boileau is also signed onto the project.

The miniseries begins filming this fall in Algonquin territory with the support of the Kitigan-Zibi Indigenous community. It is set to premiere on APTN, as well as streaming service ICI.TOU.TV EXTRA in 2022 and will be presented in French and Anishinaabemowin.

The post Miniseries Pour toi Flora from producer Jason Brennan begins filming this fall appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy wins the Rogers Audience Award, Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award and is one of the Top 20 films at the festival

Congratulations to the many alumni who received awards at this year’s Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. The festival ran virtually from April 29 to May 9.

Hot Docs handed out 11 awards for their official competition, presenting over $67K in cash prizes to Canadian and international filmmakers. Alumni received awards in the following categories:

Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary

• One of Ours – produced by Laura Perlmutter (NSI Drama Prize)

Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award

• Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (NSI IndigiDocs program manager) for Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy – written, directed and produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski (NSI Art of Business Management – Indigenous Edition program advisor)

Don Haig Award

• Lalita Krishna (NSI Global Marketing) for Bangla Surf Girls

Hot Docs also allows the public to vote on their favourite films at the festival. Alumni received awards in the following categories:

Rogers Audience Award 

• FANNY: The Right to Rock – executive produced by Catherine Bainbridge (NSI Global Marketing)
• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy – written, directed and produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski
• Someone Like Me – directed by Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams (both TELUS STORYHIVE)

Top 20

• FANNY: The Right to Rock – executive produced by Catherine Bainbridge
• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy – written, directed and produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski
• Someone Like Me – directed by Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams
• Subjects of Desire – written, directed and produced by Jennifer Holness (NSI Drama Prize, Telefilm – Canada Spark Plug Program, NSI Global Marketing), produced by Sudz Sutherland (NSI Totally Television)
• One of Ours – produced by Laura Perlmutter
• Spirit to Soar – consulting editor Shane Belcourt (NSI Totally Television, Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program, NSI IndigiDocs program advisor)

Top 5 Shorts

• Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again – written and directed by Courtney Montour (NSI IndigiDocs), produced by Kat Baulu (NSI Drama Prize)

Top 5 Midlengths

• Spirit to Soar – consulting editor Shane Belcourt

Top Canadian Spectrum

• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy – written, directed and produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski

Top Made in Columbia

• Rebel Love – produced by Jaime Escallon-Buraglia (NSI Totally Television)

Top Persister

• FANNY: The Right to Rock – executive produced by Catherine Bainbridge

Top Special Presentation

• Subjects of Desire – written, directed and produced by Jennifer Holness, produced by Sudz Sutherland

Congratulations to Lisa Jackson (Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program) for winning the $10K Hot Docs Industry Forum Canadian Forum Pitch Prize for Wilfred Buck. The film follows a man who has been called the Indiana Jones of Indigenous star knowledge, weaving his harrowing past and present to explore colonization’s impact on Indigenous ways of knowing.

See the complete list of winners for the official award competition and the audience voted awards.

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