You know you’re a ‘real Canadian’ when instead of curling up on the couch with a blanket to watch a flick on a cold winter night, you’d rather put on a parka, head outside into the -20C night air and watch films projected onto ice.

That’s just what several hundred Winnipegers will do March 2, when the National Screen Institute – Canada kicks off its seventh annual FilmExchange with the now-traditional outdoor screening event, SnowScreen. This year, the screening features animated shorts from the National Film Board, as well as a selection of short films from the Winnipeg Film Group.

Seven features and 24 shorts will screen throughout the four-day event, March 2-5, selected from 30 features and 220 shorts submitted this year to the all-Canadian festival.

Stryker, the locally shot feature from Winnipeg writer/director Noam Gonick (Hey, Happy!), makes its North American premiere to close the festival March 5. The film, about a turf war between street gangs in Winnipeg’s north end, screened for the first time at the Venice Film Festival last fall.

Also making its North American premiere is Sabah, the story of a Muslim woman who has to choose between love and family after falling for a non-Muslim man. Written and directed by Ruba Nadda and starring Arsinée Khanjian, Sabah had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival in January.

Feature-length doc The Best of Secter & The Rest of Secter from first-time director Joel Secter is also part of the features lineup. The inclusion of a documentary is rare for FilmExchange, which traditionally reserves its evening screenings for dramatic features, but appropriate, considering the film’s focus on the director’s uncle, groundbreaking Canadian indie filmmaker David Secter.

‘This doc really appealed to us because it’s about an independent filmmaker and it was a great fit for a festival that celebrates independent filmmaking so much,’ says director of programming Liz Janzen.

With 5,000 attendees expected, FilmExchange gives valuable exposure to emerging talent at the NSI. While Janzen is pleased it is growing year by year, she says the intimacy of the festival makes it an important event for emerging filmmakers.

‘It’s a great balance,’ says Janzen. ‘Intimacy is a very special characteristic of the festival because it’s small enough that you can actually rub shoulders with everybody that’s here, and yet it’s large enough to attract some really great names for both the films and for our industry center’s speakers, presenters and panelists.’

Guests scheduled to attend FilmExchange include Khanjian, Mary Walsh and Telefilm Canada executive director Wayne Clarkson. Prairie producing vets Kim Todd of Winnipeg’s Original Pictures, Jamie Brown of Winnipeg’s Frantic Films and Kevin DeWalt of Regina-based Minds Eye Entertainment will participate in the panel ‘Surviving and Thriving in the Canadian Television Industry.’ Other events will include Master Classes on producing shorts and writing for television.

On March 2, key gaming industry professionals will meet with representatives of the film and television industry to discuss the growing parallels between the two industries.

Within the festival’s short film program, FilmExchange will feature work by emerging talent at the NSI. Five shorts from the winners of the 2004 NSI ZeD Drama Prize will make their world premieres. They are: Noise from director Greg Spottiswood and producer Jason Charters (Ontario); Changing Rooms from writer/director Tyson Koschik and producer Kirsten Carthew (Northwest Territories); Kathleen’s Closet from director Sheila Jordan and producer Diana Wilson (B.C.); The King Hunt from director Justin Simms and producer Anna Petras (Newfoundland); and The Snow Queen from director Danishka Esterhazy and producer Sara Lazer (Manitoba).

For the second year in a row, National Exposure, FilmExchange’s amateur movie contest, accepted submissions from across Canada. The festival received 110 submissions this year, compared to 100 in 2004. Twelve finalists will screen March 5 at 5 p.m., including unsensical by Kelvin Redvers of Hay River, NT, and George’s Monster by Marjorie Celona of Victoria, BC.

-www.nsi-canada.ca/filmexchange