Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Congratulations to Janine Windolph (NSI Aboriginal Documentary) whose film The Land of Rock and Gold has been nominated in three categories at the Saskatchewan Independent Film Awards.

The film is up for prizes in the best feature, best acting and best technical achievement categories.

Now in its third year, the awards event takes place on November 24 at Regina’s Artesian Theatre. The evening will begin with a screening of the nominated films and conclude with a hosted award ceremony.

The Land of Rock and Gold is about a young Cree mother and her son who find themselves on the run in the wake of the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend.

Voting for the latest round of TELUS STORYHIVE animated shorts starts tomorrow, November 16, at noon PST.

Once voting opens, you’ll have 24 hours to pick your favourite project and cast a vote its way. Creators behind the top 10 projects will each receive a $10K grant to make a short animated film.

Learn more and ready your voting fingers.

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STORYHIVE is a community-powered funding program that allows members of the community to influence what projects will receive funding from TELUS.

The program allows content creators in British Columbia and Alberta to submit their story ideas to an online public platform. The community then votes for the project that should receive funding and go into production.

NSI delivers training for the selected projects and their creators once they’re chosen through the STORYHIVE process.

The Lockpicker, the debut feature from Randall Okita (Corus Diverse TV Director) screens at the Reel Asian International Film Fest in Toronto on Wednesday, November 16.

Catch the film at 6 p.m. at TIFF Bell Lightbox cinema 2.

The Lockpicker follows Hashi, who must confront the ubiquity of violence in his life when a brutal incident affects yet another close friend.

The 2017 call for submissions for the Yorkton Film Festival is now open.

Filmmakers can choose from 18 entry categories and up to three accompanying categories. All entries are adjudicated by members of the Canadian film industry across the country.

Yorkton offers a super early bird entry rate of $50 and free student entries prior to December 21.

Find out more and submit your film.

NSI Aboriginal Documentary short Cree Code Talker, from Alex Lazarowich and Cowboy Smithx, screens at California’s American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival this Saturday, November 19 at 1 p.m. alongside Dances With Wolves.

TELUS Optik™ Local series Ollie & Emma from Leslie Bland also screens at the fest on Friday, November 18.

Congratulations to the NSI grads with films screening at this year’s Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, including four films made through NSI programs.

Saturday, November 26 at 7 p.m.

• The Land of Rock and Gold from Janine Windolph (NSI Aboriginal Documentary)

Short film program: Saturday, November 26 at 9:30 p.m.

• NSI Aboriginal Documentary short Cree Code Talker from Alexandra Lazarowich and Cowboy Smithx

• NSI Aboriginal Documentary short Jane and the Wolf from Rachel Garrick and Nadine Arpin

MMIW film screenings: Sunday, November 27 at 1 p.m.

• NSI Aboriginal Documentary short 7 Minutes (pictured above) from Tasha Hubbard and Marilyn Poitras

Manitoba filmmakers night: Sunday, November 27 at 6 p.m.

• NSI New Voices short Open Mic from Olly King, Shannon Bear and Zachary Harper

• Remains, Human from Cody Halcrow (NSI New Voices) and Roger Boyer (NSI New Voices, NSI Storytellers)

Duane Howard, lead actor in NSI Features First film The Sun at Midnight, is the festival’s keynote speaker.

The fest runs from November 24 to 27.

If we missed your film, let us know!

Just one film in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival by Vivian Lin.

And They Watched

And They Watched | Sci-fi/Horror, 6:36, English, ON, 2015 | Director: Vivian Lin

A horror morality tale about a custodian of an electric chair.

The custodian, numb to the gruesome reality of his job, faces the specter of the chair’s last casualty. Inspired by the reinstatement of the electric chair in Tennessee, US.

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Call for films / submit by December 2

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Friday, December 2, 2016.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning up to $4,750 in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2011.

Your film must be less than 30 mins long. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible and must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer.

Submit your film

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The NSI Online Short Film Festival is made possible through the support of Festival Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Blue Ant Media, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Breakthrough Entertainment; Award Sponsors A&E Television Networks, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Corus Entertainment and Blue Ant Media; and Industry Partner the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.