Eight Canadian docs receive funding

ShareThisEight Canadian documentary projects have been awarded cash and no-interest loans worth more than $200,000. These new additions bring the total of Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds-sponsored documentaries to 62.

(Read J-Source's interview with a Hot Docs filmmaker John Kastner, whose film Life with Murder tells the disturbingly complicated Southern Ontario story of a brother who kills his sister -- and the parents that stand by him.)

The fund was established in 2008, originally titled the Canwest-Hot Docs Funds before the company's broadcast assets were acquired by Shaw. It consists of a $3-million completion fund and a $1-million development fund to give Canadian documentary filmmakers a much-needed financial leg up.

Applications for funding in 2011 open in April.

Here's the list of docs that received funding (via Broadcaster Magazine):

Three completion grants, worth $142,000, were awarded to:

Colour Me

Producer: Sherien Barsoum, Susan McGrath
Director: Sherien Barsoum
Production Company: Red Piano Productions

Colour Me follows motivational speaker Anthony McLean into ethnically diverse Brampton, Ontario, where he is forced to critically examine his own identity while mentoring six youth grappling with their own.

Trouble in the Peace

Producer: Paul Scherzer
Director: Julian Pinder
Production Company: Six Island Productions Inc.

In a small northern B.C. town, an off-the-grid couple find themselves at the centre of a witch-hunt as the authorities try to track down the notorious pipeline bomber.

When Dreams Take Flight

Producer: Sheona McDonald
Executive Producers: Bob Culbert, Robin Bain
Director: Jeremy Torrie
Production Company: 2218194 Ontario Inc.

When Dreams Take Flight follows a group of university students in Ontario who are building, and hoping to fly, their own human-powered ornithopter.

Five no-interest loans, worth $61,000, were given to:

The Borderless Sky

Producer: Judy Holm, Michael McNamara
Director: Michael McNamara
Production Company: Markham Street Films Inc.

In a world of turmoil, a handful of scientists and dreamers point to the night sky for answers and hope.

The Dark Side of the Moon

Producers: Francine Pelletier, David Sherman
Director: Francine Pelletier
Production Company: Motsjo Inc.

Many boomers who foresaw a blissful ride to retirement are now out of work, if not out on the street.

Dear Allan

Producers: Avi Federgreen, Sarah Goodman, Sarah Zammit
Executive Producer: Colleen Murphy
Directors: Sarah Goodman, Sarah Zammit
Production Company: Federgreen Entertainment Inc.

Five diverse Canadian filmmakers write a film letter to renowned director Allan King.

Vehement

Producer and Director: David Ridgen
Production Company: Ridgen Film Corporation

The offbeat story of an Oregon substitute teacher and his answer for bettering the world: remove the humans.

The World According to Morgue

Producer: Jean-Pierre Dussault
Director: Jean Fontaine
Production Company: Productions Trait d'union

A year-long voyage into the daily lives of the young members of death metal band Morgue.