Telefilm Canada announces Canadian shorts selected for Sundance 2010 and
films selected for Slamdance 2010

MONTREAL , Dec. 16 /CNW Telbec/ - Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that in addition to the five Canadian feature films already announced as part of the Sundance official selection, another six short films from Canada have been selected by the prestigious festival. Furthermore, 10 Canadian films have been selected to screen at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival, which runs January 21-28, 2010 in Park City, Utah. Among them, three features are entered in the official competition.

At Slamdance, a feature script supported by Telefilm at the development stage - Gia Milani's All The Wrong Reasons (Shore Road Pictures, New Brunswick ) - will be awarded the 2009 Script Accessible Award, part of the Feature Screenplay Competition.

"This is an exceptional year for Canada at Sundance and Slamdance," stated Sheila de La Varende, Director, National & International Business Development at Telefilm. "A record number of films have been selected, a testament to the talent of Canadian filmmakers and producers. We are proud to be supporting them in achieving international recognition," she added.

Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program participants attending Sundance 2010

Thanks to a joint initiative of Heritage Canada's Trade Routes Program and Telefilm Canada , the Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program is offering a market-focused immersion during the Sundance Film Festival, aimed at eligible Aboriginal producers who are working on a project that has been selected under the program. The National Screen Institute has been mandated by Telefilm with the task of coordinating the producers' attendance at Sundance and providing them with the necessary coaching both before and during their stay in Park City. The producers will benefit from the services of an experienced advisor who will steer them toward relevant activities based on their level of professional development while enabling networking opportunities.

Canadian short films selected for Sundance 2010

    
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    Title        Producer         Director      Description
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    The Armoire  Mark Montefiore  Jamie Travis  A game of hide and seek gone
                 (Armoire Films,                awry leads eleven year-old
                 Toronto)                       Aaron into the heart of a
                                                mystery that can only be
                                                unraveled through hypnosis.
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    The Art Of   Diego Maclean    Diego         Based on a poem by Billy
    Drowning     (Vancouver)      Maclean       Collins, the art of drowning
                                                ponders the possibilities of
                                                what awaits us at the end of
                                                the line.
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    Rains        Pascal Le Nôtre  David         Rains is a meditation on
                 (Folimage,       Coquard-      everyday life and our
                 France),         Dassault      relationship with nature,
                 René Chénier,                  seen by the acute eye
                 Julie Roy                      of David Coquard-Dassault,
                 (National                      whose simple pencil drawings
                 Film Board,                    render all the subtleties
                 Montréal)                      of scenes  and actions.
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    Runaway      Michael Scott,   Cordell       Happy passengers are having a
                 Derek Mazur      Barker        great time on a crowded
                 (National Film                 train, oblivious to the
                 Board,                         unknown fate that awaits them
                 Winnipeg)                      around the bend. The ensuing
                                                crisis leads to a class
                                                struggle that is as amusing
                                                as it is merciless. Naturally
                                                there are victims, but in the
                                                end everyone is equal.
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    Tungijuq     Stéphane Rituit  Félix         A thought-provoking
                 (Igloolik &      Lajeunesse -  meditation on the seal-hunt
                 Kunuk Cohn       Paul          and what it means to the
                 Productions,     Raphaël       traditional way of life
                 Montréal)                      for the Inuit.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Vive         Tina Ouellette   Bruce Alcock  The animation Vive La Rose
    La Rose      (Global Mechanic,              is the tragic love story of
                 Vancouver),                    a fisherman and his beloved,
                 Annette Clarke,                inspired by a traditional
                 Michael                        Newfoundland song performed
                 Fukushima                      by Émile Benoit.
                 (National Film
                 Board, Halifax)
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Canadian films selected for Slamdance 2010

    
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    Feature films
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    Title        Producer         Director      Description
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Documentary Competition
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    Rocksteady:  Betty Palik      Stascha       The great singers and
    the Roots of (Muse            Bader         musicians of Jamaica's
    Reggae (US   Entertainment,                 Rocksteady era reunite after
    premiere)    Montréal),                     40 years to record an
                 Valentin                       album of their greatest hits
                 Greutert                       and to tell their story.
                 (HesseGreutert
                 Films, Zurich)
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    Feature Film Competition
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Snow &       Charles-         Charles-      When he returns from a
    Ashes        Olivier          Olivier       conflict zone, a war
    (World       Michaud,         Michaud       correspondent sets out to
    premiere)    Eric Mantion,                  remember the events that
                 David-                         led to his photographer's
                 Alexandre                      mysterious disappearance.
                 Coiteux (Neige
                 et Cendre
                 Productions,
                 Quebec City)
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    The Wild     Alexandre        Alexandre     A medieval re-enactment
    Hunt         Franchi,         Franchi       game turns into a
    (Inter-      Karen                          Shakespearean tragedy when
    national     Murphy                         a non-player crashes the
    premiere)    (Animist                       event to win back his
                 Films                          girlfriend. (Received
                 Productions,                   support from Telefilm through
                 Montréal)                      the Canada Feature Film
                                                Fund.)
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    Short films
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    Title        Producer         Director      Description
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    Danse        Catherine        Pedro Pires   "For a time, while we
    Macabre      Chagnon,                       believe it to be perfectly
                 Pedro Pires                    still, our body comes to
                 (Pedro Pires,                  life, expresses itself and
                 Montréal)                      moves into action in an
                                                ultimate macabre ballet. Are
                                                the many spasms that shake
                                                our body merely erratic
                                                movements or are they an
                                                echo of the whirl and tumult
                                                of our past life?"
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    His White    Betty Wen        Betty Wen     Meet Esther Jiang, a self-
    Eyes         wen Jiang        wen Jiang     absorbed and promiscuous
                                                Chinese college student who
                                                suffers from suicidal
                                                ideation. After her mother's
                                                denouncement of her love of
                                                white men, Esther seeks
                                                refuge in four hotel rooms.
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    Junko's      Paul Nandrajog   Sol Friedman  After discovering her
    Shamisen     (Toronto)                      blind grandfather murdered, a
                                                young Japanese peasant, and
                                                her mystical friend, exact
                                                gruesome poetic justice on
                                                the malevolent samurai lord
                                                responsible.
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    Latte        Shannon          Product       A caffeine junkie busts his
    America      Braithwaite                    dealer loose from the cops
                 (Embargo                       and fights his way to a
                 Productions,                   waterside "exit strategy".
                 Burnaby)
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    Love &       Josée Vallée,    Normand       Donald works in a
    Volts        Paul-E. Audet    Daneau        slaughterhouse. He is
                 (Cirrus                        infatuated with Francine
                 Communications,                who owns a pet shop.
                 Montréal)                      Will love be enough to unite
                                                these two lonely souls?
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    Massacrator  Pierre Ayotte    Pierre        A young woman and Elvis
                 (Montréal)       Ayotte        struggle to escape from a
                                                killer cyborg from the
                                                future.
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    Planet Sun:  Mark Peachy      Matt          "Planet Sun: The Tan-fastic
    The Tan      (The             Atkinson      Adventures of Shay and Stay"
    -Fastic      Digitalist,                    is a character driven comedy
    Adventures   Toronto),                      that pokes fun at the tanning
    of Shay      Sarah                          industry and pop-culture
    & Stay       Cornell                        overall. It follows the
                 (Mo'Easy                       vacuous life of Shay and
                 Productions,                   Stay, two thirtysomethings
                 Toronto)                       who work reception at Planet
                                                Sun Tanning Salon.
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    Telefilm Canada: Developing and promoting the Canadian audiovisual
    industry
    

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 productions that appeal to domestic and international audiences. The Corporation also administers the funding programs of the Canadian Feature Film Fund, the Canadian Television Fund and the Canada New Media Fund. Visit www.telefilm.gc.ca.

For further information: Eva Hartling, Senior Advisor, External Communications, Telefilm Canada, [phone], ext. 2090, 1-800-567-0890, [email protected]