With temperatures in Eastern Canada dropping to shockingly cold depths this week, it is with likely glee that a cadre of Canadian filmmakers and financier Telefilm decamped to California for the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

For the second year in a row, Telefilm and PSIFF have partnered to spotlight Canadian film, this time with Canada as the country of honour for the festival’s 25^th anniversary.

Telefilm is the official sponsor of the festival’s day-long Focus on Canada showcase on Jan. 5, which as previously announced, will feature 13 Canadian films, including Mathieu Roy’s Another House, Louise Archambault’s Gabrielle, Peter Stebbing’s Empire of Dirt and Don McKeller’s The Grand Seduction. Nine of the Canadian features will be making their U.S. debut at the Palm Springs festival.

The 2013 partnership between Telefilm and PSIFF proved so successful the festival invited Telefilm to help organize this year’s Canada festivities, Douglas Chow, spokesman for Telefilm Canada, told Playback in an email.

Chow noted the Palm Spring festival has always been particularly enthusiastic about Canadian talent, and festival’s director Darryl Macdonald is Canadian.

Opening the year’s festival circuit a few weeks ahead of Sundance, PSIFF’s sunny locale attracts decision-makers from nearby L.A,, a combination that makes the festival especially beneficial for Canadian filmmakers, Chow said.

Gabrielle, a micro_scope production that recently missed the Oscar shortlist as Canada’s pick for best foreign language film, will take another run at a foreign-language prize at PSIFF. Gabrielle will be one of 45 titles to be reviewed by a jury of international film critics for the IPRESCI Awards in three categories: best foreign language film of the year, best actor and best actress.

Craig Goodwill’s Patch Town is up for the festival’s The New Vision/The New Voices award for international directors making their debut at the Palm Springs festival (the films in this category are currently without U.S. distribution).

The Palm Springs International Film festival runs from Jan. 3 to Jan. 13.

Palm Springs image via Shutterstock