Alumni are keeping busy this fall with films on the festival circuits, taking home various awards across the industry and bringing viewers new content to enjoy. Read on for the latest updates from CFC alumni.

The Book of Distance

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

2020 VIFF Awards

• Best Canadian Film: BEANS, from Tracey Deer
• Best in Animation: The Book of Distance, from Randall Okita

Reelworld Visionary Award

• Dr. Shirley Cheechoo (CFC Board Member) was named the 2020 recipient of the Reelworld Visionary Award, which honours industry leaders who have dedicated decades toward changing the face of the Canadian entertainment industry through advocating, creating spaces, and pushing boundaries.

Best in Business Awards

• IDEABOOST alum The Logic won Gold in SABEW’s 6th Annual Best in Business Awards for Best Editorial Newsletter

Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch

• Fifth Wave member Hermine Mbondo (of B4brand) was a recipient of Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch in 2020 Award

DGC Awards 2020

• Three CFC alumni took home 2020 DGC Awards: Holly Dale, Vincenzo Natali and Tracey Deer

Liminal

FESTIVALS

Alumni projects continue to screen at a number of festivals home and abroad this fall:

Raindance Film Festival
October 28 to November 7, 2020

• Alumni film Liminal, written and directed by Dan Abramovici, starring Emily Piggford and Vladimir Alexis, produced by Ali Mashayekhi, edited by Mike Reisacher, with music by Spencer Creaghan and Chris Reineck, will have its European premiere at Raindance

Blood in the Snow Film Festival
October 28 to November 7, 2020

• CFC short film MISHA, directed/written by Andrew Jeffrey, produced by Lindsay Blair Goeldner, edited by Rick Bartram, with music by Iva Delić and TiKA, will air on November 1
• Mama’s Home, written and directed by Robert Cuffley, will air alongside MISHA on November 1
• Annie Bradley will participate in the‘Production in the Age of COVID-19’ panel on November 4

Korean Film Festival Canada
October 29 to November 2, 2020

• Catch CFC’s 1995 short film PREY, from writer/director Helen Lee and starring Sandra Oh and Adam Beach, at this year’s Korean Film Festival Canada

DOC NYC
November 11 to 19, 2020

• No Ordinary Man, from co-director/writer Aisling Chin-Yee, will kick off its U.S. festival run at DOC NYX as part of the Spotlight on Canada program

The Cucalorus Film Festival
November 11 to 25, 2020

• Alumni film Liminal is playing at the 2020 Cucalorus Film Festival, and features loads of alumni talent: written and directed by Dan Abramovici, starring Emily Piggford and Vladimir Alexis, produced by Ali Mashayekhi, edited by Mike Reisacher, with music by Spencer Creaghan and Chris Reineck

Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
November 12 to 19, 2020

• CFC short film LOLA’S WAKE, written/directed by Tricia Hagoriles, produced by Erin Byrnes, edited by Rick Bartram, with music by Kat Burns, will screen at the 24^th annual Reel Asian Film Festival

CFC BLOCKO!

WATCH

• Catch up on the latest episodes of CFC BLOCKO!,a seven-part doc series and call to action piece from acclaimed creator and CFC alumnus Charles Officer (Akilla’s Escape), produced by Canesugar Mediaworks. The series features short personal conversations with six Black CFC alumni/creators, including director/executive producer Clement Virgo (RUDE, The Book of Negroes, Greenleaf); producer Lea Marin (What is Democracy?, Unarmed Verses); writer/co-executive producer Shernold Edwards (A Day Late and a Dollar Short, Haven, Anne With An E); executive producer/media executive Joan Jenkinson (Songs of Freedom, Inside the Mind of Leonardo, Soul); director Dawn Wilkinson (How to Get Away with Murder, Locke & Key); and actor Cara Ricketts (Anne with an E, Far Cry New Dawn)
• Citizen Bio, an in-depth exploration of the nascent biohacking movement and the scientists and researchers developing alternative medicines to prolong human life and eradicate incurable viruses and diseases, premiered on October 30 on Crave; the feature-length documentary is directed by Trish Dolman and executive produced by Graeme Manson
• Tune in to Citytv to watch a new romantic comedy Sincerely, Yours, Truly, directed by Annie Bradley
• Tune in to Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery on CTV and you’ll see Actors Conservatory alumni Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys and Emily Coutts asLt. Keyla Detmer!
• Watch this video for a peek at the world-class talent coming out of the CFC, and the global resonance of the stories they’re (you’re!) telling, and here’s a little background of how the video got made (and by who!)
• Have you been tuning in to The Sounds and Trickster on CBC? So have we. We’re so proud that both series feature CFC alumni in front of and behind the lens. The Sounds is directed by Peter Stebbings and stars Emily Piggford, and Trickster counts alumni Tony Elliot (co-creator, writer, executive producer), Zoe Hopkins (writer), Joel Thomas Hynes (actor), Matt Code (producer), Jennifer Kawaja (executive producer), Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith (co-producer), Todor Kobakov (composer) and Kye Meechan (editor) among its cast and crew.

LISTEN

• Have you checked out the Women on Screen Out Loud podcast yet? It showcases female voices who challenge, motivate and inspire from all sides of the camera, including several CFC alumnae – like Christine Armstrong (editor), Sherren Lee (director), Erica Procunier (composer) and Annie Bradley (director) – who share their experiences, wisdom and insights as #WomeninFilm. Catch up on the episodes here.
• Listen to the original score for Body and Bones by Slaight music alum Neil Haverty

Eli Goree (wearing a white shirt with a black bowtie) in ‘One Night in Miami’

ALUMNI INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES

• The Ginger Snaps movie (2000), directed by John Fawcett, written by Karen Walton, produced by Steve Hoban and edited by Brett Sullivan, is set for a TV series adaptation; executive producers include John Fawcett and Steve Hoban
• David Miller has been named executive director of the Sonoma International Film Festival
• Eli Goree, who stars in One Night in Miami, has signed with WME
• Tricksteris heading south of the border! It’s set for its U.S. debut on The CW on January 12, 2021
• A.J. Demers is among the 21 participants selected for the NSI Business for Producers program
• Trish Dolman selected to receive funding from Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund for her new film The Concert That Broke Up The Beatles
• Read this review in Slant of This is Not a Movie from Yung Chang
• IDEABOOST member SAM Desk closed their last funding round with a total of $3.644M CAD; they also published a case study about their work with Amnesty International
• Fifth Wave member EssayJack have opened their SEED investment round
• Fifth Wave member Lauralee Sheehan was profiled by Be The Next Her
• CFC Media Lab welcomed Foodpreneur and Springbay Studios to the Fifth Wave Connect community
• Fifth Wave resident Amintro is hosting a talk with Bob Kallonen, President of Amica about Healthcare Leadership During Covid-19 and Beyond
• Fifth Wave resident Kimberly Simon of The Venue Global Inc was a guest on the Great Canadian Woman Podcast
• IDEABOOST alum Springbay Studio launched a new educational mobile game, iBiome-Changing Ice
• IDEABOOST alum Taproot Edmonton was a finalist for Lion Publishing’s Business Idea of the Year award; they also launched a new podcast, called Taproot Edmonton Presents, which is starting with a six-part series called Igniting Innovation that explores how startups and investors are coming together in Edmonton’s tech innovation sector
• Indiegraf, a subsidiary created by IDEABOOST Cohort 8 alum The Discourse to scale community-powered journalism, launched several new local news outlets: Peterborough Currents, Sask Dispatch, Committee Trawler, IndigiNews and The Discourse Nanaimo
• Fifth Wave resident Truly Inc is launching a new product, Brand Personality Cards
• Fifth Wave resident Amintro finalized a partnership agreement with Connected Canadians to support increased digital literacy amongst older adults and will host a webinar on Healthcare Leadership during COVID-19 with President of Amica Senior Lifestyles, Bob Kallonen on Wednesday, November 11
• AVA Animation will be a featured artist at BIGArtTO! Catch “Dia de los Muertos”, a collaboration between Emma Lopez and OCAD students between November 4-7, 2020

ICYMI

Catch up on these hit alumni films, now available to watch on digital and/or demand:

• SPINSTER: written by Jennifer Deyell, produced by Marc Tetreault and William Woods, associate produced by Luke Black, edited by Simone Smith
• TITO:from director/writer/star Grace Glowicki, associate produced by Nicole Hilliard-Ford, executive produced by Aeschylus Poulos, with music by Casey MQ
• CATCH AND RELEASE: from co-director Laurie Colbert and producers Rechna Varma and Jennifer Mesich
• THINGS I DO FOR MONEY: from co-writer/director Warren P. Sonoda
• A PERFECT PLAN: starring Actors Conservatory alum Gia Sandhu
• HAMMER: from Christian Sparkes (writer/director), Joel Thomas Hynes (story by), Chris Agoston and Will Woods (producers), Alona Metzer (associate producer), Jeff Morrow (composer), and Jorge Weisz (editor)
• THE REST OF US: directed byfrom Aisling Chin-Yee, produced by Emma Fleury and William Woods, executive produced by Damon D’Oliveira, with Mark Van de Ven as story editor and Brendan Brady as production manager/actor

BINGE NOW

• GHOST BFF: from Katie Bird Nolan (producer)
• QUEENS: directed by Pat Mills and edited by Maureen Grant (CBC Gem)
• SNOWPIERCER: from showrunner Graeme Manson, featuring Actors Conservatory alumnus Matt Murray (Netflix)
• #blackAF: features editing by Editors’ Lab alumna Christine Armstrong (Netflix)
• THE ORDER: created by Dennis Heaton, with writing from alumni Shelley Eriksen, Rachel Langer, Jason Filiatrault, and starring Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Netflix)
• AVOCADO TOAST: story edited by Annie Briggs, with music by Neil Haverty and Chris Reineck (OUTtvGo)

Alumni! Do you have news to share? Want to update your alumni profile? Get in touch anytime at alumni@cfccreates.com

Share this post: