2021 HIGHLIGHTS - National Canadian Film Day
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2021 HIGHLIGHTS
NCFD 2021 was an exceptional experience for us here at Wawasayg... The attention that REEL CANADA was able to offer our small northern Ontario film festival was amazing. Our Indigenous programmers were able to present contexts for viewing, allowing for films from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous filmmakers to be screened for all audiences. — Clayton Windatt, Wawasayg Festival & Zakide Collective, North Bay, ON
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Over 740 community partners across Canada and 28 countries around the world participated in this year’s NCFD! • More than 2.5 million Canadians watched a Canadian film from home. • Light(s) at the End of the Tunnel, 11 new short films commissioned by REEL CANADA and Netflix, was our flagship programme. The world premiere of these films was viewed over 3,000 times on the day. • Special events included: • A Tribute to Christopher Plummer, co-presented by festivals from coast to coast. • Meatballs screening, co-presented by Oakville Festivals of Film & Art, featuring a Q&A with director Ivan Reitman and stars Kate Lynch (Roxanne) and Jack Blum (Spaz). • A special screening of You Are Here: A Come From Away Story for new Canadians, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The film garnered more than 4,500 views and was followed by a Q&A with director Moze Mossanen. • Indigenous-made programming was showcased across the country, including the work of Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Kanien’kehá:ka), Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki), Adam Garnet Jones (Cree/Métis), Skawennati (Kanien’kehá:ka), Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Inuk), and more. • International screenings in 28 countries, including Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Austria, France, Latvia, Norway, UK, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Specially curated programming was provided on our free festival platform to over 230 retirement residences and long term care homes, over 165 Royal Canadian Legions and more than 35 Canadian Armed Forces bases. • Over 8,000 students participated in RCtv, our anti-racism livestream for youth, featuring an interactive discussion with filmmakers Charles Officer (Mighty Jerome) and Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Rustic Oracle). • Our online films, livestreams and Q&As (hosted in partnership with 45+ film festivals across the country) garnered over 50,000 views. • Over 60 filmmakers, stars and industry professionals participated in Q&As and other special programming, including Atom Egoyan, Don McKellar, Philippe Falardeau, Kathleen Hepburn, Elle- Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi), Veronica Tennant, Colm Feore, Mina Shum, Patricia Rozema, Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis), Joyce Wong, Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis), and many others. • Every major broadcaster and streamer in Canada participated by programming a wealth of Canadian content during the week of NCFD. • The day generated 836 media stories and enormous social media engagement, making us trend #1 on Twitter for the 5th consecutive year. 4
INTRODUCTION This year’s theme, Light at the End of the Tunnel, came to us Light(s) at the End of the Tunnel (11 short films by 15 naturally — it articulated what we were all feeling and hoping emerging talents) was born. With it, we planted some seeds for: a brighter future ahead and an end to the long, dark that we hope will continue to grow and blossom for many winter we’ve all endured. years to come. We invested in a new way in the industry that we’ve promoted and championed for nearly two decades. It For the second year in a row, we knew that NCFD would felt like just the shot of hope we all needed at this moment. take place mostly online. We knew that we could assemble a great list of films to make Canadians feel inspired, uplifted And we hope that we’ll be hearing more from these and hopeful. We knew we would deliver a fantastic day and promising young filmmakers for many more National hoped our huge network of dedicated community partners Canadian Film Days to come. would welcome the opportunity to participate again. But truthfully, we didn’t know what to expect in terms of engagement and participation in a “Zoomed out” world. Well, we’re delighted to say that over 2.5 million Canadians Jack Blum and over 740 community partners celebrated the incredible Executive Director achievements of our nation’s filmmakers with online screenings, watch parties, livestreams and more. As always, Canadians everywhere celebrated screen legends, award winners, new releases and beloved classics. Sharon Corder Artistic Director But this year, we wanted to make NCFD really special, in addition to all of that. So we decided to do something REEL CANADA has never done in our 16-year history: we funded the creation of new Canadian films. 5
NCFD 2021 50,000+ views of our online events 2.5+ MILLION CANADIANS WATCHED A CANADIAN FILM ON BROADCAST AND STREAMING 7.7 #1 MILLION TRENDING Youtube, Facebook hashtag on Twitter & Twitter impressions "We absolutely loved participating in NCFD. It was a great opportunity to plug 207M + + audiences in our territory into a cross-country event." — Andrew Connors, Festival MEDIA IMPRESSIONS with over 836 stories international events Director, Available Light Film in over 28 countries Festival, Whitehorse, YT and 23 interviews. 15+ MILLION 60+ 740 community partners across views of our promotional PSA filmmakers, stars Canada & special guests 6
THE FILMS NCFD is always about celebrating our country’s magnificent cinematic legacy. In 2021, we wanted to also make it about spreading hope and inspiration to help keep us all going. We invited everyone to step into the light and connect to our stories, our movies, and each other. We offered a list of contemporary films and beloved classics. Here are just a few: CLICK HERE to see all our spotlight films 7
2.5 MILLION VIEWERS Over 2.5 million Canadians watched a Canadian film on NCFD thanks to the wealth of options available from nearly every broadcaster and streaming service in the country. Today's the big day - happy @canfilmday! We're kicking it off with Happy #CanFilmDay! Along with Reel Canada, we’ve commissioned this message from Karen Thorne-Stone, the president and chief Did you miss our #CanFilmDay lineup? Well, you cna celebrate eleven original short films by emerging filmmakers, and they’re executive officer of @OntarioCreates. @canfilmday every day byexploring our Canadian film collection available to stream NOW. Head over to canfilmday.ca/lights for free tickets! #CanFilmDayLights Keep this tab open and pinned to you browser - we have lots all year long! coming for you today! See what's coming up next at hollywoodsuite.ca/canadian 8
60+ SPECIAL GUESTS Over 60+ filmmakers, stars and industry professionals participated in Q&As and other online or in-person engagements. Here are just a few: Atom Egoyan Mina Shum “NCFD is a day to celebrate the incredible films that are made right here in Canada. Most importantly it is a day to showcase and celebrate our creativity, our stories and our identities.” — Sonia Bonspille Boileau Ivan Reitman 9
Kathleen Hepburn Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Colm Feore Philippe Falardeau Patricia Rozema Tantoo Cardinal 10
Danis Goulet Joyce Wong Sonia Bonspille Boileau Charles Officer Anne Émond Karen Lam Don McKellar 11
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS I love NCFD, it’s an excellent initiative and we always want to be part of it every year. — Dušan Magdolen, Executive Director, Kamloops Film Festival, Kamloops, BC 12
LIGHT(S) AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL MEMBER NEWS: Our long-time member Mattias Graham will screen his new short documentary as a part of the National Canadian Film Day on April 21st alongside these 14 emerging young Canadian filmmakers. Huge congrats, Mattias! Watch this video to learn what kind of role Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative has played in Mattias’ journey. 11 short films by 15 emerging talents. Commissioned by REEL CANADA and Netflix. Celebrating #CanFilmDay w/ DGC Ontario Director @indiiiequeen - her film Only Light Will Touch Us, was commissioned for the @canfilmday. Available to watch tonight at 7 PM. w/ Alicia about making this short, Black storytelling & film reccos: / bit.ly/2QjqS24 In order to capture a timely snapshot of the moment we are all living through, we asked some of the nation’s rising stars to interpret this year’s #CanFilmDay theme: Light at the End of the Tunnel. The premiere of these original works was hosted by festival programmer Ravi Srinivasan and filmmaker/programmer Aisha Jamal. 13
Today is National Canadian Film Day 2021, a massive one-day, coast- to-coast-to-coast celebration of Canadian cinema. Have a look at the program and celebrate from the comfort of your living room! https:// Diverse both culturally and geographically, the filmmakers canadianfilmday.ca/ #CanFilmDay hail from Vancouver, Regina, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and Pabineau First Nation (NB). The young filmmakers were selected by REEL CANADA staff and advisors, including board members Atom Egoyan and Veronica Tennant; Don McKellar; Ariel Smith (nêhiyaw); Tom McSorley, director of the Canadian Film Institute; and NFB animation producers Jelena Popović and Maral Mohammadian. Victoria Anderson-Gardner Bogdan Anifrani Sara Ben-Saud Dan Boos Meegwun Fairbrother Dylan Glynn Mattias Graham Chris Grant Alicia K. Harris Andrew Huculiak Ranee Inez Sagi Khage-Rapport Simon Mutabazi Ryan Steel Madison Thomas 14
A TRIBUTE TO CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Q&A with Screenings of: Atom Egoyan & Veronica • The Silent Partner Tennant • Remember • Christopher Plummer: A Memoir (a rarely-seen interview between Plummer and Atom Egoyan) Happy National Canadian Film Day, Fantasians! Our presentation of THE SILENT PARTNER and conversation with AtomEgoyan and MichaelKirby are now available to watch for free until midnight tomorrow. Bon cinéma! Celebrate the life and legacy of Canadian icon Christopher Plummer. @canfilmday is presenting special screenings of his films The Silent Partner, Remember, and Christopher Plummer: A Vancouver International Film Festival (Vancouver, BC), Fantasia Memoir for FREE for 48 hours starting on April 21. bit.ly/3egvrlP International Film Festival (Montreal, QC), Canadian Film Institute (Ottawa, ON) and Lunenburg County Film Series (Bridgewater, NS) participated, and their audiences were treated to conversations with: Atom Egoyan, Plummer's longtime friend and collaborator; Veronica Tennant, producer of Christopher Plummer: A Memoir; and Michael Kirby, one of his co-stars in The Silent Partner. 15
MEATBALLS CLICK HERE
to watch the
Q&A
No film suited this year's hopeful theme better than the
ultimate feel-good summer camp classic: Meatballs.
Co-presented by REEL CANADA and Oakville Festivals
of Film & Art (OFFA) the screening was followed by a
Q&A with director Ivan Reitman, and stars Kate Lynch
("Roxanne") and Jack Blum ("Spaz"). The event was hosted
by Wendy Donnan (OFFA) and moderated by Canadian
television personality Jennifer Valentyne.
“In the summer of 1978, two future directing legends, Bill Murray,
and a group of teenagers went into the Canadian woods. They
came back with one of the most groundbreaking movie comedies
of their generation.”
BY ERIC SPITZNAGEL. JULY 6, 2017 Oakville Festivals of Film & Art (OFFA) is offering a free digital creening
Free screening on April 21! Film opens at 7 am and you have 48 of the 1979 comedy #Meatballs to celebrate National Canadian Film
hour access. … See More Day today, April 21, 2021. Here's how to get free tickets!
CLICK HERE
#Movies #Oakville #CanadianFilm #OakNews
to watch the
httos://oakvillenews.org/.../meatballs-screening-with... Promo video
16YOU ARE HERE CLICK HERE In commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. to watch the Q&A Over 4,500 new Canadians and English-language learners watched the documentary You Are Here: A Come From Away Story, and participated in an interactive online discussion with director Moze Mossanen. The Q&A was hosted by comedian and CBC personality Ali Hassan, and co-presented by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. "Thank you so much for continuing to share the most heart-warming tale of kindness, humanity and empathy... It was so awesome to hear from the director and listen to his stories." — Audience member from Collingwood, Ontario Don’t miss out! @youareheredoc will be streaming on #CanFilmDay We teamed up with @canfilmday to bring a special screening of / #jourcinecan! @youareheredoc for #CanFilmDay Come From Away, You Are Here est l’histoire touchante d’un village de T.N.L. qui a accueilli des passagers lors des On #CanFilmDay, we’re taking you to Gander, Newfoundland évènements du 11 septembre. Regardez-le avec nous à 19H with the inspirational documentary, You Are Here. The true story It’s April 21 in Newfoundland, meaning #CanFilmDay has officially HAE pour le #jourcinecan! Pour plus de détails, consultez le: of how this small town took in stranded airline passengers after begun! To ring in the day, why not start off with You Are Here, 9/11 is bound to pull on your heartstrings. canfilmday.ca/you- available to watch for free all day! And don’t forget to join us for a special Q&A with the filmmaker at 8:30PM EDT! https://canadianfilmday.ca/you-are-here-2021/ 17
INDIGENOUS-MADE PROGRAMMING NCFD has become a significant annual platform for Indigenous- Our screening of “The Body Remembers When the World Broke made films. Every year, we are proud to feature outstanding work Open” for National Canadian Film Day is happening Today. It’s a compassionately told story about intimate partner violence and by Indigenous filmmakers from across the country. Here are a few the complexities of race, class, and colonialism. It’s also FREE and doesn’t require any registration. Oh and don’t miss our exclusive Q&A of this year’s highlights: with the film's Directors! Rustic Oracle, which earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Carmen Moore, was featured in watch parties presented by Dreamspeakers Festival Society (Edmonton, AB), Emerging Lens Film Festival (Halifax, NS), Available Light Film Festival (Whitehorse, YT), and Woodland Cultural Centre (Brampton, ON). Director Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Kanien’kehá:ka) participated in a special Q&A session for each. dreamspeakers FREE Join us on April 21, 2021, for National Canadian Film Day. We are presenting Mother of Many... CLICK HERE to watch the Q&A The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, which won three Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, was featured by Asinabka Film Festival (Ottawa, ON), Gimli Film Festival (Gimli, AB), and Wawasayg Festival & Zakide Collective (North Bay, ON). All festivals co-presented a Q&A with the film’s directors, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi) and Kathleen Hepburn. On April 21, APTN also premiered The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open on their service in prime time. 18
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Toronto, ON) presented She Falls For Ages and The Peacemaker Returns, followed by an artist talk with the filmmaker Skawennati (Kanien’kehá:ka), moderated by Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe). The Kamloops Film Festival (Kamlooops, BC) presented a rare in-person event, a drive-in screening of the film Falls Around Her, featuring an introduction and Q&A with the star, Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis). “ABOUT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND MADE BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE” - CBC Unreserved The Kamloops Film Society is kicking off the Kamloops FIlm Festival with Falls Around Her… See More .@Alethea_Aggiuq’s ANGRY INUK, part of National Canadian Film Day: Politics, Protest, and Activism, available for free on April 21 with an account on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox: digital.tiff.net Two festivals presented the work of master documentarian Alanis #CanFilmDay Obomsawin (Abenaki). The Lunenburg Doc Fest (Lunenburg,NS) screened the documentary Our People Will Be Healed while Dreamspeakers Festival Society (Edmonton, AB) presented her early film Mother of Many Children. Inside Out Film Festival (Toronto, ON) featured Fire Song by filmmaker Adam Garnet Jones (Cree/Métis) and made the film available in both English and Ojibwe. The Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, ON) presented the documentary Angry Inuk as one of their special screenings on the day. 19
RCTV Our annual interactive livestream for high schools, this year supported by CBC and Bell Media. Every year, high school students from across the country take part in RCtv, a live interactive webcast featuring Q&As with Canadian actors and directors, online polls, chats and discussion boards, and a conversation with their peers nationwide. This year, RCtv expanded into Black and Indigenous Realities in Canada, a three-part Anti-Racism Programme, the culmination of which was our NCFD livestream. The event featured Charles Officer, award- CLICK HERE winning director of Mighty Jerome, and Sonia to watch Bonspille Boileau (Kanien’kehá:ka), whose highlights from recent feature Rustic Oracle garnered a CSA the Livestream nomination for Best Actress. RCtv was hosted by Garvia Bailey and Jason Ryle (Anishinaabe). 8,000 students participated 1,000+ questions and comments on 250 our discussion board teachers participated 20
The session also included exclusive footage from a roundtable discussion with youth across the country, allowing students to hear directly and openly from their peers. “These films gave me a deeper understanding of the systemic racism in Canada. I don’t feel Canada talks about its actions, but these films show that these things are still happening today.” — Livestream student participant Today on this #CanFilmDay, REEL CANADA & National Canadian Film Day are presenting ‘Black and Indigenous Realities’ program, featuring discussions with Charles Officer Canesugar Filmworks, director of ‘Mighty Jerome’, and Sonia “A common bond between the two films is that they are both people of Bonspille Boileau, director of Rustic Oracle! colour trying to beat the odds of their story.” Want to see this engaging discussion for yourself? Head over to canfilmday.ca! — Livestream student participant “I would like to thank you again for not only providing powerful and Now’s the time! informative films, but also lesson plans and extra resources to go along Our @canfilmday programme RCtv: Black & Indigenous Realities with them. The livestream is a wonderful opportunity for students to ask is now available for the public! Watch filmmaker discussions with Charles Officer and Sonia Bonspille Boileau at http://canfilmday. questions and feel a part of the process” ca/rctv-2021/ — Teacher, Chris Hadfield Public School, Milton, ON #CanFilmDay “Storytelling is powerful beyond our imagination because stories teach life lessons, inspire innovation and most importantly provide immeasurable wisdom. Unfortunately, for far too long our history has been told for us and not by us.” — Livestream student participant 21
FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS This year, we held over 60 (mostly online) screenings in partnership with over 45 film festivals Check out these #VAFFALUMNI films and the filmmakers across the country. In addition to the ones already described on the preceding pages, here are a White Elephant, Director & Writer #AndrewChung Meditation Park and Double Happiness, Director and Writer few highlights from across the country: #MinaShum Go to National Canadian Film Day presented by REEL CANADA for screening info. Watch these films all day today. … See More Whistler Film Festival (Whistler, BC) presented James Vs. His Future Self and a Q&A with director Jeremy LaLonde and star Jonas Chernick. Tomorrow! Come watch JAMES VS HIS FUTURE SELF with us & then see Capilano University Student Alexis King, host a Q&A with writer and actor Jonas Chernick and director Jeremy Lalonde! Vancouver Cinematheque (Vancouver, BC) presented Sign up to watch here: https://bit.ly/3e4CKgu Heater with director Terrance Odette and star Gary Farmer. National Canadian Film Day REEL CANADA Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (Vancouver, BC) presented the film Continuous Journey and a panel discussion with historians and experts. Dawson International Short Film Festival (Dawson City, YT) presented The Herd and an introduction with director Peter Lynch. Hay River Film Society (Hay River, NT) presented The Twentieth Century and shared the Festival de nouveau Calgary International Film Festival (Calgary, AB) presented cinéma’s Q&A with director Matthew Rankin and actors Jeune Juliette with an introduction by director Anne Émond. Dan Beirne and Sarianne Cormier. 22
Calgary Underground Film Festival (Calgary, AB) presented Tomorrow is National Canadian Film Day! Now in its 8th year, #NCFD gives Canadians an opportunity Hobo with a Shotgun and a Q&A with director Jason to celebrate the incredible achievements of our nation’s filmmakers. Every year hundreds of free screenings take place Eisener and cinematographer Karim Hussain. on every conceivable platform. Canadians everywhere are invited to watch a great Canadian film! RIFFA is pleased to partner with the #UofR Department of History to host a FREE screening of the 2017 National Film Regina International Film Festival (Regina, SK) presented Board named one UNARMED VERSES. … See More documentary reelasian Recently Unarmed Verses and a Q&A with the documentary’s of the Top 10 Toronto films of the 2010s by @nowtoronto! Get your FREE ticket to this Wednesday’s subjects Francine Valentine and Carleen Robinson. special #CanFilmDay presentation of Joyce Wong’s WEXFORD PLAZA featuring a post-screening q&a! Screening Canada-wide. Visit reelasian.com for tickets. WEXFORD PLAZA is a slice-of-life dark comedy about a lonely Winnipeg Film Group (Winnipeg, MB) presented The Curse female security guard Betty (Reid Asselstine) who works at a dilapidated strip mall. Isolated of Willow Song and a Q&A with filmmaker Karen Lam. and friendless, a glimmer of hope appears when a charming bartender, Danny (Darrel Gamotin), Today Canadian cinema is being celebrated across the country for National Canadian Film Day, and we’re big champions of Canadian filmmakers. Don’t miss these incredible Canadian features that will be available to stream at Calgary Underground Film Festival 2021 starting this Friday. BLOODTHIRSTY Directed by Amelia Moses An indie singer struggling to write her sophomore album heads to Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto, ON) presented the secluded cabin of a mysterious producer and begins a deep transformation of both body … See More Happening now: Critical Narratives of Nationhood, a panel discussion on Critical Narratives on Nationhood with featuring @corybowles, @danisgoulet and @ Corey Bowles, Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis), Mina Shum and MinaShum, and TIFF’s Senior Manager of Festival Programming Robyn Citizen as they discuss genre, Robyn Citizen. and navigating barriers within the indsutry. #CanFilmDay TIFF also presented several free films on the day, including Angry Inuk, Antigone, The Trotsky, and a programme of shorts. Canadian Film Festival (Toronto, ON) presented two films from their recent festival: Best Feature Award winner, Sugar Daddy, with an introduction from director Wendy Morgan and stars Kelly McCormack and Colm Feore; and William F. White Reel Canadian Indie winner, Events Transpiring Before, During and After a High School Basketball Game. Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Toronto, ON) presented Wexford Plaza and a Q&A with director Joyce Wong. 23
The Revue Cinema (Toronto, ON) presented the newly released film My Salinger Year and a Q&A with director Philippe Falardeau. Was Mega Award-Winning #Writer #Director #Actor #Producer #KindredSpirit DON McKELLAR happy to learn he’ll be chatting with me about his #EastCoast Masterpiece THE GRAND SEDUCTION We teamed up with @canfilmday to bring a special for National of screening Canadian Film Day? Oh YES B’Y! @youareheredoc for #CanFilmDay Thanks for the opportunity FIN Atlantic International Film Festival The Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival (Toronto, ON) presented How to what an honour. MARK YOUR CALENDARS EVERYBODY #CanFilmDay April 21st On #CanFilmDay, we’re taking you to Gander, Newfoundland be Deadly and a Q&A with director Nik Sexton. with the inspirational documentary, You Are Here. The true story of how this small town took in stranded airline passengers after 9/11 is bound to pull on your heartstrings. canfilmday.ca/you- IndieCan Entertainment presented a watch party of Kiss and Cry with live commentary by director Sean Cisterna and star Sarah Fisher. Canadian Film Institute (Ottawa, ON) presented Remember and a Q&A with director Atom Egoyan. National Canadian Film Day is TOMORROW! "NCFD is one of our favourite partners. We thought this year Join us for a FREE screening of THE GRAND SEDUCTION on our FIN went great and are very happy to do it again." Stream digital streaming service platform, so easy to get your FREE DIGITAL TICKET right here, right now: — King-Wei Chu, Co-director of Asian Programming, https://www.showpass.com/feature-the-grand-seduction/ Fantasia International Film Festival, Montreal, QC And stay tuned after the movie for an epic and unforgettable Q&A Session with director Don McKellar, hosted by Stephanie Beaumont (www.eastcoastcurator.com) recorded recently just for this event! … See More Festival de nouveau cinéma (Montreal, QC) presented The Twentieth Century and a Q&A with director Matthew Rankin and actors Dan Our #CanFilmDay panel with director @patriciarozema and moderator @evalazyvegas is live now! Hit the link to watch bit.ly/3nepj1z Beirne and Sarianne Cormier. #sjiwff #NLArts #NLLiveEvents St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival (St. John’s, NB) and Encore+ co-presented I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing and a Q&A with director Patricia Rozema. FIN Atlantic Film Festival (Halifax, NS) presented The Grand Seduction and a Q&A with director Don McKellar. 24
COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING In addition to the high-profile events hosted by our film festival partners, hundreds of community partners got involved this year. Here are just a few highlights: On April 21, in celebration of National Canadian Film Day, join the Canadian giant- screen family for a big watch party. Watch Wonders of the Arctic FREE of charge, then at 8 p.m. EDT take part in a live chat on YouTube with multiple GSCA award-winner, director David Lickley. Nine museums and science centres across the country partnered to present a screening of the documentary Wonders of the Arctic and a Q&A with director David Lickley. • IMAX Victoria (Victoria, BC) • Science World (Vancouver, BC) • TELUS Spark (Calgary, AB) • TELUS World of Science (Edmonton, AB) • Saskatchewan Science Centre (Regina, SK) • Science North (Sudbury, ON) • Ontario Science Centre (Toronto, ON) FILM EN LIGNE GRATUIT + DISCUSSION AVEC LE • Canadian Museum of History (Ottawa, ON) RÉALISATEUR Rendez-vous le 21 avril pour la journée du cinéma Canadien. Le • Montreal Science Centre (Montreal, QC) Cinéma IMAX® TELUSfr et Giant Screen Films and D3D Cinema vous présentent « Les merveilles de l’Arctique », un documentaire sur l’impact des changements climatiques sur les hommes et les animaux, habitués à vivre sur une terre de glace et de neige. Inscrivez-vous à l’événement pour écouter le film et participer à la Canadian Parents for French presented two national watch parties, discussion en ligne avec son réalisat… See More screening the films La guerre des tuques (Snowtime!) and Parvana: Une enfance en Afghanistan (The Breadwinner). Over 1000 audience members participated, from 87 communities nationwide. Western Counties Regional Library in Nova Scotia organized screenings at five branches that audiences could attend either in person or online, all of which were followed by live in-person discussions as well as live online discussions. 25
And the winner of our National Canadian Film Day Cornucopia prize Sault Ste. Marie Public Library had a prize giveaway of popcorn and is.....Betty! other goodies for the first 20 people to register for their screening of Thanks to everyone who attended this year's virtual watch party! Hochelaga: Terre des Ames. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board partnered with us for the fifth year in a row to showcase a programme of Indigenous-made short films to elementary school students across the region. Over 3,000 students participated. On April 21 join us to celebrate @canfilmday! In this revealing doc individuals of mixed racial heritage reveal the struggles & challenges of being multiracial in Canada."What are You?" @tvo show how a simple question comes with a complex answer. tvo.org/video/document... Celebrate National Canadian Film Day with host and Metro Writer in Residence, Nisha Patel! To register visit: http://ow.ly/c3FQ50EdO21 NFB | National Canadian Film Day St. Albert Public Library in Alberta presented a programme of Canadian shorts hosted by Nisha Patel, the Poet Laureate of Our #CanFilmDay screening of Across This Land with Stompin' Tom Connors is about to start at 12:30pm, see you soon! #CanFilmDay Edmonton. Media Commons at the University of Toronto showed the 1973 music doc Across This Land with Stompin’ Tom Connors and organized their own Q&A with the film’s editor Jacques Jean and Greg Dunning (the son of producer John Dunning). Association franco-culturelle de Hay River (NT) presented two rare in-theatre screenings of Menteur in Hay River and Fort Smith. 26
SPECIALTY PROGRAMMING CLICK HERE to watch the This year, we were once again proud to offer free programming to Intros specialty groups across the country by setting up portals for them on our online viewing platform. Partners received free access to programmes of contemporary and classic films, many of which included introductions from filmmakers, stars, and other industry professionals. • 230 retirement residences and long term care facilities • 165+ Royal Canadian Legions • 35+ Canadian Armed Forces bases 27
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS We were delighted that Canadian embassies and consulates in 28 countries hosted NCFD events. "We think that the online platform worked really well, and that the infographics, communications materials and email announcements looked very nice and very professional." Many missions reported that the greatest success of hosting online events was in — Embassy of Canada to Norway | Ambassade their ability to expand their reach beyond the capital cities where their missions du Canada en Norvège are located, and offer programming that was accessible to audiences across their host countries. The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom had the largest #SabíasQue ¿Winnie The Pooh existió? Sí, era una osita rescatada por Harry Bourn -soldado y veterinario canadiense- que en 1915 la donó al Zoológico international audience this NCFD, with over 2200 registrations for a screening de Londres. Winnipeg, o Winnie vivió 25 años e inspiró a los británicos Alan A. Milne -escritor- y al ilustrador Ernest H. Shepard, quienes la inmortalizaron of You Are Here: A Come From Away Story. como personaje #CanFilmDay Uplifting stories? Feel-good films? That's what #CanFilmDay is all about! Join us TOMORROW as we present a documentary on how the small town of Gander, took in 6,600 stranded passengers. in is happy to present The Grizzlies for #CanFilmDay on April 21! Showing for 24hrs from 12PM BST! Tickets bit.ly/32jYFdV Based on an inspiring true story, The Grizzlies is a powerful film about the determination and resilience of a group of Inuit youth. Here we follow a teacher Trailer who moves to an Inuit town that is suffering one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world. He uses lacrosse to give his students a sense of pride and purpose. Read more and sign up here for tickets free of charge https:// canadianfilmday.ca… See More 28
The Embassy of Canada in Belgrade, Serbia organized online watch parties of You Today is #CanFilmDay! Canadian film - 14 Days, 12 nights, presented by High Are Here: A Come From Away Story and The Body Remembers When the World Broke Commission of Canada in collaboration with REEL CANADA. It's available to stream NOW. For those who have not been able to register : https://watch.canfilmday.ca/ Open, partnering with local film festivals and the NGO Fenomena (dealing with family landing/523352088 #CanFilmDayLights and gender-based violence). This year, NCFD coincided with Serbia’s largest film festival, Belgrade FEST, which also featured the Canadian films Falling by Viggo Mortensen and My Salinger Year by Philippe Falardeau in their Gala programme. In Barbados, a planned drive-in screening of Bon Cop Bad Cop had to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but was rescheduled to June 2021! PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES: Algeria Ireland Sri Lanka Austria Jordan Sweden Barbados Kuwait Thailand China Latvia United Arab Дан канадског филма/National Canadian Film Day/Journée du cinéma canadien 2021 https://bit.ly/3dq9qSi & you will receive the link to access the before Colombia Lithuania Emirates April 21st. You don’t want to miss it! @canfilmday @REELCANADA @ DonicaPottie #CanFilmDay #CanFilmDayLights Costa Rica Nicaragua United Kingdom Democratic Norway Vietnam Republic of Congo Peru Join us to celebrate the #CanFilmDay with a powerful inspiring true story! The Embassy of will be screening the award winning “The France Philippines Grizzlies" (in English and Inuktitut with English subtitles) http://ow.ly/ BSxf50EpmVM April 23 at 9:00 pm Amman time. Get your tickets Greece Republic of the here.... Honduras Congo India Serbia 29
RESOURCES & BUZZ [NCFD] continues to be the highlight of our opening night for our film festival! Our patrons look forward to watching stellar films and connecting with a member of the production team right after. We are so grateful for this collaboration! Keep up the fantastic work REEL CANADA crew! — Tara Taylor, Festival Director, Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival, Halifax, NS 30
ONLINE PARTY KIT We once again updated and expanded our popular Screening Party Kit, providing even more promotional materials, activities, and games for audiences to access from home. Our focus was developing more fun ways to engage on social media, which included fun polls and quizzes on Instagram and Twitter and a “Which Canadian Film Should You Watch?” Instagram filter. Our “How to Plan a Watch Party” toolkit of easy-to-use resources was also updated for 2021, and we provided our partners with a robust array of social media assets (images, banners, sample posts and more) to make it easy for them to promote the day through their own social media channels. CLICK HERE to check out the full Party Kit 31
FORTUNE TELLER & IG FILTER This year, we updated our “Which Canadian Film Should You Watch?” Instagram filter to include more titles from this year's Spotlight. We also created an NCFD Fortune Teller, using an easy and nostalgic childhood game as a way to help Canadians choose a film to watch on NCFD! FORTUNE TELL The NCFD Film ER Picker — we 2021 throw 've assemble s your way. d a list of am watch on Ap Cut out and azing Canadi ril 21st, 202 fold this for an films to sui 1. tune teller to t everything find the perfe ct Canadian Film to CLICK HERE to download the fortune teller 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Cut & flip 13 white side Fold 14 Unfold up Fold Unfold Fold corners to center Flip over Fold corners to center Flip over Fold in half Unfold Fold in half & slip finger into flap: 32
BUZZ #CanFilmDay! On National Canadian Film Day, people across the country celebrate the great achievements made in Canadian cinema Today is #CanFilmDay! Head to canfilmday.ca to plan your perfect day of movies. Just click and stream! #free #movies 7.7 MILLION #1 Youtube, Facebook TRENDING Today is @canfilmday! Let’s come together (virtually!) and celebrate our hashtag on Twitter rich, diverse and awesome cinema across the country. So grab your & Twitter impressions popcorn and watch a #CdnFilm today! Check out everything that’s going on: https://canadianfilmday.ca #CanFilmDay 15+ MILLION views of our promotional PSA Canada is home to some of the best talent in the world. @made_nous celebrates the best of Canadian stories and talent in movies. In honour of #CanFilmDay, check out our MADE|NOUS Collection now on the Cineplex Store ➡ http://ow.ly/BSxf50EpmVM 123,000 50.8M Love love love them No way, eh? @BrianLynch is a Bob & Doug fan We'll buy you a 24 any day visits to our website, more than NCFD 2021 pushed views of our GIF the past 3 years combined library over the 50 million mark! 33
BUZZ OH HEY!!! Since it's #CanFilmDay why don't I shamelessly plug a couple of movies I wrote (and starred in): "NO CLUE" directed by Carl Bessai, and "CORNER GAS: THE MOVIE" directed by David Storey. Dial them up on your devices! Thank you for your attention in this matter. It's #CanFilmDay. Shake the nation. National Canadian Film Day: Politics, Protest and Activism: digital.tiff. net/collections/nat... Celebs and politicians got in on the fun on social media, including Liane Balaban, Andrew Phung, Brent Butt, Brian Lynch, Vinay Virmani, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett and many others! Today @canfilmday, initiated by @REELCanada, celebrates #cdnfilm highlighting CDN cinema & homegrown talents. Visit canfilmday.ca 2 find #CanFilmDay content 2 stream 4 free online. Congrats 2 NL's film festivals & filmmakers on outstanding achievements. #NLArts #NLProud Happy National Canadian Film Day! Canadian films are essential for us to be able to better understand our country - our history, our regions, our diversity and our values I hope that all of you will choose a Canadian film to watch - not just today but often #CanFilmDay 34
MEDIA COVERAGE Let's go to the movies! At 3:20, we're taking it back to 1979 with Jack Blum from Meatballs, screening online as part of the @theOFFA & @canfilmday. At 4, filmmaker @yarrumhm talks short film Ghost, an exploration of modern LGBTQ+ dating. Listen 3-5 PM ET on @SXMCanadaTalks 207M 836 Total number of MEDIA STORIES in print, television, radio and online TOTAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS 35
CLICK HERE .@TheBreakdown167 is coming up 3-5ET with @allisondore and @Cassandra_B! comping up: we celebrate @canfilmday with founder to watch the and #Meatballs actor Jack Blum plus award-winning filmmaker @ yarrumhm on his short film #Ghost! news report How do you celebrate #CanFilmDay without the theatrical shared experience? @HertzBerry explains 5 reasons why we should feel good about the state of CanCon - and 2 reasons why we should be concerned. 36
OUR TEAM REEL CANADA’s National Canadian Film Day was a great opportunity for the Gimli Film Festival to share some of our favourite films and filmmakers, and also a chance for us to raise awareness of the incredible quality and cultural importance of Canadian filmmaking. — Aaron Zeghers, Festival Director, Gimli Film Festival, Gimli, MB 37
REEL CANADA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Reg Bronskill Liz Shorten Atom Egoyan, C.C. Board Treasurer Board Secretary Colm Feore, O.C. Charles Officer Jason Ryle (Anishinaabe) Mina Shum Veronica Tennant, C.C. REEL CANADA ADVISORY COMMITTEE Hussain Amarshi Andrew Currie David Hardy Alanis Obomsawin, C.C. Tara Spencer-Nairn Denys Arcand, C.C. David Daniels Norman Jewison, C.C. Gordon Pinsent Jacob Tierney Carl Bessai Philippe Falardeau Peter Keleghan Sarah Polley, O.C. Jean-Marc Vallée, O.C. Gary Burns Niv Fichman Robert Lantos Michel Poulette Clement Virgo Éric Canuel Émile Gaudreault Bruce McDonald Peter Raymont Karen Walton Jerry Ciccoritti Bryan Gliserman Don McKellar, C.M. Irfhan Rawji Heather Conway Paul Gross, O.C. Deepa Mehta, O.C. Denise Robert David Cronenberg, C.C. Piers Handling Charlotte Mickie Patricia Rozema 38
STAFF Executive Director: Jack Blum Development & Festivals Coordinator: Eda Ataergin Artistic Director: Sharon Corder Festivals Coordinator: Austin MacDonald Director of Operations: Jenna Hijazi Event Coordinators: Amanda Clarke, Teresa Horosko Director of Special Projects Outreach Coordinators: Terri Cherniack, Arshile Egoyan, & National Canadian Film Day: Katarina Gligorijevic Brigid Savage, Isabella Shibuta Administrative and Programming Director: Alison Zemell Coordination Interns: Jack McGrath, Ettie Nxumalo, Ben Whyte Technical Director: Mark Meeks Graphic Designer: Rebecca Lacroix Development Consultant: Dianne Schwalm Graphic Design Support: Chantal Speirs Digital Strategy Director: Andrew Escobar Communications Coordinators: Cait MacMullin, Adriana Floridia Indigenous Film Programme Manager: Ariel Smith (nēhiyaw) Marketing and Communications Consultant: Cara McCutcheon Video Content Producer & Project Manager: Communications Intern: Kajaani Tharmabalan Annick Sheedy McLellan Video Editor: Taras Lesiouk NCFD Programming Manager: Ravi Srinivasan Production Assistants: Teejay Madeley, Justin Otto International Manager: Arielle Goldschläger Translator: Melissa Zeroual Programming & Festivals Coordinator: Eric Tisch Additional NCFD support provided by the Reel Opportunities team: Managers: Diriye Hassan, Pari Ludin Coordinators: Kenzia Dalie, Sadiah Rahman 39
SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS As an organization with a mandate to connect our audience with films that are Canadian, Northern, and Indigenous, we really appreciate the work of REEL CANADA in promoting our film industry and providing opportunities for community screenings. — Hay River Film Society, Hay River, NT 40
SPONSORS 41
SUPPORTERS BROADCAST & STREAMING PARTNERS 42
FILM FESTIVAL PARTNERS 43
OTHER SPECIAL EVENT PARTNERS 44
Presented by canfilmday.ca @canfilmday
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