The Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) has elected three new board members: Victoria Shen, (pictured left) newly appointed executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada; Susin Nielsen (pictured middle), author and television showrunner; and Renuka Singh (pictured right), a PSP alumnus and 2021 Playback 10 to Watch screenwriter.

They join existing board members Brian Hamilton (chair), Liz Shorten (treasurer-secretary), Bob Wong, Erin Haskett, Rob Cooper, Todd Ireland, and Karyn Edwards.

All have been elected to two-year terms as organization celebrates its fifth year, according to a news release.

Wind River sequel lands in Calgary

Several Canadian names are behind the feature Wind River: The Next Chapter, now shooting in Calgary. Chad Oakes and Michael Frislev of Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures are executive producers on the sequel to the 2017 crime drama, about a series of murders on a reserve. BAFTA-winning Canadian filmmaker Kari Skogland is directing.

U.S. writers Patrick Massett and John Zinman penned the screenplay for the feature, which is being produced by Matthew George for California-based Castle Rock Entertainment and Acacia Filmed Entertainment, Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road Pictures.

Other executive producers include Castle Rock’s Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi, Jonathan Fuhrman, Courtney Shepard and Hernan Narea. The cast includes Jason Clarke, Scott Eastwood, Chaske Spencer and Martin Sensmeier.

RVQC announces winners

Geographies of Solitude by Jacquelyn Mills was a double winner at Les Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma’s (RVQC) 41st edition. The film took the Pierre-et-Yolande-Perrault Prize, which honours the best first or second feature documentary, and the Luc-Perreault/AQCC Prize, which goes to the best Québec film of the year and comes with a $2,000 scholarship offered. Mills directed and produced, alongside producer Rosalie Chicoine Perreault.

Other winners at the ceremony in Montreal last weekend included Jour de merde (La 115ème) by Kevin T. Landry, who received the Gilles-Carle Prize for a first or second feature film and a $10,000 grant from Bell Media and Quebec Cinema. The Jury en herbe prize, rewarding the best fiction feature film of the Lab Québec Cinéma selection, went to director and screenwriter Rafaël Ouellet for Arsenault et Fils (La maison de prod).

Filmmaker Alexandre Pelletier and sound designer Théo Porcet took the $10,000 Forge Quebec Cinema cash prize presented by Netflix for the pitch of their feature L’Étape. The short Forêts by writer-director-producer Simon Plouffe received accolades for Best Artwork and Experimentation, and won a $20,000 grant in services presented by Productions Réalisations Indépendantes de Montréal.

The $1,500 award for Best Franco-Canadian Film went to Alexis Normand for his short film French Enough (National Film Board of Canada). Invincible (Télescope Films) by Vincent René-Lortie won the $1,500 Best Short Fiction Film prize. The Best Short Documentary prize, which comes with a $2,500 scholarship, went to Oasis (Déjà Vu) by director Justine Martin.

The winners are rounded out by Chasing Birds by director Una Lorenzen and produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin and Heather Millard, which was named Best Animated Short Film, along with a $1,500 cash prize. The award for Best Student Film went to Laurent Déry-Lauzier for Les Marcheuses, which comes with a scholarship of $1,000 in cash and the same amount in services.

Coco Ferme wins big at Montreal International Children’s Film Festival

Quebec film Coco Ferme (La Fête, Attraction), directed by Sébastien Gagné, won two awards at the Le Festival International du Film pour Enfants de Montréal (Montreal International Children’s Film Festival).

The comedy took the UDA Interpretation Prize for actor Joey Bélanger and tied for the Audience Award with animated Quebec film Katak le brave béluga (10th Ave Productions), directed by Christine Dallaire-Dupont and Nicola Lemay.

Other Canadian winners at the 26th edition of the festival include Quebec film Jules au pays d’Asha by director Sophie Farkas Bolla, produced by Hany Ouichou and Kim O’Bomsawin, which took the Grand Prix de Montréal prize for best feature film. Corvine (McCarron Productions) by director Sean McCarron won the prize for Best Short Film.