NEW RECIPIENTS OF CANWEST-HOT DOCS FUNDS ANNOUNCED
$251,000 IN COMPLETION GRANTS AND DEVELOPMENT LOANS AWARDED TO TOP CANADIAN DOC PROJECTS
Toronto, July 22, 2010 - Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Canwest are pleased to announce that 12 projects have been chosen to receive a total of $251,000 in grants and no-interest loans from the Canwest-Hot Docs Documentary Funds in its fifth round of disbursements. Established in April of 2008, the Funds consist of a $3-million completion fund and a $1-million development fund that aim to provide Canadian documentary filmmakers with much needed financial support at critical stages in their projects.
"I think what stands out across this funding round is the diversity of storytelling styles, from classical vérité to character-driven narratives and conceptual essays," says Sean Farnel, director of programming at Hot Docs. "Of those projects near completion the committee was privileged to see works that we expect to be embraced by audiences in Canada and beyond this year and next. Still, it is also clear that producers are facing a funding crisis for creative documentaries in this country, a shame given the incredible rise in the popularity of the form that we've seen at Hot Docs over the past decade."
With these 12 projects, a total 55 projects have received funding via Canwest-Hot Docs Funds to date. A total of $1, 369,000 in completion grants and no-interest loans has been awarded since the Funds' inception. The application process for the second round of 2010 funding will open in the fall, with an application deadline of Wednesday, October 27. For further information on the application process, eligibility requirements and deadlines, please visit www.hotdocs.ca.
Canwest-Hot Docs Completion Fund
Eligible projects were considered by the Canwest-Hot Docs Completion Fund Selection Committee, which included Lynne Carter, Production Executive-Factual Content, Canwest Media Inc.;
Sean Farnel, Director of Programming, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and Aynsley Vogel, Head of Creative - Factual, Paperny Films.
Six completion grants totalling $182,000 were awarded to the following projects:
AT NIGHT, THEY DANCE
Producer: Lucie Lambert
Directors: Stéphane Thibault, Isabelle Lavigne
Production Company: Les films du tricycle
An observational portrait of a family of belly dancers in a working-class district of Cairo by award-winning filmmakers Stéphane Thibault and Isabelle Lavigne.
BEAUTY DAY
Producers: Michael McMahon, Kevin McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin
Director: Jay Cheel
Production Company: Primitive Entertainment
A very funny and moving personal history of one-time cable television star Ralph Zavadil, St. Catherine's own Cap'n Video.
CUDA
Producer and Director: Jeremy Torrie
Production Company: High Definition Pictures Inc.
A Canadian soldier faces trials and tribulations when attempting to restore the classic muscle car of his deceased platoon buddy.
FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE
Producer: Boris Ivanov
Director: Julia Ivanova
Production Company: Family Portrait Productions Inc.
Olga Nenya is raising 16 black children in Ukraine, where 99.9% of the population is white.
RECESSIONIZE! FOR FUN AND PROFIT!
Producer and Director: Jamie Kastner
Production Company: Cave 7 Productions Inc.
Jamie Kastner is our host for an international survey of inspirational and instructional tales from people finding creative ways to weather the economic storm.
RON HYNES - MAN OF A THOUSAND SONGS
Producers: Terry Greenlaw, Jordan Canning
Director: William D. MacGillivray
Production Company: Primitive Thunder Productions Ltd. (Picture Plant Ltd.)
A visceral profile of iconic singer-songwriter Ron Hynes, said to have provided the soundtrack for a generation of Newfoundlanders.
Canwest-Hot Docs Development Fund
Eligible projects were considered by the Canwest-Hot Docs Development Fund Selection Committee, which included Ric Bienstock, Producer/Director/Writer, Associated Producers Ltd.; Sean Farnel, Director of Programming, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and Samantha Linton, Director, Factual Content, Canwest Media Inc.
Six no-interest loans totalling $69,000 were awarded to the following projects:
THE ART OF AFFLICTION
Producer: Mary Barroll
Production Company: Mbmedia Productions Inc.
An exploration of the historical connections between art and illness.
A HISTORY OF BATTLE FATIGUE
Producers: Michael McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin, Alan Zweig
Director: Alan Zweig
Production Company: Primitive Entertainment
A point-of-view essay on post traumatic stress disorder as something we do to our own soldiers.
LOST HIGHWAY
Producers and Directors: Derreck Roemer and Neil Graham
Production Company: Insurgent Projects Inc.
The stories of people living and working along a once prosperous but now desolate stretch of Ontario's Highway 7.
PAINTING BY NUMBER$
Producer: Jeannette Loakman
Director: Brenda Kovrig
Production Company: Chaser Films
An exploration of the world of corporate art.
RISE UP
Producer: Deborah Parks
Director: Shelley Saywell
Production Company: Bishari Films
Follows Lorraine Segato's efforts to organize a concert featuring homeless performers.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRES
Producer: Ed Barreveld
Director: Rama Rau
Production Company: Storyline Entertainment
A look inside the lives of actual millionaires living in Mumbai's Dharavi slum.
Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com), (TSX: CGS and CGS.A,) an international media company, is Canada's largest media company. In addition to owning the Global Television Network, Canwest is Canada's largest publisher of paid English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio stations and networks in Canada, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Hot Docs (www.hotdocs.ca), North America's largest documentary festival, conference and market, will present its 18th annual edition from April 28 – May 8, 2011. An outstanding selection of 150+ documentaries from Canada and around the world will be presented to Toronto audiences and international delegates. Hot Docs will also mount a full roster of conference sessions and market events and services for documentary practitioners, including the renowned Toronto Documentary Forum and The Doc Shop.
Media Contact
Virginia Kelly
V Kelly & Associates, Inc.
Telephone: 416-466-9799
Email: info@vkpr.ca
