Emerging filmmakers were celebrated and supported at the sixth annual National Screen Institute FilmExchange through screenings of features from first-time filmmakers and the announcement of awards that will fund the production of six new shorts over the next year.

At the all-Canadian festival, held in Winnipeg March 2-6, Daniel Eskin became the first recipient of the Manitoba Emerging Filmmaker Award. The annual prize, courtesy of Manitoba Film and Sound, was announced at SnowScreen, the festival’s outdoor opening event, which, according to director Bill Evans, attracted an audience of 800, twice what it did last year. The award contributed a total of $17,500 in cash and costs to the production of Eskin’s short The Salt Pillar, which will screen at next year’s festival.

The winners of this year’s ZeD Drama Prize were also announced on the festival’s opening day. Five short films, selected from 85 submitted proposals, each received $8,000 in cash support, services worth more than $15,000 and a national broadcast licence from sponsor, CBC’s late-night experimental showcase ZeD.

Selected projects come from across Canada, including Kathleen’s Closet from British Columbia, The Snow Queen from Manitoba, Noise from Ontario, The King Hunt from Newfoundland and Changing Room from the Northwest Territories.

In addition to supporting the production of new shorts, the festival also screened three features that were developed through the NSI Features First Program, which provides training and professional development for filmmakers working on their first or second feature.

Seven Times Lucky, directed by Gary Yates, made its Canadian premiere at the festival March 5. The feature stars Kevin Pollack (The Usual Suspects) and recently made its world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Other Features First films screened at the festival include Nathaniel Geary’s On the Corner and Paula Tiberius’ Goldirocks.

Nine of the 14 features developed through the program since its inception in 1997 have been produced. They include Flower & Garnet, Inertia, Leaving Metropolis and Turning Paige.

Amateur filmmakers were also given a chance to shine through the National Exposure Amateur Movie Contest, which received 100 submissions from across Canada. Twelve of those were selected to screen at the festival, from which the audience voted Michelle Kuly’s Jannie Bananie Goes on a Martini Bender, the best amateur film.

-www.nsi-canada.ca