Some of the latest and greatest work by alums of the National Screen Institute will unspool in Winnipeg next month at the NSI FilmExchange Canadian Film Festival.

The lineup for the eighth annual fest includes features by Sean Garrity (Lucid), Gary Yates (Niagara Motel) and David Ray, whose Fetching Cody was developed at NSI’s Features First Program.

‘Fetching Cody wouldn’t have happened without NSI,’ says Ray. ‘They take you seriously. They pick you because they think you’re road-worthy. It’s tough. It’s like boot camp. They send you all over Canada setting you up with key people. Then, when they feel you’re ready, they throw you in the water. I owe a lot to NSI. It takes no rights. It gives you everything and takes nothing.’

Ray’s directorial feature debut made its world premier at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where it inked a U.S. distribution deal with Panorama.

The four-day FilmExchange opens March 1 – playing animation by the National Film Board and experimental shorts by the Winnipeg Film Group on its outdoor snow screen.

‘The sky, roaring fire pits, hot chocolate and great Canadian films makes this event literally and figuratively Canada’s Coolest Film Festival,’ says Liz Janzen, director of programming.

The shorts program includes films from veteran and emerging filmmakers, including Bruce Alcock and his At the Quinte Hotel, Jannie Bananie Quits Smoking from James Swirsky and Red Men Rising by Cindy Murdoch.

Janzen feels the shorts are the heart of the festival. ‘Most filmmakers have a history in short film, so to give them an opportunity to showcase them every day is an important component to the festival,’ she says.

At the fest’s industry forums, workshop and panel topics include: a talk about portable devices and the future of mobile content; Garrity and other filmmakers talking about the exodus of Canadian writers to the U.S.; and a look behind the development and presales of Falcon Beach with key players Kim Todd, Christine Shipton and Barbara Bowlby.

www.nsi-canada.ca/filmexchange/