Telefilm Canada has selected 64 Canadian film festivals to receive COVID recovery support through its Promotion Program.

The funder has allocated $725,000 to the festivals through the program’s General Admission Stream, dedicated to small and emerging film festivals, and the Open Access Stream, which was established to support festivals not eligible under the general stream. The program covers festivals running between July 1 to March 31, 2023.

Telefilm is responsible for administering $10 million in pandemic recovery support for film festivals through 2023, allocated via Canadian Heritage’s $200 million Reopening Fund.

A total of 40 festivals were selected under the General Admission Stream. Sixteen take place in Ontario, including Toronto’s Blood In The Snow and Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, and London’s Forest City Film Festival; eight are from Quebec, such as Festival Stop Motion Montréal; six from B.C., including the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival; three Atlantic film festivals, such as Nova Scotia’s Halifax Black Film Festival and Lunenburg Doc Fest; and two in Manitoba, including the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival.

Rounding out the selected festivals are Alberta’s Edmonton Short Film Festival, the Nunavut International Film Festival, Saskatchewan’s Regina International Film Festival and Awards, P.E.I’s Charlottetown Film Festival and N.W.T.’s Yellowknife International Film Festival.

Another 24 were selected for the Open Access Stream, eight from Ontario, including the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival; seven from B.C., such as the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival; five from Quebec, including DOCfest; two from Alberta, such as Calgary’s Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival; and two from Nova Scotia, including the Hellifax Horror Fest.

Mid- to large-scale festivals supported through the Limited Edition Stream and awards ceremonies and industry events covered by the Industry Industries Stream will be announced in January 2023, according to an industry advisory from Telefilm. The streams will cover events running the 13 months between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, 2023. A second round for the General Admission Stream and Open Access Stream will be announced in February 2023.

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