Telefilm Canada and Forum RIDM have revealed the four projects selected for the sixth edition of the Marché du Film’s Docs-in-Progress – Canada Showcase.

Presented by Cannes Docs, the showcase is a pitch event that presents feature-length documentary projects in the advanced editing stages, providing filmmakers and producers the opportunity to highlight their work to international buyers, distributors, programmers and sales agents. The Marché du Film runs in Cannes from May 13 to 21 with the Canada Showcase taking place on May 16.

Skin of the Sky, directed and produced by Toronto’s Andrea Bussmann (Fausto), is among the projects selected. The 120-minute film has a budget of $45,000, with 80% in place, according to details available on the Marché du Film website. The project is seeking festivals, coproducers and sales.

The poetic essay project is currently in the rough-cut stage and follows the plight of horses in the contested spaces of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Its anticipated release is December.

Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora’s Concrete Turned to Sand (pictured) also made the list this year. The 75-minute film is produced by the duo (Anyox) for their Vancouver prodco Slag Pie Films. It is in post-production with all of its $220,000 budget in place and it is looking for festivals, distributors, buyers, sales agents and strategic guidance.

The film follows a B.C. oyster farming collective amid changes to the seashore from ocean warming and acidification. Concrete Turned to Sand is anticipated to release in July.

Next is Brett Story’s Canada/France/U.K. coproduction The Production of the World. The archival documentary follows art critic John Berger, the connections between art and politics and the CIA’s focus on culture during the Cold War. The 100-minute film is in post-production and has 40% of its $870,000 budget in place. The film is looking for gap financing, distributors, buyers, festivals and sales agents. The Production of the World is produced by Jeff Reichert, Story for Toronto’s Oh Ratface Films and Elhum Shakerifar for the U.K.’s Hakawati. Its anticipated release is May 2026.

Banchi Hanuse’s We Shall Eat When the River is Full, produced by Hanuse for Smayaykila Films in the Nuxalk Nation’s Bella Coola community in B.C., rounds out the four selections. Currently in post-production, the film has 60% of its $906,493 budget in place. The film takes place at the Nuxalk Radio station where an inquiry into the disappearance of sacred fish unearths a deeper truth regarding the ancestors who vanished before them. We Shall Eat When the River is Full, co-written by Jessica Mayhew is looking for festivals, buyers, distributors, sales agents and strategic guidance and is expected to release in September.

In preparation for the event, Forum RIDM and Telefilm Canada provide pitch training and personalized support to the four teams.

Additionally, the animated Canada/U.K./Ireland/Denmark/Luxembourg coproduction Julián will be taking part in the Annecy Animation Showcase on May 18. The showcase, co-organized by Marché du Film and the Annecy Film Festival, allows the teams behind some of the most promising animated projects to pitch and present to sales agents, distributors and programmers.

Directed by Louise Bagnall, the feature is produced by Toronto’s Aircraft Pictures, Cartoon Saloon, Melusine Productions and Sun Creature in association with Wychwood Media. It is adapted from the storybook from Jessica Love and follows a seven-year-old boy who wants to become a mermaid. It is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Image courtesy of Forum RIDM and Telefilm Canada