Hot Docs, the Fantasia International Film Festival and imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival are among the 25 Canadian film festivals receiving funding from Telefilm under its Medium to Large-Scale Festivals Program.

Telefilm allocated $2.26 million in the second round of the program for 2025-26, after investing $1.6 million to 22 festivals in the first round in May, totalling 47 supported events.

Festivals eligible for funding in round two are taking place between April 1 to Sept. 30, 2026. Some of the other events selected include the Atlantic, Calgary, Cinefest Sudbury, Gimli, Vancouver and CaribbeanTales international film festivals, as well as the DOXA Documentary Film Festival and the Inside Out Film Festival.

‘The Pink Pill’ to debut at DOC NYC

Aisling Chin-Yee’s The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs & Who Has Control will make its world premiere at DOC NYC on Nov. 15.

The documentary, set to stream on Paramount+ in Canada in early 2026, examines the fight to put women’s sexual health on equal footing in the medical system. It marks the first project from Docs for Change, a collaboration between Catalyst and the Knix Fund, the philanthropic arm of Canadian intimates brand Knix.

The Pink Pill is produced by Julie Bristow of Toronto’s Catalyst and Abby Greensfelder of Washington D.C.’s Everywoman Studios. Executive producers are Bristow, Greensfelder, Chin-Yee, Vibika Bianchi and Knix founder and president Joanna Griffiths.

Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution, and presented the project to buyers at MIPCOM this week.

Pacific Screenwriting Program adds three to board of directors

The Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) has added three members to its board of directors, effective late September.

Joining are Robin Mirsky, Rogers Group of Funds executive director; David Jol, entertainment, business and video game lawyer at Vancouver’s Chandler Fogden Lyman; and Anna Archer, a literary agent at Vancouver-based Lucas Talent.

The new members join following the departures of the Writers Guild of Canada’s executive director Victoria Shen and screenwriter Renuka Singh, whose terms ended earlier this year.

The remaining board members are Robert C. Cooper, Susin Nielsen, Todd Ireland, Erin Haskett, Liz Shorten, Bob Wong, Danielle Woodrow and chair Brian Hamilton.

Samsung survey tracks Canadian home-viewing trends

The trend of Canadians watching films at home is growing, according to a survey commissioned by Samsung Canada.

The survey, conducted by Edelman Canada, saw 85% of participants say they prefer movie nights at home rather than going out. More than half (55%) said they would rather invest in their entertainment setup than external experiences.

On the flip side, 65% of respondents said they are overwhelmed by too many streaming platforms, with roughly half (49%) stating they want TVs that offer personalized content recommendations.

The survey was conducted from July 28 to Aug. 6, using a sample of 1,500 Canadians as part of the Leger opinion panel.

With files from Kelly Townsend

Image: Unsplash