The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) has announced the first six features for its 25th edition, running Nov. 17 to 27. Three of them are Canadian, including Bloom (pictured; Jouvencelles), the debut feature by Fanie Pelletier, who also produced alongside Audrey D. Laroche. La Distributrice de films is the Canadian distributor for the teen girl drama.

Others Canadian titles in the RIDM lineup include the doc Geographies of Solitude by Jacquelyn Mills, who also produced with Rosalie Chicoine Perreault. Canadian distribution for the film, which won the Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award at Hot Docs this year, is handled by Films We Like. Kurdish-Canadian director Zaynê Akyol will screen ROJEK (Metafilms), which has Maison 4:3 as distributor.

The international titles are: Inner Lines by Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd (Cobra Films); Dry Ground Burning (Mato seco em chamas) by Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós (Cinco da Norte, Terratreme Filmes); and A House Made of Splinters by Simon Lereng Wilmont (Final Cut For Real).

The Other End opens new virtual production studio

Virtual Production House, a division of Toronto’s The Other End, has announced the official opening of an 11,000-square-foot virtual production complex furnished with two large stages and production offices in the city.

One space labelled the Sun Stage provides a 180-degree curved LED wall, adjustable LED ceilings, and a high-resolution tracking system. Meanwhile, the Moon Stage acts as a conventional studio facility with a 70-foot cyclorama, with a 20-foot clear height.

The Other End launched the Virtual Production House in January to operate its planned Toronto and Vancouver virtual production studios. Its Vancouver facility is expected to open its doors later this year with more details to come.

Vaughan Murrae honoured at Locarno Film Festival

Before I Change My Mind‘s lead Canadian actor Vaughan Murrae won a history-making honour following the film’s world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.

Murrae was awarded the Boccalino d’Oro (Golden Jug) Best Acting Performance award while at the festival, becoming the first non-binary actor to be presented with the honour, according to a spokesperson for the filmmakers. The film is directed by Edmonton’s Trevor Anderson, who also co-wrote it with Fish Griwkowsky, and produced by Katrina Beatty of Loud Whisper Productions and Alyson Richards of Outside Line Studio. It follows a gender non-conforming student who makes dangerous choices to fit in.

Before I Change My Mind was also selected for the festival’s Concorso Cineasti del presente competition. Locarno Film Festival’s 75th edition took place from Aug. 3 to 13.

CAVCO sets guidelines for tax credit timeline extension

The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) has issued the requirements around a temporary 12-month timeline extension for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit. The relief measure was initially proposed in the 2021 federal budget due to the impact of COVID-19 on the audiovisual industry.

The extension applies to any domestic or service production that has incurred a labour expenditure taxable in 2020 or 2021, allowing an additional 12 months before the production will be shown in Canada. All eligible productions must submit a request for the extension in writing as part of its CAVCO application.

With files from Victoria Ahearn and Kelly Townsend