Look out, Park City, Utah. Canada is here! Yes, Telefilm Canada’s presence is huge at this year’s Sundance and Slamdance festivals.
We’re heading your way with a delegation of 80 Canadians and we’ve got some real treats for you.
On the agenda: 19 films (thirteen shorts and six features, including the world premieres of two Canadian documentaries) as well as two virtual reality projects. We’re also proud to say that Canadian filmmakers made two of the 12 films in the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition!
Let’s find out what this year’s Canadian contingency is all about, shall we?
- Matthieu Rytz’s Anote’s Ark (EyeSteelFilm) is a story about climate change and the Pacific nation Kiribati, which may soon fall underwater due to rising sea levels.
- Also debuting in the World Cinema Documentary Competition is Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan’s The Oslo Diaries. This Israel-Canada coproduction (Intuitive Pictures & Medalia Productions) looks back into secret meetings that took place in 1992 Norway between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators.
- And hey, folks, Un Traductor is part of the festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition. It is the feature debut of directors Sebastián Barriuso and Rodrigo Barriuso and touches on history through the tale of a professor who is tasked with translating for Chernobyl victims and their families, set in 1989 Cuba.
- Moving on to the festival’s Midnight section, Summer of ’84 is a horror movie about a group of teens who suspect a cop of being a serial killer. This feature is directed by Québec-based Anouk Whissell, François Simard, and Yoann-Karl Whissell, known for their 2015 hit Turbo Kid.
Montréal-based cinematic virtual reality studio Felix & Paul has two virtual reality projects in Sundance’s New Frontier – VR Experiences section.
- Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël, and The Isle of Dogs Production Team (UK)’s Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in Virtual Reality) punctuates Wes Anderson’s new animated movie, with interviews with canine characters voiced by its actors (the film’s actors include Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Scarlett Johansson, to name just a few).
- Also on the New Frontier – VR menu is Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël’s Space Explorers: A New Dawn, a doc about astronauts exploring space.
BIG on shorts
Seven Canadian shorts are selected for Sundance’s International Competition Shorts category:
- Jérémy Comte “Fauve“
- Luis De Filippis “For Nonna Anna“
- Eva Cvijanović “Hedgehog’s Home“
- Diane Obomsawin “I Like Girls“
- Chintis Lundgren “Manivald“
- Charlie Tyrell “My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes“
- Michelle Latimer “Nuuca“
Canada’s six Slamdance shorts are all directed by women!
Meanwhile, Canada’s filmmakers–particularly women filmmakers–are also making waves at the Slamdance Film Festival, which takes place from January 19 to 25, 2018. This year, six Canadian shorts are selected for Slamdance–and all of these are directed by women:
- Milena Salazar and Joella Cabalu “Do I Have Boobs Now?“
- Gabrielle Demers “IRIS (Paupière Mauve)”
- Yassmina Karajah “Rupture”
- Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli “Slap Happy”
- Lisa Birke “The Knits”
- Sherren Lee “The Things You Think I’m Thinking”
Last but definitely not least, selected for Slamdance’s Narrative Features Competition are two Canadian features: Drew Lint’s M/M, and Pascal Plante’s Fake Tattoos (Les faux tatouages), the latest was part of the Talent Fund-supported Talent to Watch Program. This punky tale of love between two teenagers is headed to the Berlinale for its European premiere after Slamdance!
See you in Park City!