Record-breaking year for Canada at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, with 10 feature films

Montreal, January 14, 2015—Ten Canadian feature films will be screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, a record for Canada at Sundance. This outstanding selection will also include five shorts and three video installations. The Sundance Film Festival runs from January 22 to February 1, 2015, in Park City, Utah.

With 10 feature films out of a programmed 123 features, Canada will present the third-largest line-up at Sundance—accounting for 8% of the overall selection—after the United States and the United Kingdom.

“The Canadian line-up at this year’s Sundance Film Festival stands out for its abundance, quality and diversity, confirming that our country is at the forefront of indie filmmaking,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “The Canadian selection includes narrative features, documentaries, genre films and children’s films, among them several coproductions. Sundance and Canadian filmmakers have long had a close relationship, and this year our talents are offering a range of daring and inspiring films that reflect the spirit of the Festival itself. I’m especially pleased that the 2015 edition is highlighting the uniqueness and appeal of independent Canadian voices in a particularly dazzling way.”

Over the years, several Canadian feature films have won awards at Sundance:

• La Grande séduction, by Jean-François Pouliot, winner of the Audience Award: World Cinema—Dramatic in 2004;
• Eve & The Fire Horse, by Julia Kwan, winner of the World Cinema Special Jury Prize—Dramatic in 2006;
• In Between Days, by Kim So Yong, winner of the Special Jury Prize for Independent Vision—Dramatic in 2006;
• The Corporation, by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott, winner of the World Cinema Audience Award—Documentary in 2004;
• Shake Hands with the Devil, byPeter Raymont, winner of the World Cinema Audience Award—Documentary in 2005. In a rare move, Robert Redford, President and Founder of the Sundance Institute, introduced the film and afterwards took part in a Q&A session, where he stated that this kind of documentary was the reason for which he had originally started Sundance;
• Grown Up Movie Star, by Adriana Maggs, for which its star, Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), in what the Festival called a “breakout performance,” won the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Acting in 2010;
• Indie Game: The Movie, by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, World Cinema Documentary Editing Award in 2012; and 
• The Cut, by Genevieve Dulude-Decelles, Short Film Jury Award for International Fiction in 2014.

The Sundance Film Festival has also launched several other Canadian films on the international scene, among them Up the Yangtze, by Yung Chang, in 2008; Prom Night in Mississippi, by Paul Saltzman, in 2009; and Payback, by Jennifer Baichwal, in 2012.

Canadian feature films selected by Sundance 2015

World Cinema—Dramatic Competition
Chorus, François Delisle

World Cinema—Documentary Competition
The Amina Profile (Le Profil Amina), Sophie Deraspe
How to Change the World, Jerry Rothwell, United Kingdom/Canada coproduction

New Frontier—Film
The Forbidden Room, Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson

Premieres
Brooklyn, John Crowley, coproduction United Kingdom/Ireland/Canada coproduction

Park City at Midnight
Hellions, Bruce McDonald
Turbo Kid, Anouk Whissell, François Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell, Canada/New Zealand coproduction

U.S. Dramatic Competition
The Witch, Robert Eggers, Unites States/Canada

Spotlight
Aloft, Claudia Llosa, Spain/France/Canada coproduction

Sundance Kids
The Games Maker, Juan Pablo Buscarini, Argentina/Canada/Italy coproduction

Canadian line-up at Sundance and Slamdance 2015
For complete information about the 2015 Canadian line-up at Sundance and Slamdance, the Sundance Festival’s parallel event dedicated to debut feature films, please visit http://www2.telefilm.gc.ca/email/sundance-2015/ebroadcast/.

About Telefilm Canada
Telefilm is dedicated to the cultural, commercial and industrial success of Canada’s audiovisual industry. Through its various funding and promotion programs, Telefilm supports dynamic companies and creative talent here at home and around the world. Telefilm also administers the programs of the Canada Media Fund. Visit telefilm.ca and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/telefilm_canada and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/telefilmcanada.

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Media enquiries:
Douglas Chow, Head, Public Relations, Telefilm Canada
(514) 283-0838, ext. 2225, or 1-800-567-0890
douglas.chow@telefilm.ca