CFC alumni step into spring with news of films at festivals, including Canadian Film Fest and Hot Docs, a slate of new releases to binge – like webseries The Communist’s Daughter and critically acclaimed film No Ordinary Man about revered jazz musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton – awards and industry news. Read on for CFC alumni updates from March.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

(L to R, top to bottom): Transplant, Coroner, Beans, Baroness von Sketch Show, Akilla’s Escape, Schitt’s Creek

Canadian Screen Award Nominations

• CFC alumni received a total of 94 nominations across 50 categories in this year’s Canadian Screen Awards – congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!

SAG Awards

• Annie Murphy also received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role in Schitt’s Creek

The 2020 Sandi Ross Awards

• Working the Scene in Colour, co-created by CFC alum Jessica Meya, was the company winner at the 2020 Sandi Ross Awards, presented by ACTRA Toronto, which celebrate one individual and one company/organization each year whose work demonstrates a commitment to inclusion on screen; Working the Scene in Colour is a live reading initiative bringing talented writers and actors of colour and Indigenous communities together to perform original scenes from completed scripts and works in progress

International Film Festival of Ottawa Awards

• BEANS won the Public Prize (as voted by the audience!) at the IFFO

MPAC Media Awards

• Celebrated medical drama Transplant, created by CFC alum Joseph Kay, has been named an Honoree at the 29^th edition of the MPAC Media Awards, which
  celebrate members of the entertainment industry, artists, and activists who promote inclusion and social justice through their craft; honorees have done so by advancing authentic portrayals of Islam and Muslims, increasing understanding by reflecting the realities of our world today, and by inspiring action and movements for social change

FESTIVALS

Sugar Daddy

Canadian Film Fest

April 1 – 18, 2021

• Sugar Daddy (opening night film): featuring Andy McQueen, produced by Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski, edited by Christine Armstrong
• Woman in Car (Canadian premiere): written, directed and produced by Vanya Kurt-Rose, executive produced by Anita K. Sharma
• Between Waves: directed, co-written and produced by Virginia Abramovich, produced by Alex Jordan, with music by Stephen Krecklo and editing by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux
• The First Goodbye (short): from director, producer and DOP Ali Mashayekhi
• 1978 (short): written, directed and edited by current The Norman Jewison Film Program resident Hamza Bangash
• Sister Sekhmet(short):from writer, director, producer, co-editor, production designer and actor Isa Benn-Moja, produced by Ingrid Veninger, co-edited by Rick Bartram
• The Corruption of Divine Providence: executive produced by Bill Marks, line produced by Jennifer Mesich, co-edited by Orlee Buium
• CFC short film With Feeling: written/directed by Gillian McKercher, produced by Brendan Whelton, edited by Xi Feng, starring Kelly Van der Burg, with music by Iva Delić
• Wish: from Ingrid Veninger (writer, director, producer, DOP, production designer), edited by Rick Bartram

All CFF screenings will be available on Super Channel Fuse. See the full schedule here.

Hot Docs

April 29 – May 9, 2021

• Subjects of Desire (Special Presentations): directed/written/produced by Jennifer Holness, produced by Sudz Sutherland
• Wuhan Wuhan (Special Presentations): directed by Yung Chang
• A.rtificial I.mmortality (Opening Night film): music by Todor Kobakov
• Until Further Notice (Canadian Spectrum Shorts: Bodies Release): edited by Xi Feng
• The Hairdresser(Canadian Spectrum Shorts: Stories of Growth and Learning): edited by Pauline Decroix
• The Gig Is Up (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Ina Fichman
• Hell or Clean Water (Canadian Spectrum): edited by Justin Simms
• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (Canadian Spectrum): written/directed/produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski, edited by Hans Olson
• My Tree (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Aeschylus Poulos, edited by Ben Lawrence
• One of Ours (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Laura Perlmutter and Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith, executive produced by Jennifer Kawaja
• Someone Like Me (Canadian Spectrum): produced/executive produced by Shirley Vercruysse
• International Dawn Chorus Day (Markers Shorts Program): written/directed/produced by John Greyson, produced by Shant Joshi
• FANNY: The Right to Rock (Persister): executive produced by Ina Fichman
• Body Politics (Special Events – Citizen Minutes): edited by Pauline Decroix
• Blue Box (World Showcase): produced by Ina Fichman

Hot Docs Forum

Two alumni projects are among the 20 projects selected for this year’s Hot Docs Forum:

• Swan Song, from producer Nicholas de Pencier
• Wilfred Buck, from director/producer Lisa Jackson

Atlanta Film Fest

April 22 – May 2, 2021

• Alumni film Akilla’s Escape, from director/co-writer Charles Officer, co-writer Wendy Motion Brathwaite, starring Shomari Downer, with casting by Nicole Hilliard Forde, will take part in the 45^th annual Atlanta Film Festival

Ashland Independent Film Festival

April 15-29 / June 24-28

• CFC Features’ film Beans, from co-writer/director Tracey Deer and co-writer/executive producer Meredith Vuchnich, will participate in the 20th annual Ashland Independent Film Festival

FOR YOUR WATCHLIST

• No Ordinary Man, from co-director/writer Aisling Chin-Yee, will be available in Canada on all VOD and digital platforms, including digital TIFF Bell Lightbox (digital.tiff.net) starting April 2, 2021; audiences watching on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox can also view a special Q&A with co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt moderated by TIFF’s Artistic Director and Co-Head, Cameron Bailey
• Sugar Daddy, produced by alumnae Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski, and edited by Christine Armstrong, is available on VOD on April 6
• Related sitcoms The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker, which follow the lives of a blended interracial family, will premiere on Super Channel’s Heart & Home channel back-to-back on April 19, with The Parker Andersons beginning at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Amelia Parker at 8:30 p.m. ET, and will be available on Super Channel on Demand the day after their linear broadcast; Ian Steaman and Murry Peeters are writers on The Parker Andersons
• Tune in to Bounce (in the U.S.) on Sunday, April 4 for the premiere of Faith Heist, which follows the story of a preacher who moves heaven and earth to save his flock when he finds his church in financial ruin after being swindled by a shady businessman, with music by Slaight Family Music Lab alum Todor Kobakov, TiKA and Iva Delic
• Window Horses, from writer/director Ann Marie Fleming, produced by Shirley Vercruysse and featuring the voice of Don McKellar, is now available to stream on TIFF digital
• Watch The Communist’s Daughter, a web series set in 1989 about the daughter of two happily married Communists who struggles between fitting in at high school and upholding her family’s idealistic beliefs, on CBC Gem – lots of CFC alumni are involved: Clara Altimas, Kaveh Mohebbi and Waneta Storms as writers; Lauren Corber as executive producer; and Chris Mutton as editor
• Mary Goes Round, a film first developed in CFC’s Film Program’s Writers’ Lab, is available to watch on CBC Gem; from writer/director Molly McGlynn, produced by Matt Code, executive produced by Aeschylus Poulos, edited by Christine Armstrong and Bryan Atkinson, featuring music by Dillon Baldassero and Casey Manierka-Quaile, as well as two original songs by Lisa Conway, and an appearance by Bruce Novakowski
• Ginny and Georgia, starring Actors Conservatory alum Humberly González, with episodes directed by Renuka Jeyapalan and Sudz Sutherland, and editing by Jonathan Eagan, is now out on Netflix

FOR YOUR PLAYLIST

Listen to the following songs from alum of the Slaight Family Music Lab:

• Soft, a new album from Kat Burns, is out now
• “Wild Again” by Ava;find it onSpotify, Apple Music and YouTube
• “Don’t Be Afraid” by TiKA; the theme Song for 21 Black Futures on CBC/CBC Gem, on Spotify
• “Human Heart” by TiKA on bandcamp
• “Chasing the Fall (Acoustic)” by The Darcys on Spotify

ALUMNI INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES

• CFC alumni Jason Filiatrault and Adrianna DiLonardo were two of eight screenwriters selected to participate in TIFF’s 2021 Writers’ Studio, which ran digitally from March 8 to 12, 2021
• New York-based distributor FilmRise struck a deal with sales firm WaZabi Films for U.S. rights to Beans, from co-writer/director Tracey Deer and co-writer/executive producer Meredith Vuchnich
• Prolific Pictures has boarded alum Gloria Ui Young Kim’s Queen of the Morning Calm as its international sales agent, taking the title to the European Film Market
• Tracey Deer has signed with CAA
• CFC alumnae Tanya Lemke and Rebeka Herron are among the eight women selected for this year’s edition of Women in the Director’s Chair’s Career Advancement Module, with their projects Chicken Scratch and Armchair Traveler, respectively
• Current The Norman Jewison Film Program resident Kent Donguines’ short film project Paco, about a Filipino immigrant who struggles to maintain his façade of success in Vancouver when his family in Manila asks for a hard favor, has been selected for the BC Shorts Program
• Actors Conservatory alum Emily Piggford joins the cast of upcoming CBC comedy Strays
• Indiecan Entertainment acquired alumni project Woman in Car,written, directed and produced by Vanya Kurt-Rose, executive produced by Anita K. Sharma, for Canada and U.S. representation

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

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