Nimisha Mukerji’s Tempest Storm and Michelle Latimer‘s Forgotten: The Freedom Project are among seven projects receiving completion grants and development loans from the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds.

The funds are a joint venture between the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Shaw Media, and are part of a $3 million completion fund and $1 million development fund aiming to support Canadian documentarians.

Since 2008, a total of 127 projects have received $2.91 million in funding from the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds. This latest batch of funding marks the 13th round of disbursements.

This year, the two films receiving completion grants totaling $120,000 from the Completion Fund include Sophie Deraspe’s Amina – A Gay Girl in Damascus, a socio-political thriller exploring media during the Arab Spring, and Marc de Guerre’s Beauty and Ruin, on the potential loss of the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection.

Meanwhile, the five projects which have received no-interest loans amounting to $60,000 through the Development Fund are Michelle Latimer’s Forgotten: The Freedom Project, looking at a female dangerous offender in Canada; Andrew Moir’s Summers in the Belt, about a teenager struggling with his future in a farming community; Mukerji’s Tempest Storm, which looks at the life of a burlesque icon; Jared Raab’s Blood & Honey, on the journey of Canadian band July Talk; and Patrick Reed and Michelle Shephard’s The Canadians, on deported Russian spies looking to return to Canada.

The application process for the second round of 2014 funding will open on Sept. 24. For further information, click here.

– From Realscreen