Telefilm Canada supports the production of six English-language feature films for a total amount of more than $11 million

Films starring, among others, Ellen Page, Ethan Hawke, Evan Rachel Wood, Sophie Nélisse and Callum Keith Rennie

Includes news projects by Canadian filmmakers Deepa Mehta and Patricia Rozema

Montreal, December 22, 2014 — Telefilm Canada announces that it is supporting the production of six English-language feature films from Atlantic, Ontario and Nunavut, and Western regions through the Canada Feature Film Fund. The total amount of funding for the projects stands at more than $11 million.

“This line-up once again speaks to the diversity found in Canadian cinema,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “The selection includes a debut feature by filmmaker Stephen Dunn as well as new films by renowned directors Patricia Rozema and Deepa Mehta. This variety is also reflected in our coproduction treaties, which have yielded two new projects, The Legend of Barney Thomson and Born To Be Blue, each a coproduction with the United Kingdom.”

Telefilm announced its most recent English- and French-language funding decisions in December, September and July of this year. French-language decisions will be announced at the beginning of 2015..

Atlantic Region

Closet Monster
Director: Stephen Dunn
Writer: Stephen Dunn
Production: Rhombus Media
Genre: Drama

Release date: 2015

Oscar Madly hovers on the brink of adulthood—destabilized by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay bashing he witnessed as a child. A talking hamster, imagination and the prospect of love help him confront his surreal demons and discover himself.

Ontario and Nunavut Region

Beeba Boys
Director: Deepa Mehta (Water)
Writer: Deepa Mehta
Production: Hamilton-Mehta Productions
Genre: Drama
Confirmed key cast: Randeep Hooda (Monsoon Wedding), Ali Momen

Release date: 2015

Good looking, intelligent charismatic Jindy Johal is the leader of the Indo-Canadian crime gang, Beeba Boys, and doesn’t take crap from anyone. He drives a Porsche, runs with a devoted crew, has a white trophy girlfriend and a doting mother who not only cooks and cleans for him but also provides him with alibis. The film follows this enigmatic man and his relationship with 22-year-old Nep Singh, his new, fast-rising lieutenant. They have a power struggle with a long-time rival gang led by a seemingly staid family man, Cheema Singh, who Jindy would like to wipe out. Outside his life of violence and flashy bravado, Jindy is a single dad who lives at home with his protective mother, alcoholic dad and six-year-old son in a middle-class neighbourhood.

Born to Be Blue (majority coproduction with the United Kingdom)
Director: Robert Budreau
Writer: Robert Budreau
Production: New Real Films
Genre: Period drama
Confirmed key cast: Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Carmen Ejogo, Callum Keith Rennie (October Gale)

Release date: 2015

While serving time in an Italian jail, jazz legend Chet Baker is approached to star in a movie about his own life. Born to Be Blue explores his rise in the 1950s as the “James Dean of Jazz,” his dark descent as a notorious heroine junkie in the 1960s, and his inspirational comeback in the 1970s as he searches for love and redemption.

Into the Forest
Director: Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park)
Writer: Patricia Rozema
Production: Rhombus Media
Genre: Drama
Confirmed key cast: Ellen Page (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler)

In the not too distant future, two privileged young women who live in a remote ancient forest with their family discover the world around them is on the brink of an apocalypse. Informed only by rumour, they fight intruders, disease, loneliness and starvation. Over the course of the story, they are transformed from helpless though refined young women to powerful but completely primitive creatures.
Based on a popular series of novels.

Wait Till Helen Comes
Director: Dominic Laurence James 
Writer: Victoria Sanchez Mandryk
Production: DCP Mystery Arts
Genre: Thriller
Confirmed key cast: Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief), Isabelle Nélisse, Callum Keith Rennie, Maria Bello (Prisoners)

Release date: 2015

Twelve-year-old Molly and her 10-year-old brother, Michael, have never liked their seven-year-old stepsister, Heather. Ever since their parents got married, she’s made Molly and Michael’s life miserable. Now their parents have moved them all to the country to live in a house that used to be a church, with a cemetery in the backyard. If that’s not bad enough, Heather starts talking to a ghost named Helen and warning Molly and Michael that Helen is coming for them. Molly feels certain Heather is in some kind of danger, but every time she tries to help, Heather twists things around to get her into trouble. It seems as if things can’t get any worse. But they do—when Helen comes.

Western Region

The Legend of Barney Thomson (minority coproduction with the United Kingdom)
Director: Robert Carlyle (star of 28 Weeks Later, Trainspotting)
Writer: Richard Cowan
Production: Trinity Works Entertainment
Genre: Comedy

Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity. Treated like a fool by his co-workers and customers alike, he spends his days giving haircuts and dreaming of what life would be like if he was rid of them all. When a series of accidental events allows his dark fantasies to become reality, Barney Thomson’s uninteresting life goes from 0 to 60, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer. While Barney clumsily tries to cover his tracks, Glasgow police inspector Holdall fights his own battles within his inept homicide department as he tries to solve the crime of the century. A black comedy of errors unfolds as the police try to capture the murderer at large.

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