Projects from Shaftesbury and Reel One Entertainment have been selected for the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions at France’s Series Mania Forum, which runs from March 21 to 23.

The pitch program gives 15 series a platform for producers to seek international financiers and partners, with one winning a 50,000€ prize (approximately CAD$71,847), decided by an international jury.

Among the 15 projects is The Unquiet Dead for Toronto’s Shaftesbury, written by 2022 Playback 10 to Watch recipient Abdul Malik (pictured) and based on the detective book series by Ausma Zehanat Khan; and the Canada/Ireland copro comedy Our Father, produced by Montreal’s Reel One Entertainment and Dublin-based ShinAwiL, and written by John Cairns and Michael McCartney.

The series were selected out of 450 submissions from 66 countries, according to Series Mania. The jury includes the U.K.’s Channel 4 head of drama Caroline Hollick; Italy’s Michele Zatta, commissioning editor at RAI; France’s Françoise Guyonnet, executive managing director TV, StudioCanal; Finland’s Jarmo Lampela, head of drama, YLE; and the U.K.’s Lindsey Martin, VP, development and coproductions, CBS Studios International.

Telefilm and the Banff World Media Festival formed a joint venture with the Series Mania Forum and the French National Center of Cinema late last year to foster better producing partnerships between Canada and France. The Canada-France Series Lab kicks off at the forum.

ACTRA Toronto names 2022 Sandi Ross Awards winners

ACTRA Toronto’s Diversity and Inclusion committee has named writer, producer and host Amanda Parris and Toronto agency Jesse Griffiths Casting as the recipients of the 2022 Sandi Ross Awards. The awards are bestowed on one individual and one company that demonstrate a commitment to inclusion in their respective work.

Parris is the creator of the CBC Gem series Revenge of the Black Best Friend and a former CBC host, and has been honoured due to the use of her platform to promote racial equity. She is also one of the inaugural winners of the Canadian Screen Awards’ Changemaker Award. Jesse Griffiths Casting has been recognized for the team’s work to push for diversity and inclusion in casting.

The awards will be handed out Friday (Feb. 17). Previous recipients include Tracey Deer and TallBoyz II Men in 2021, Winnifred Jong and Working the Scene in Colour in 2020, and Floyd Kane and Thunderbird Entertainment in 2019.

Steve Gravestock honoured with Luminary Award

Former Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) programmer Steve Gravestock has been selected as the Toronto Film Critics Association’s (TFCA) 2023 recipient of the Company 3 Luminary Award. The honour is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to Canadian cinema, and includes $50,000 worth of in-kind services to be given to a filmmaker chosen by the recipient. Gravestock will name the prize winner at a later date, according to a press release.

Gravestock spent more than two decades programming films with TIFF before his retirement earlier this year, and is credited with curating the festival’s annual Canada’s Top Ten list.

Other winners announced by the TFCA include Carol Nguyen, who was awarded the Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize. The $1,000 Telefilm Canada Emerging Critic award was given to Michelle Krasovitski.

Still to be announced is the winner of the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, which comes with a $100,000 cash prize. The award will be presented at the 26th Annual TFCA Awards Gala on March 6. The nominees are Brother, Crimes of the Future, and Riceboy Sleeps.

Canadian copro VR project debuts at Berlinale

The Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) has selected Inuit artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory’s virtual reality (VR) prototype Tartupaluk for its Forum Expanded program. The immersive project, which is still in development, is on display at the Marshall McLuhan Salon at Berlin’s Canadian embassy from Feb. 16 to 23. The VR experience offers a 360-degree view of an uninhabited island located in the territorial waters of both Canada and Greenland.

Tartupaluk is a Canada/Denmark/Greenland coproduction between Ánorâk Film Denmark and Montreal prodco Scintilla. Financial support has been provided by the Canada Media Fund, the Danish Film Institute, Naalakkersuisut/Government of Greenland, the Nunavut Film Development Corporation and the Aabijijiwan New Media Lab.