Three Canadian coproductions are among the Sundance Institute’s 2022 Documentary Fund grantees. They include: Nyasha Kadandara’s Matabeleland (Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Canada), produced by Sam Soko and Bob Moore; Sugarcane (Canada, U.S.), directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, and produced by Kassie and Kellen Quinn; and Amer Shomali’s Theft of Fire (Palestine, Canada), produced by Ina Fichman and Rashid Abdelhamid.

All three are listed as in production. A total of US$1,396,500 (about C$1,912,270) in unrestricted grant support is going toward 35 projects in various stages. The grants are supported by The Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gucci, the Kendeda Fund, and Luminate.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the non-profit institute’s Documentary Film Program, “which prioritizes supporting and empowering historically marginalized voices and providing a platform for integral stories to be amplified,” according to a news release. This round includes the new Sundance Institute | Gucci Fund, which is supporting Matabeleland.

CaribbeanTales reveals Big Pitch winners

Kristen Lambie has won first place in the CaribbeanTales 2022 Big Pitch competition for Pretty For A Whack Girl. Fennella Bruce took second place with Backbone, while Asis Sethi came in third for A Bloody Mess.

A total of 13 up-and-coming filmmakers pitched to a jury comprising Canadian broadcasters and industry professionals at TIFF Bell Lightbox last month. The competition, now into its 13th year, is funded by Telefilm and Canada Media Fund, in partnership with the Toronto International Film Festival. Participants are drawn from CaribbeanTales’ incubator programs.

Meanwhile, CaribbeanTales Media Group has also announced Nauzanin Knight and her project Notes on Being Unpopular as the winner of the Audience Choice Award from the 2022 Creators of Colour Online Pitch Competition. That competition launched last month and featured projects by 16 filmmakers.

WIFF announces full lineup

Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, which was recently a runner-up for the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) People’s Choice Award, is among the titles added to the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF).

The Ontario festival announced its full lineup on Thursday (Oct. 6), with other newly added Canadian titles including a 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s cult classic Crash and Phillip Borsos’ biographical Western The Grey Fox, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Running Oct. 27 to Nov. 6 after a two-year hiatus, the 18th edition of WIFF will have a total of 177 feature films from 32 countries. Previously announced Canadian titles in the lineup include Anthony Shim’s Riceboy Sleeps, which won the Platform Prize at TIFF.

NSI’s Joy Loewen receives Platinum Jubilee medal

National Screen Institute CEO Joy Loewen was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for her work supporting the local community in Manitoba. The honour is presented to citizens who have shown “community mindedness, service and reconciliation,” with 1,000 Manitobans selected to receive the medal this year.

Loewen has been a steadfast supporter of the local arts sector in Manitoba. She has served as a board member or council member of The Winnipeg Foundation, the Gimli Film Festival, the National Ballet School of Canada and the Canada Independent Screen Fund for BPOC creators. She was presented the medal on Sept. 26 by Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Janice C. Filmon.

Lighthouse Studios developing animated Irish series

Lighthouse Studios, a joint venture between Ottawa’s Mercury Filmworks and Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon, is developing its first original animated series. Marcus Fleming will serve as head writer on the Ireland-set crime drama, Savage Town, according to a news release.

The adult 2D animated crime drama will be based on the Irish graphic novel co-authored by Marvel comic book artist Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett with colorist Jordie Bellaire. The story is loosely based on a period of economic growth in Ireland, known as the Celtic Tiger, at the turn of the 21st century.

Calgary Arab Film Nights Festival reveals lineup

Filmmaker Jonathan Keijser’s Peace By Chocolate — which he also produced along with Martin Paul-Hus, Catherine Légar, and Kathy Wolf — will screen on opening night of the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society’s (CAACS) 10th Calgary Arab Film Nights Festival (CAFN).

Running this Friday through Sunday (Oct. 7 to 9) at the Globe Cinema, the festival’s first night is titled “Canadian Eye on the Arab World” and will also include a screening of the short Canadian doc Uncivilized, directed by Syrian filmmaker Rawd Almasoud and produced by Chawuko Enakadia.

With files from Kelly Townsend