Radio-Canada series to debut at Berlinale Series

C’est comme ça que je t’aime (“Happily Married”; pictured), a new 10-episode series created by François Létourneau, will make its world premiere at Berlinale Series next month. The drama follows two married couples living in Quebec in 1974 that get caught up in a summer of crime when they send their kids to camp. Montreal’s Productions Casablanca produced the series, with Joanne Forgues as the series showrunner and Jean-François Rivard serving as director. The first two episodes will premiere at the festival, while the full 10-episode season will stream on ICI TOU.TV EXTRA this winter. Cineflix Rights handles worldwide distribution. Berlinale Series was launched in 2015 to put a spotlight on global television productions, along with the industry conference Berlinale Series Market. This year’s festival will run from Feb. 24 to 27.

James vs. His Future Self hits the U.S. festival circuit

Jeremy LaLonde’s sci-fi comedy James vs. His Future Self will have its U.S. debut at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this month. The film will screen as part of the Independent Competition program before hitting additional U.S. film fests, including Panic Fest in Kansas City and the San Francisco Indie Film Fest. James vs. His Future Self is co-written and directed by Jeremy LaLonde and produced by co-writer and star Jonas Chernick, Jonathan Bronfman of JoBro Productions and Jordan Walker of Neophyte Productions. Andrew Bronfman is a co-producer. The film follows a scientist on the verge of inventing time travel, played by Chernick, and his future self who tries to stop him, played by Daniel Stern.

Northern Banner Releasing holds the Canadian distribution rights while Alliance Media Partners holds worldwide sales rights. It has already been sold in China (Huashi), Middle East (Front Row) and Greece (Odeon).

Inaugural films for HGF/Territories Shorts Program revealed

The Harold Greenberg Fund (HF) has unveiled the three projects set for its inaugural edition of its HGF/Territories Shorts Program.

This year’s selected projects include: Nahga from writer/director Mason Mantla, which sees a teen babysitter who finds a shape-shifting child-snatching monster at her door; Weight from Gabriel and Thomas Bullen and producer Kelly Milner, which follows a father who has to reckon with his grief; and Leah’s Moustache Party from writer Thomas Anguti Johnston and director Nadia Mike, the story of a four-year-old who wants to throw a moustache party for her birthday.

Developed in partnership with the Northwest Territories Film Commission (NTFC), the Nunavut Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and the Government of Yukon’s Media Development Unit, the initiative aims to boost aims to give three filmmaking teams – one from each province – a total of $20,000 in combined production financing towards the creation of a dramatic short. Officially introduced in September 2019,  this program represents the first time all three territories have been brought under one funding program to support filmmaking, according to a press release.