Distributors and filmmakers are embracing opportunities to connect with audiences this year’s National Canadian Film Day.

When Reel Canada’s annual celebration of domestic film returns on Wednesday (April 17), it will include more than 1,100 nationwide screenings across Canada, as well as 39 countries around the world.

The day will include a number of screenings of previously released films, ranging from classics such as Bruce McDonald’s Roadkill and Mina Shum’s Double Happiness to recent successes like Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry and Clement Virgo’s Brother.

Most notable, however, are the special previews and premieres planned around the day.

Those include the red carpet premiere of Christian Sparkes’ The King Tide in St. John’s ahead of its Canadian theatrical debut on April 26 via VVS Films; the world premiere of Caitlin Cronenberg’s horror film Humane (pictured) in Toronto, which is also releasing on April 26 via Elevation Pictures; and a cross-country 20-screen sneak preview of Ally Pankiw’s debut feature, I Used to Be Funny, out in theatres on June 7, a collaboration between distributor levelFILM and the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE).

Leaning into a Canada-wide event like National Canadian Film Day makes sense in the current disrupted film landscape, says Olivier Gauthier-Mercier, VP of distribution at levelFilm.

“The pandemic has truncated a whole bunch of releases to be piled on top of one another, and the funnel is only so big to get into theatres,” he tells Playback Daily. “We just felt like National Canadian Film Day gave a platform to maximize [promotion of the film] in Canada and create something that’s not normally done. It’s an initiative to get people out to theatres to see new stuff.”

Gauthier-Mercier says the events are more of a sneak peek and aren’t meant to overpower I Used to Be Funny‘s Toronto film premiere on June 7 at the TIFF Lightbox. He also notes the company is basically “giving away the film for free” through the partnership. However, by offering the screenings in places like Indian Head, Sask., Camrose, Alta., or Simcoe, Ont., with the support of NICE, the film is screening in theatres it may have never screened in otherwise.

“If for some reason that screening goes really well and it’s full, a theatre might recognize that word-of-mouth in the community and want to bring it back for a date in June when it opens,” he explains. “At the end of the day, the audience decides with their dollars. One day kind of limits the discoverability, but one day is better than none.”

He says creative solutions such as partnering with National Canadian Film Day are necessary in the face of shrinking budgets as distributors try to connect creatives with an audience. Gauthier-Mercier believes that giving Canadian independents the opportunity to screen in smaller Canadian towns with special events, as opposed to only in big cities, is a way to increase overall discoverability.

“It’s all changing very quickly as a result of the instability in the industry. You can point to streamers and Bill C-11 to add to the insanity of all of that,” he says. “I’m convinced there’s a hybrid model. Cineplex has event screens, and you can book those for single-day bookings. We’ll give you the product; all you need to do is put it there. The minute you give us a link to sales tickets, that’s when we can have an actionable item and actually use our marketing dollars.”

For Michael Sparaga, producer and writer of Cronenberg’s Humane, having his film debut in Toronto in conjunction with National Canadian Film Day was a chance to have a splashy premiere in Canada. It also allows the movie to tap into the local art community, where the first-time director already has an established fanbase as a photographer.

“She isn’t the traditional first-time filmmaker; she’s a very established visual artist and a proud Torontonian,” says Sparaga. “Her community of influencers and people that she knows is here. So to have it here, where her people are, where they can continue to promote and push art, it can just keep going and rolling from here.”

He adds that Cronenberg and cast members Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire and Enrico Colantoni are all coming out for the red carpet event. Many of them are seeing the film for the first time. He says that tying the local excitement of the premiere to a national event like Canadian Film Day further increases discoverability and awareness of contemporary domestic cinema.

“We have Canada’s biggest current hit, BlackBerry, there. We’ve got Mina Shum’s Double Happiness. We’ve got Barney’s Version. We’ve got the names at the top of what Canada is doing right now and we wanted to be part of that group,” he says.

Sparaga adds that being in that group also creates free word-of-mouth and press to help discoverability during a time when distributors aren’t necessarily able to promote Canadian projects to mass audiences.

“The biggest barrier is that people can’t decide to go see a movie if they haven’t heard of it. It’s pretty simple,” he says. “It’s not like a menu or going to a fast food restaurant. They’re going to go see what they’ve heard of and what they anticipate.”

Image courtesy of IFC Films