Telefilm Canada has announced it will provide $3.8 million in funding via its Theatrical Documentary Program to 22 feature-length docs.

The program is an avenue for Telefilm to support Canadian production companies looking to finance feature-length documentary projects in both production and post-production. An advisory committee, including internal and external representatives, assessed the projects and made recommendations to Telefilm.

The 22 selected documentaries were chosen based on Telefilm’s goal of fostering a diversity of voices in the industry, according to a news release, which added that the goal was also on ensuring that Telefilm funds a balanced portfolio of productions that reflect a variety of genres, budgets and company sizes, regions of the country, and points of view. This year’s financial allotment is an increase from the previous year, which saw $3 million given to 22 projects.

Production funding under the program covers 49% of eligible production costs at a cap of $175,00 for projects with a budget of less than $500,00, and 35% of eligible production costs with a cap of $500,000 for projects with a budget of more than $500,00. Post-production funding also covers 49% of eligible Canadian production costs at a cap of $75,000.

This round of funding for the program includes eight English-language films out of Ontario, and a lone western representative with the doc 500 Days in the Wild out of British Columbia. The other 15 films come from Quebec, including English-language and French-language docs, as well as docs that include Mandarin (7 Beats Per Minute), Portuguese (Circo), Japanese (Mama no himitsu) and Polish (Nolandia).

Films du 3 Mars is the distributor on five of the docs selected for funding (Au boute du rien pantoute, Circo, La nuit noire m’a donné des yeux noirs, Larry and Nolandia). The National Film Board of Canada are distributors on two of the chosen docs, 7 Beats Per Minute and Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, while Maison 4 :3 is the distributor on two of the Quebec docs, À pied and Billy.

The following films are the 22 documentaries that will be included in this round of funding from Telefilm’s Theatrical Documentary Program.

7 Beats Per Minute (Quebec; English and Mandarin)
Production: Intuitive Pictures Productions and NFB
Distributor: NFB
Director and screenwriter: Yuqi Kang

500 Days in the Wild (British Columbia; English)
Production: Rebel Sister Productions
Distributor: Elevation Pictures
Director and screenwriter: Dianne Whelan

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (Ontario; English)
Production: Banger Media and NFB
Distributor: NFB
Directors: Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
Screenwriters: Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee and Alison Duke

À pied (Quebec; French)
Production: Couzin Films
Distributor: Maison 4 :3
Director and screenwriter: Vali Fugulin

Au boute du rien pantoute (Quebec; French)
Production: Productions Mustang
Distributor: Films du 3 mars
Director: Jérome Sabourin
Screenwriters: Jérome Sabourin, Angélique Richer and Sarah Lévesque

Audiophilia: Adventures in the World of Hi-Fi (Ontario; English)
Production: 136469 Canada Limited o/a Sphinx Productions
Distributor: Films We Like
Director and screenwriter: Ron Mann

Billy (Quebec; French)
Production: 9174-5018 Québec Inc.
Distributor: Maison 4 :3
Director and screenwriter: Lawrence Côté-Collins

Born To Be Wild (Quebec; English)
Production: Rezolution Pictures (BTBW) and Lunabeach Media
Distributor: Blue Ant Media
Director: Oliver Schwehm
Screenwriters: Oliver Schwehm and Catherine Bainbridge

Circo (Quebec; Portuguese)
Production: Production Leitmotiv
Distributor: Films du 3 mars
Director: Lamia Chraibi
Screenwriters: Lamia Chraibi and Yza Nouiga

Doug Henning: Magic Man (Ontario; English)
Production: Insight Productions
Distributor: KinoSmith
Director and screenwriter: Martha Kehoe

Eye of the Hurricane (Ontario; English)
Production: The Eye of the Hurricane Productions
Distributor: Level Film
Director and screenwriter: Peter Thurling

Gimmie Some Truth (Ontario; English)
Production: Hawkeye Pictures and Taglicht Media
Distributor: Game Theory Films
Directors and screenwriters: Brad Abrahams and Simon Ennis

I Love Lucy (w/t; Ontario; English)
Production: CCI Productions
Distributor: Aqute Media
Director and screenwriter: Fern Levitt

La nuit noire m’a donné des yeux noirs (Quebec; French)
Production: Les productions des films de l’autre
Distributor: Films du 3 mars
Director and screenwriter: Jean-François Lesage

Larry (Quebec; English)
Production: Concerto Films
Distributor: Films du 3 Mars
Director and screenwriter: Catherine Legault

Malartic (Quebec; French)
Production: Franc doc films (bis)
Distributor: ONF
Director and screenwriter: Nicolas Paquet

Mama no himitsu (Quebec; French and Japanese)
Production: Metafilms
Distributor: Spira
Director and screenwriter: Laurence Lévesque

Nolandia (Quebec; Polish and English)
Production: Les Productions Catbird
Distributor: Films du 3 Mars
Director and screenwriter: Kinga Michalska

Smoke & Gifts / It’s All Gonna Break (Ontario; English)
Production: Fathom Film Group
Distributor: Mongrel Media
Directors: Ann Shin and Stephen Chung
Screenwriters: Ann Shin and Hannah Donegan

Swan Song (Ontario; English)
Production: Ugly Duckling Media
Distributor: Blue Ice Docs
Director: Chelsea McMullan
Screenwriters: Chelsea McMullen and Sean O’Neill

Toute la vérité sur les extraterrestres (Quebec; French)
Production: 9212-5913 Québec Inc.
Distributor: Productions de la Ruelle
Directors: Guylaine Maroist and Éric Ruel
Screenwriter: Guylaine Maroist

Ultra (Quebec; English)
Production: Eyesteel Productions, Lithium Studios Productions and Digital Cube
Distributor: EyeSteelFilm
Director: Mila Aung-Thwin
Screenwriters: Mila Aung-Thwin and Mike MacMillan

This story originally appeared in Realscreen

Image: Unsplash