Nadine Pequeneza’s How to Recruit a Terrorist and David Ridgen’s Derby were among the short documentary projects that were selected for funding via Bell Media’s BravoFACTUAL program.

Whittled down from a field of 142 applicants, the BravoFACTUAL jury awarded grants to 12 filmmakers, of which more than half were female-led projects. The winning projects are to receive a combined total of CAD$562,541 (US$455,718)  in financing for their short projects.

In addition to securing funding, recipients will have access to the consultation service Festival Concierge – a partnership between BravoFACT and the Documentary Organization of Canada.

This year’s recipients include Tessa Lai’s The Bone Stocks, which follows the building and racing of stock cars at a rural Ontario speedway; David Ridgen’s Derby, detailing a season in Canada’s demolition derby circuit; Nadine Pequeneza’s How to Recruit a Terrorist, a satirical five-step guide of how the militant group ISIS recruits youth from around the world; House of Falconer, directed by Mark Staunton, which documents the architectural restoration of Prince Edward County’s The House of Falconer; and  Mark Leiren-Young’s The Hundred Year Old Whale, exploring the past and future of “Granny,” the world’s longest-living killer whale.

Additional winners include Kevin Fraser’s Invading Giants, which documents the flow of icebergs into Newfoundland and Labrador’s harbor; Kelly Makin’s The Legendary Jerry Greben: Professional Stand-In, a docudrama chronicling the 30-year film and television career of Jerry Greben; Cynthia Banks’ Over the Top, which follows a Lindsay, Ontario native who has been entertaining his hometown for more than 50 years; Jeremy Wookey’s Pollock & Pollock, documenting the past of Winnipeg siblings and local celebrities Ron and Natalie Pollock; Nobu Adilman’s Short Round Up, which chases down the men who played the role of Short Round in Steven Spielberg’s 1983 film Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom; Leora Eisen’s Teriano, following the journey of a Maasai woman from a remote Kenyan village to downtown Toronto; and Jay Cheel’s Untitled Thorold Tornado Project, documenting the rumors of a tornado hitting a Thorold, Ontario drive-in screening of Twister.

Since its inception in 1995, BravoFACT provides funding for short documentary films through two grant cycles per year. BravoFACTUAL’s next submission deadline is Sept. 25.

– From Realscreen