Matt Birman is to direct A Fish Story, a $7.4 million theatrical feature from Equinoxe Films, Aisha Productions and Urban Lumberjack Films.

The uplifting family drama written by Sam Roberts will start shooting in Quebec’s Gatineau region in mid-July. Birman, a veteran stunt performer, was second unit director on Survival of the Dead, Warehouse 13 and others.

Montreal-based Equinoxe is also to start production May 31 on Winnie, the Canadian/South African copro based on the story of Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s former wife.

Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) is to play the titular role in the $15 million theatrical drama. South African filmmaker Darrell J. Roodt, whose credits include Cry, The Beloved Country and Sarafina, will shoot on location in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Transkei and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

Equinoxe is coproducing Winnie with André Pieterse of MaAfrika Films.

Equinoxe producer Michael Mosca, who also produced the 2006 drama A Sunday in Kigali in Rwanda, is finishing principal photography on the $6.4 million film A Million Colours, another Canada/South Africa production with MaAfrika, this time directed and co-written by Montreal-born and New York City-based Peter Bishai.

The romantic adventure about a former black teen star getting his life back on track during South Africa’s apartheid era, is also being shot in South Africa.

D Films will distribute A Million Colours in Canada, which is set for a 2011 release.