 |
|
Dec. | Nov. | Oct. | Sept. | August | July | June | May | April | March | Feb. | Jan.
Ten successful projects to be greenlit by Telefilm Canada’s Low Budget Independent Feature Film Assistance Program
Montreal, July 19, 2004 – Telefilm Canada’s Low Budget Independent Feature Film Assistance Program (LIFAP) today announced its commitment to ten innovative feature films: six in English and four in French.
Launched in 2000 as part of the Canada Feature Film Fund, LIFAP operates with an annual budget of approximately $1.7 million, and is designed to support director-driven projects, from both emerging and established filmmakers, with a budget cap of $750,000 per project.
“The results of this program have been exciting,” noted Ralph Holt, Telefilm Canada’s English Operations National Sector Head for Feature Film. “Since its inception, LIFAP has supported many highly regarded films, like Twist, directed by Jacob Tierney, which has gone on to be screened at major festivals and win global attention. The productions listed here are of that same quality.”
LIFAP encourages greater opportunities for creative renewal and professional development, while seeking to ensure that Canada’s cultural diversity is reflected in film.
"We are thrilled that all the films produced under this program by Francophone directors have secured distributors," added Michel Pradier, Director – French Operations and Quebec Office at Telefilm Canada, "while many of them have also found one or several broadcasters. The films which were released theatrically were screened for up to 11 weeks and did very well at the box office, given that they were low-budget projects. The projects selected this year cover a variety of genres: from comedy-drama to children, from fiction based on true events to poetic drama and road movie."
| English-Language Projects |
Director |
| A Bug and a Bag of Weed |
David Gonella |
| Peter Jones has been haunted for 17 years by a certain high
school event. Fast-forward 17 years, and Peter is still living with the
ghosts of high school - literally. He still hanging out with the same group
of friends, working at a dead-end job at a big-box electronic store and
trying to fulfil his big dream of attending film school in Vancouver while
looking for his true love. |
| |
| Fourth Life |
Francois Miron |
| A woman arrives in a mysterious town to find it in an apocalyptic
state: lay offs, closed factories, and underground mobs blowing up facilities
in a war against Capitalism. Haunted by her criminal past and a city that
is about to explode, she is finally faced by a vengeful ex-lover. She escapes
a deadly confrontation and flees the city for a new start, minutes before
the city's oil refinery is blown away by the mobs. |
| |
| ILL-Fated |
Mark Lewis |
| A comic tragedy about a young man, Jimmy, trying to escape
his social and genetic prison and the small town of Thithily. |
| |
| Kardia |
Susan Rynard |
| Hope Johnston is a 50-year-old female pathologist. Her story
unfolds within one moment of time - the brief instant when her heart stops.
This moment triggers Hope to embark on an unusual journey to find the truth
about her dad. |
| |
| Letters |
Ralph Assef |
| A mugger falls in love with one of his victims and struggles
to balance the relationship with his secret life of crime and the secret
reason why he must carry it on. |
| |
| The Limb Salesman |
Anais Granofsky |
| Set in Northern Canada, this story sees Gabriel Goode, a doctor
specializing in limb regeneration, travel from the decrepit metropolis of
'City' to the barren regions of the North. His assignment: heal the invalid
daughter of a wealthy, but morally corrupt, water exporter. Gabriel risks
everything in order to confront his darkness and find his heart. |
| |
|
French-language Projects
|
Director
|
| Pellerin |
Sophie Deraspe |
| In the late 1980s, Victor Pellerin, a young painter and darling of the arts scene, torched his work and then disappeared without a trace. Fifteen years later, in 2005, documentary filmmaker Sophie Deraspe looks back on the past events in Pellerin's life, seeking out those who knew him. Intermingling interviews and direct cinema, the film delves into Pellerin's flamboyant yet enigmatic life. Little by little, the film paints a portrait of Pellerin, as it does of the arts world, revealing its codes and contradictions.
|
| |
| La Promesse |
Jean Châteauvert |
| Christophe and Christine are brother and sister.
They have been in love with one another forever... and had become lovers
when they were teenagers. Despite the fact their mother is aware of, and
strongly condemns, their incestuous relationship, it persists. One day,
Christine's husband earns a promotion, and the family prepares for an imminent
transfer to San Francisco. Christine and Christophe are forced to confront
reality and face the painful break-up of their relationship... |
| |
| Prenez vos places |
Marc-Thomas Dupuis |
| A story about two film students who hang out at bars, talking
about everything and nothing, and who decide one day to make a movie. A
bilingual comedy in the style of Éric Rohmer - lovely, subtle, and
delightfully scripted. |
| |
| Thérapie (Comment devenir un trou du cul et enfin plaire
aux femmes) |
Roger Boire |
| Louis is a nice, caring young man. A real gentleman. Maybe
that's why he has such a hard time hanging on to the women in his life.
One day, he decides to change his stripes - and become a real asshole. Will
he now be able to attract women? |
Telefilm Canada, a cultural investor in film, television, new media and music
Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency dedicated to the development and promotion of the Canadian film, television, new media and music industries. With the objective of building larger audiences for Canadian cultural products, the Corporation acts as a partner to the private sector through investments in diverse productions with wide appeal.
-30-
Information:
Alejandra Sosa, Communications Officer, Ontario & Nunavut Region
(416) 973-6436 or sosaa@telefilm.ca
Jeanine Basile, Communications and Public Affairs Manager
(514) 283-6363 or basilej@telefilm.ca
|
