Telefilm Canada grants more than $25 million in funding to French-language feature films for 2010-2011 through the Canada Feature Film Fund

A total of 16 projects supported under the selective component,
of which six selected in round two

Montréal, April 30, 2010 – Telefilm Canada is announcing that it has granted a total of $25.3 million in funding support to French-language feature films through the Canada Feature Film Fund (CFFF) for 2010-2011. These investments are broken down as follows:

• During the first round of submissions under the selective component, Telefilm Canada provided its support to 10 feature-film projects, for a total of $7.8 million.
• In the second round of the selective component, Telefilm is supporting six feature-film projects for a total of $7 million.
• The sum of $10.5 million will be added to the 16 projects chosen under the selective component in the form of performance envelopes awarded to producers who achieved the best box-office results during the year. 

Telefilm Canada has thereby enhanced the value of the envelope normally attributed to the selective component through efficiency savings across various programs. Telefilm also wishes to point out that the projects selected during the two rounds represent a diversity of both genres and filmmakers.

“We received a record number of projects during the two submission rounds this year,” says Michel Pradier, Telefilm Canada’s Director of Project Financing. “The submitted projects are remarkable for their quality and variety, and this didn’t make the selection committee’s task any easier. This testifies to the film industry’s maturity, and to its artists’ enormous talent and creativity. We had already decided to back 10 projects during round one of the funding process and are adding six today, thereby enabling all these projects to go into production. The year ahead promises to be really interesting in terms of the movies we’ll be seeing in theatres.”

Following are the projects selected under round two of the CFFF’s selective component for 2010-2011:

Bashir Lazhar: Drama, written and directed by Philippe Falardeau. Bashir Lazhar, 48, learns that a sixth-grade schoolteacher has hanged herself in her own classroom. Having been a teacher in Alger, he offers the school his services. Upon arrival at the school, Bashir is faced with a group of traumatized pupils, a world of women, and educational reforms. Two pupils, Alice and Simon, come to stand out from the others because of their charisma, and because of the guilt they feel over their teacher’s death. In tandem with all this, Bashir is trying to obtain refugee status. Producers: Luc Déry and Kim McCraw; distributor: Les Films Christal.

Bossé: Comedy, directed by Claude Desrosiers and written by Luc Déry, Yves Lapierre and André Ducharme. Bernard Bossé was one of Quebec’s most powerful and influential businessmen. Starting out with nothing, he rose to the top of a huge financial empire. This film traces the ups and downs of his career, marked by moments of genius as well as hard times. The viewer is offered a first-hand look at his life, told in a web of storylines recounted through dramatic re-enactment, archival footage, testimonials… Through the decades, Bossé was involved in all the financial dealings and scandals that marked modern Quebec: the Olympic Stadium, privatization, lucrative government contracts, trade mission to China… The various threads come together to weave a portrait of Bernard Bossé—one that, although not necessarily very flattering, is always very funny. Producer: Lyse Lafontaine; distributor: Alliance Vivafilm.

La peur de l’eau: Drama, directed by Gabriel Pelletier, written by Gabriel Pelletier and Marcel Beaulieu. The naked body of Rosalie Richard, 18, is found, adorned with seashells, lying at the bottom of a cliff in Havre-aux-Maisons; she had been raped. She is the very first victim of a sordid murder in the Magdalen Islands, and her death disrupts the tidy life of Sûreté du Québec police sergeant André Surpenant, 41. Producer: Nicole Robert and Ann Bernier, GO Films; distributor: Remstar.

Pour l’amour de Dieu: Drama, written and directed by Micheline Lanctôt. Montréal, 1959: in Sister Cécile’s class, 12-year-old Léonie meets Father Malachy, a recently ordained Dominican priest, originally from Puerto Rico, who is visiting her school. It’s love at first sight for the dreamy and solitary child who retreats into religious piety to escape her rather burdensome life at home. But there’s also a spark of attraction between Sister Cécile and Father Malachy, who had liked each other from the minute they first met. However, they don’t know how to manage their strong attraction for one another, an attraction forbidden by the vows they have each taken. Between human love and love of God, which will win out? Both are young, passionate, sensual, and their sunny disposition makes it difficult to be discreet. Producers: André Gagnon and Monique Huberdeau; distributor: Métropole Films.

Starbuck: Comedy, directed by Ken Scott, written by Ken Scott and Martin Petit. Just when 42-year-old David Wosniak, an eternal teenager, decides to finally make something of his life, his existence is turned upside down by the appearance of numerous children—the fruit of his activities as a sperm donor. Producer: André Rouleau; distributor: Les Films Christal.

Une bouteille dans la mer de Gaza: Drama, Canada-France co-production; directed by Thierry Binisti, written by Thierry Binisti and Valérie Zenatti. The film tells the story of Tal, a 17-year-old Israeli girl who decides to get a Palestinian pen pal. She meets a young man, 20-year-old Naim. At an age when, in the West, we’re taking our first steps towards making a life for ourselves, Tal and Naim must confront an explosive situation that neither of them has chosen. Producer: Anne-Marie Gélinas (Canada) and Miléna Poylo and Gilles Sacuto (France); distributor: Filmoption Internationale.

About Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency dedicated to developing and promoting the Canadian audiovisual industry. Telefilm provides financial support to the private sector to create distinctively Canadian products that appeal to domestic and international audiences. Telefilm also administers the Canada Media Fund. Visit www.telefilm.ca.

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For information:
Eva Hartling – Senior Advisor, External Communications
Telefilm Canada
514-283-0838, ext. 2090
hartlie@telefilm.ca
www.twitter.com/telefilm_canada