Telefilm Canada presents three Canadian scripts at the exclusive No Borders International Co-Production Market during the Independent Film Week
Montreal, August 16, 2010 – Telefilm Canada, a long-time partner of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), will spotlight Canadian narrative scripts and feature films nearing completion during the Independent Film Week in New York, NY, taking place from September 19 to September 24, 2010. Through two initiatives, No Borders International Co-Production Market and the Perspective Canada Showreel, Telefilm Canada assists Canadian film teams develop strong professional relationships with the film community south of the border and beyond.
“Coproductions and co-ventures have become increasingly important in today’s marketplace,” said Sheila de La Varende, Director of National and International Business Development at Telefilm Canada. “Our involvement with the IFP allows us to support Canadian producers and their feature film projects as they move into the international marketplace.”
“IFP is delighted to continue its eight-year relationship with Telefilm Canada at the Independent Film Week’s No Borders International Co-Production Market,” said Amy Dotson, Deputy Director of the Independent Filmmaker Project. “With their new talent showcase, strong international projects in development and the participation of top Canadian producers and directors in the Market, Telefilm continues to play a critical role with IFP in strengthening the reach of independent cinema globally.”
At the No Borders International Co-Production Market, an international film financing forum that has grown to include Presenting Partners from 14 countries, producers from around the world are given the opportunity to submit partially packaged and/or financed fiction projects to leading American and international partners through their respective national Presenting Partner.
“The IFP No Borders International Co-Production Market is a valuable program that places Canadian filmmakers directly in front of the international film market,” said Damon D’Oliveira, producer returning to No Borders. “In fostering ongoing partnerships with a variety of global financiers, the IFP is an exceptional incubator for new Canadian feature films.”
After a pre-selection at the Montreal office, Telefilm, an official Presenting Partner at No Borders, recommended nine scripts to the IFP jury, who in turn selected three projects for the financing forum. These three producers will be among the 45 producers invited to present their projects in one-on-one meetings with potential investors, production partners, leading buyers and talent agents.
The three projects selected for presentation by Telefilm Canada are:
Inch’Allah (Director: Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette; Producers: Luc Déry and Kim McGraw; Production Company: micro-scope, Montreal, Canada). When a young Canadian doctor goes to Palestine to work at a maternity clinic, she soon finds herself caught in the cross fire of a conflict that will tear her apart.
The Book of Negroes (Director: Clement Virgo; Producers: Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo; Production Company: Conquering Lion Pictures, Toronto, Canada). Kidnapped from West Africa, Aminata Diallo survives a harrowing Atlantic crossing, is separated from her love and must navigate the American Revolution before returning to Africa where she discovers you cannot return home.
The Hum (Director: Isabelle Raynauld; Producers: Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock and David Pearson; Production Companies: Item 7, Montreal, Canada and Arturi Films, UK). Death has its own sound. After Simon and his adopted daughter Opal, 15, move into a quiet village, villagers start mysteriously dying, struck by a strange sound. Opal somehow feels she’s the only one who can explain the phenomena, but her investigations attract threats on her life. She must go on since only by discovering who she is, will she end the HUM.
In addition, the following Israel-Canada-France coproduction will be presented by the Israel Film Fund:
Inheritance (Director: Hiam Abbas; Producers: Ina Fichman, Yariv Mozer, Arik Bernstein and Nicolas Blanc; Production Companies: Intuitive Pictures, Montréal, Canada, Mozer Films, Israel and Agat Films, France). Summer 2006: Israel and Lebanon are at war. In an Arab village in Israel close to the Lebanese border, a Palestinian family goes on with daily life, absorbed in their own personal battles.
The Perspective Canada Showreel, presented on September 22, 2010 in conjunction with the Independent Film Week, features trailers of nine Canada Feature Film Fund-financed films expected to premiere at upcoming film festivals and in theatres. The by-invitation only screening aims to build industry interest in these new projects stateside, while also showcasing the breadth of Canadian work developed by Telefilm Canada.
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.
About IFP
After debuting with a program in 1979 New York Film Festival, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, and also the premiere advocate for them. Since its start IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers – voices that might not otherwise have been heard. IFP fosters the development of 350 new feature and documentary films each year through its Project Forum of Independent Film Week, Independent Filmmaker Labs and projects in its fiscal sponsorship program. Visit www.ifp.org.
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Media inquiries:
Denise Arab
Director, Communications
Telefilm Canada
514-283-0838, ext. 2099
arabd@teleflm.gc.ca
www.twitter.com/telefilm_canada