Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Doc Call of the Forest screens at Art Gallery of Ontario this weekend

Posted: 09 May 2017 04:09 PM PDT

Call of the Forest, a documentary from producer Merit Jensen Carr (NSI Global Marketing), screens this weekend at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

Screening on May 12 and 13 at 7 p.m., Call of the Forest is about trees: one of this planetʼs most significant creators of food, new medicines and oxygen. Forests hold the answer to many of the worldʼs problems, from climate change to human health and well-being.

The May 12 screening includes a panel discussion and the May 13 screening includes a Q&A session with the filmmakers.

Find out more and buy tickets.

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NSI Features First-developed The Sun At Midnight wins best narrative feature at Bentonville Film Fest

Posted: 09 May 2017 01:14 PM PDT

NSI Features First-developed film The Sun At Midnight from Kirsten Carthew won best narrative by jury at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas over the weekend.

Bentonville Film Festival is a one-of-a-kind annual event that champions women and diversity in all aspects of entertainment media.

The Sun At Midnight tells the story of an unusual friendship between a hunter obsessed with finding a missing caribou herd and a teenage rebel who gets lost while on the run.

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NSI Features First 2017 is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World wins Hot Docs Audience Award & $50K Rogers Audience Award

Posted: 09 May 2017 12:41 PM PDT

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World from Rezolution Pictures’ Catherine Bainbridge and Christina Fon (both NSI Global Marketing) won the Hot Docs Audience Award and the $50K Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian documentary at last week’s Hot Docs fest in Toronto.

The film tells the story of an essential and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: music icons talking about some of their biggest Native influences. Many of the musicians profiled in Rumble either kept their heritage secret or downplayed it, fearing racist backlash.

Congrats to Catherine, Christina and the whole Rumble team.

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Werewolf wins Screen Nova Scotia’s best feature award

Posted: 09 May 2017 12:15 PM PDT

Congratulations to director/producer Ashley McKenzie and producer Nelson MacDonald (both NSI Drama Prize) whose film Werewolf won a Screen Nova Scotia award for best feature last week during a sold out gala event in Halifax.

NSI nominated Werewolf (formerly Train Whistle Does Not Blow) for the Telefilm Canada Micro-Budget Production Program in 2015.

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Submit your film to the 2017 Planet in Focus Environmental film fest

Posted: 09 May 2017 11:53 AM PDT

The 18th annual Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival is open for submissions. Jordana Aarons (NSI Totally Television, NSI Features First) is the fest’s executive director.

Each year, Planet in Focus hosts films from around the world, showcasing stories and perspectives to get audiences thinking differently about the world in which we live.

The festival includes Eco-Hero Award presentations, full-day industry series, panels, youth programs and other special events.

Submit your film.

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Pre-production begins on NSI Features First-developed SuperGrid

Posted: 09 May 2017 10:56 AM PDT

Congratulations to producer Hugh Patterson and writer Todd McCauley whose NSI Features First-developed project SuperGrid is now in pre-production.

The pre-production process, including costs and bringing WolfCop director Lowell Dean on board, is the subject of a recent piece in the Regina Leader-Post.

In SuperGrid, a young smuggler is forced to make a run on the road that took the life of his younger sister. Production is slated to begin in Regina in June.

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NSI Features First 2017 is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

NSI Features First 2016 was funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Program Partner The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Provincial Sponsors Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), Innovation PEI and Creative Saskatchewan; and Industry Partner Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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Christine Kleckner’s A Better Man screens at Hot Docs in June

Posted: 09 May 2017 10:02 AM PDT

A Better Man from producer Christine Kleckner (NSI Drama Prize) screens June 9 to 21 in Toronto as part of Hot Doc’s year-round programming.

Illuminating a unique paradigm for domestic-violence prevention, A Better Man offers a fresh and nuanced look at the healing and revelation that can happen for everyone involved when men take responsibility for their abuse.

It also empowers audience members to play new roles in challenging domestic violence, whether it’s in their own relationships or as part of a broader movement for social change.

Buy advance tickets at Hot Docs.

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Matt Watterworth named best Calgary filmmaker

Posted: 09 May 2017 09:56 AM PDT

Best of Calgary has released their 2016 best of the city list, and Matt Watterworth (NSI Features First) has been named best filmmaker.

His current project, In Plainview, with fellow NSI Features First grad and producer Scott Westby, is currently in post-production.

Spencer Estabrooks (NSI Business for Producers) was a runner-up in the same category.

Congrats Matt and Spencer.

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Before She’s Gone … by Arun Fryer + 3 more films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival

Posted: 09 May 2017 08:26 AM PDT

Four films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Arun Fryer, Patrick Barfoot and Leila Almawy, Aisling Chin-Yee and Dustin Chok.

Before She’s Gone …

Before She’s Gone … | Documentary, 18:30, English, BC, 2016 | Director: Arun Fryer

Stan and Shirley have been married for 67 years, but in 2001 Shirley was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Stan devoted the next 15 years taking care of his beloved wife, extending her life far beyond hope.

A film where past, present and future steadily disintegrate and, yet, a most profound love endures. Using 8mm footage from 1955 to GoPro video from 2015, Before She’s Gone … is a love story for the ages.

The Constant Refugee

The Constant Refugee | Documentary, 6:35, English, ON, 2016 | Director: Patrick Barfoot, Leila Almawy

This is Saifan Estefan’s story.

From the escape of the Armenian genocide by Saifan’s grandfather to Saifan’s own displacement due to the Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War, to his harrowing experience with Turkey’s current refugee crisis, it would seem that Saifan’s family legacy is that of discrimination, war and flight.

But with his young family – wife Talar and son Zenos – Saifan hopes for a safer and more inclusive future.

This is his journey.

Sound Asleep

Sound Asleep | Drama, 14:00, English, QC, 2013 | Director: Aisling Chin-Yee

On Declan’s sixth birthday his baby brother, Michael, dies of sudden infant death syndrome. He’s left wondering if he will suffer the same mysterious fate.

Based on a true story, Sound Asleep is an intimate drama about death from the perspective of a young boy.

Trapline

Trapline | Documentary, 11:37, English, AB, 2016 | Director: Dustin Chok

Bill dreamed of life on the land from as far back as he can remember.

Trapline is a portrait of the modern Canadian trapper.

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Call for films / submit by June 12

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Monday, June 12, 2017.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning over $3K in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2012.

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.

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