Telefilm Canada spearheads Canadian presence at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival

Montréal, February 11, 2010 – Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that Canadian talent is featured prominently at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival, which begins today, with a total of three feature films, nine short films and two installation works selected for the prestigious event. Telefilm Canada’s initiatives in Berlin strive to build strategic opportunities for the Canadian film industry in terms of international financing, sales and export, skills development and talent recognition.

This year, Telefilm’s activities in Berlin include:

• The Canada Sales Desk, a business hub at the European Film Market for Canadian-based distribution companies (E1 Entertainment; Delphis; Bogeydom; Forward Motion Entertainment and Arrow Entertainment);
• The Perspective Canada series, where 15 feature-length films will be presented to industry representatives from 120 countries attending the European Film Market;
• And, in an evolving production landscape where coproduction and multiple financing partners are becoming the norm, Producers without borders, a forum aiming to facilitate international network building for over 40 Canadian producers who will also attend a one-day coproduction event.

“The Berlinale and the European Film Market, together with their various components, provide Canadian film industry representatives with a vibrant mix of networking and business development opportunities,” stated Sheila de La Varende, Director, International & National Business Development at Telefilm. “The presence of Canadian film teams in Berlin will help them forge new partnerships and strike coproduction or distribution deals with international film industry players, helping increase the global competitiveness of our film industry,” she concluded.

Canadian filmmakers’ accomplishments are also being recognized at the festival: acclaimed director Philippe Falardeau, whose film, C’est pas moi, je le jure!, received two major awards at the Festival in 2009, is returning as a Generation Jury member; Sarah Polley’s award-winning feature Away from Her is one of 40 films presented in the Berlinale’s 60th Anniversary Retrospective and director Michael Snow’s film, So Is This, will screen in the Forum’s 40th Anniversary Retrospective.

Finally, the Berlinale Talent Campus rallies about 350 young film talents from around the world, who will meet with experienced film professionals for a week of workshops and discussions, allowing the transfer of know-how, teamwork and the exchange of ideas. This year, eight up-and-coming Canadian directors and producers are taking part in the Talent Campus: Seth Owen, Kaizer Matsumunyane, Maya Bankovic, Mark Montefiore, Noah Pink, Adam Jones, Julia Kwan and Alison Rose.

The Canadian film selection at Berlin 2010 includes:

Berlinale Shorts – European Premiere
Out in that Deep Blue Sea – Kazik Radwanski

Panorama – International Premiere
Covered – John Greyson

Forum – International Premiere
La Belle visite (Journey’s End) – Jean-François Caissy

Generation K+ – European Premiere
This Way of Life – Thomas Burstyn (New Zealand, Canada)

Forum – World Premiere
Imani – Carol Kamya (Uganda, Sweden, Canada)

Forum Expanded
Installations:
50 Light Fixtures from Home Depot — Christian Giroux, Daniel Young
The Film Effect — Mark Lewis
Shorts:
Honey — Andrea Cooper
Night Mayor — Guy Maddin
Sea Series #7 – Naufragé aux Îles de la Madeleine – John Price
Embargo Collective – including shorts by Zoe Leigh Hopkins (Tsi tkahéhtayen (The Garden)), Lisa Jackson (Savage) and Helen Haigh-Brown (?E?anx (The Cave))

Berlinale 60. Retrospective
Away from Her – Sarah Polley

Forum 40. Retrospective
So Is This – Michael Snow

Perspective Canada – European Film Market
Les 7 jours du Talion (7 Days) – Podz
5150, rue des Ormes (5150 Elm’s Way) – Éric Tessier
Cairo Time – Ruba Nadda
Cooking with Stella – Dilip Mehta
Dédé à travers les brumes (Dédé Through the Mist) – Jean-Philippe Duval
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage – George Mihalka
De père en flic (Fathers and Guns) – Émile Gaudreault
George Ryga’s Hungry Hills – Rob King
Grown Up Movie Star – Adriana Maggs
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel – Brigitte Berman
Last Train Home – Lixin Fan
Leslie, My Name Is Evil – Reginald Harkema
Noémie, le secret (Noemie, the Secret) – Frédérik D’Amours
Passenger Side – Matthew Bissonnette
The Wild Hunt – Alexandre Franchi

Canada at Berlin 2010 is organized and financed by Telefilm Canada in partnership with British Columbia Film, the Ontario Media Development Corporation and Canadian Heritage – Trade Routes Program as Principal Partners, and Film Nova Scotia, Manitoba Film & Music, and SaskFilm and Video Development Corporation as Contributors.

Visit www.canada-berlin2010.ca for more information on Canada’s presence in Berlin.

Telefilm Canada: Developing and promoting the Canadian audiovisual industry
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 productions that appeal to domestic and international audiences. The Corporation also administers the funding programs of the Canada Feature Film Fund, the Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund. Visit www.telefilm.ca.

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For more information:

Eva Hartling
Senior Advisor, External Communications
Telefilm Canada
514-283-0838, ext. 2090 or 1-800-567-0890
hartlie@telefilm.ca
www.twitter.com/telefilm_canada