It`s called the Academy Color Predictor and it is the first app created for the general public by the Academy`s renowned Sci-Tech Council, more specifically the council’s Solid State Lighting Project Committee.

Available now on iTunes, the free app is designed to work on the iPad iOS 7. It will be one of the highlights of this week`s 2014 NAB Show in Las Vegas. Basically, and wonderfully, the app helps filmmakers predict the interaction of the key ingredients in cinematography: the lights, camera, filters and the photographed objects themselves. Users can change key source light, image sensor and filter parameters to instantly visualize color rendering differences and compare different combinations of elements.

“This app emerged from our conversations with cinematographers, production designers, costume designers and set decorators who were struggling to predict color reproduction when switching from traditional incandescent light sources to solid state lighting,” said Andy Maltz, Managing Director of the Academy’s Science and Technology Council. “After a successful beta test, we’re now offering this app free, for general consumption, so that all types of content creators, researchers and students can benefit from our research.”

“We’re delighted to once again make available the Academy’s research to the film community and the general public,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “This app helps address a specific production need for filmmakers and underlines our commitment to driving technological advances that benefit both the motion picture industry and aspiring filmmakers everywhere.”

Click here to find the free app on the Apple iTunes store.

Written and directed by RKSS, a Montreal Collective that includes Anouk Whissell, François Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell, Turbo Kid tells the story of a post-apocalyptic parallel future of 1997 where an orphaned teenager called The Kid scavenges the wasteland searching for relics from a better time… the 80s. During one of his expeditions he meets Apple, a mysterious girl with a rather large secret. As their relationship deepens they accidentally run afoul of Zeus, the self-proclaimed leader of Wasteland. Zeus, a sadistically droll maniac who murdered The Kid’s parents and now controls the lands most precious commodity, fresh water. When Apple is kidnapped by Zeus’ gang, The Kid joins forces with Frederick, the laconic leader of the legendary Arm-Wrestling clan. Armed with little more than blind faith and an ancient turbo-charged weapon he discovers, The Kid must fulfill his ultimate destiny; destroy Zeus, avenge his parents death and get the girl of his dreams.

“RKSS are visionary filmmakers who have the unique ability to take token genre conventions and turn them completely inside out,” stated Raven Banner’s Michael Paszt. “Getting involved was an absolute no brainer for the Raven Banner brand.”

Fuelled by offbeat humour with lashings of action and gore, Turbo Kid stars the iconic Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers, Scanners) as Zeus, Munro Chambers (Degrassi – The Next Generation, Cracked) as The Kid, Laurence Leboeuf (19-2, Trauma) as Apple, Aaron Jeffery (X-Men Origins) as Frederic, Edwin Wright (Top of the Lake) as Skeletron and Romano Orzari (Omertà) as Bagu. The film is a hyper-aware slice of hybrid pop-entertainment. One that draws inspiration from Italian post-apocalyptic epics, Peter Jackson splatter comedies, the Mad Max trilogy and 80s fad movies like Thrashin’ yet manages to transform from mere homage to become something completely unique and genuine to the world of genre film.

Téléfilm Canada and the New Zealand Film Commission are funding partners. Canadian producers Anne-Marie Gélinas & Benoit Beaulieu (EMAfilms) have released several features. Their most recent production is Mars & Avril, Martin Villeneuve`s futuristic sci-fi love-story. The film garnered international acclaim and was also honoured with many nominations in Québec and Canada. Anne-Marie Gélinas was the Line Producer of Rebelle (War Witch) that went on to be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars®. T&A Films was born from the partnership between two New Zealanders, arts & entertainment lawyer Tim Riley and renowned producer and distributor Ant Timpson.

While Raven Banner has most of Canada, Filmoption International has secured rights for Québec. The United States will be covered by Epic Pictures (V/H/S, Zombeavers), which also serves as the film`s international Sales Agent.

Raven Banner Entertainment is a sales, distribution and production company specializing in genre films for the worldwide market. Whiles its expertise is in strategic project management and campaigns, the company can also be involved in any and all aspects of production, from acquisition, representation, negotiation, marketing management and plans, and sales.

With shooting just starting on Turbo Kid it makes sense that no release date has been announced.

For one night only, this Friday April 4th, Egoyan and the Artistic Director of the Toronto-based Dancemakers, Michael Trent, will participate in Talking Dancing, a public discussion about Dancemakers 40th Anniversary production of Around.

Created by Trent and the Dancemakers company, Around continues Trent’s exploration of boundary-pushing performance through contemporary aesthetics, cross-disciplinary dialogues and collaborative engagement, which are the hallmarks that inform the creative process at Dancemakers. Around delves into the disconnect between symmetry, perfection, uncertainty and ambiguity. Presented in the round, a floor to ceiling veil will encircle both the audience and performers providing an intimate space for exchange.

Following the performance, audience members can join the discussion on what they just witnessed and hear first-hand the opinions, thoughts, feelings of the work as seen through the eyes of one of Canada`s most successful directors.

Egoyan is a ground-breaking stage and film director, internationally-acclaimed, and proudly Canadian. Exotica, his massively award-winning breakthrough film catapulted his career which includes the films The Sweet Hereafter, Chloe and Devil’s Knot; the stage production of Tender and Cruel; and the operas Feng Yi Ting, Cosi Fan Tutte, which closed in late February of this year, and next season’s Die Walkure.

With a career spanning over 25 years, Toronto-based dance artist Michael Trent was appointed Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer of Dancemakers and the Centre for Creation in August 2006. Trent has garnered national recognition as a choreographer of over 30 works. He is the co-recipient of the 2004 K.M. Hunter Award in dance. This production of Around continues only until April 6.

For more information and tickets, visit Dancemakers online.

You don’t have to be a genius to figure out we’re in trouble. Did anyone think it was normal that while searching for a missing jumbo passenger jet ships and planes kept coming across likely pieces of the doomed airliner only to discover that here in the middle of nowhere, literally, thousands of miles from land they kept spotting garbage floating on the ocean`s surface.

As the report points out, “Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people’s livelihoods. The striking feature of observed impacts is that they are occurring from the tropics to the poles, from small islands to large continents, and from the wealthiest countries to the poorest.”

For years, far-seers, modern day shaman if you will, have been telling us, warning us, that there is a price for unbridled progress. One of the first was Captain Paul Watson who has been on a crusade to save the oceans for 40 years and he isn’t about to stop now. We, however, the soon-to-be hapless citizens of an increasingly uninhabitable planet must start. Not next month. Not next Year. Now.

Next Monday, Vancouver`s Vancity Theatre will screen Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson. If you haven’t quite bought into his faith, now might be the time.

The film, a winner of the Riff Environmental Award at the Reykjavik International Film Festival, will be introduced by its director, Trish Dolman who will appear via Skype. Dolman crafts an epic tale of the birth of the modern environmental movement, and the founding of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Part high-octane adventure, the film follows Watson and his crew as they hunt down a Japanese whaling fleet in the vast expanse and stunning beauty of Antarctica’s Southern Ocean, and seamlessly segues in and out of a wealth of archival footage from decades of confrontational activism around the world. In-depth interviews with Watson, Bob Hunter, Patrick Moore and Farley Mowat, among others, capture the heroics, the ego, the disputed tactics and the urgency of Watson’s mission.

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Filmmakers Trish Dolman and Kevin Eastwood along with Sea Shepherd cofounder Ron Precious and Paul Watson will participate in a Q&A via skype.

This is one of those films Northernstars considers to be mandatory viewing. Click here for more information and ticketing.

Animation:

Inspector Street: Producer(s) Julie Roy ; Director(s) Emmanuelle Loslier ; Production Company National Film Board of Canada
Gloria Victoria: Producer(s) Marc Bertrand ; Director(s) Theodore Ushev ; Production Company National Film Board of Canada
Impromptu: Producer(s) Michael Fukushima , Annette Clarke , Tina Ouellette ; Director(s) Bruce Alcock ; Production Company National Film Board of Canada Global Mechanic Media
The End of Pinky: Producer(s) Michael Fukushima ; Director(s) Claire Blanchet ; Production Company National Film Board of Canada
Subconscious Password: Producer(s) Marcy Page , Mark Smith ; Director(s) Chris Landreth ; Production Company National Film Board of Canada with the participation of Copperheart Entertainment

Children

As March draws to a close, things in Toronto and in the immediate area around Canada`s largest city, get positively hot. In a city that boasts some 80 or more film festivals a year, 10 take place between the end of February and the end of March. With just a few days left in the month, the Breast Film Festival starts tomorrow and runs until the 30th. If you’re of a certain bent then I feel compelled to point out that the Breast Fest is subtitled “a rethink breast cancer event.”

Also opening tomorrow and running until April 6 is Cinéfranco. Toronto is often called a city of neighbourhoods, but it is also a city of many different cultural influences with a significant French speaking population. This festival, now in its 17th year, features films from France, Morocco, Belgium, Switzerland and of course Canada. Often there are coproductions with two or three of this countries involved. Twenty-four distributors have pulled out all the stops to provide the best in French cinema and some of it is spectacular.

On Monday, March 31st, look for Catherine Deneuve to grace the screen in Elle s’en ya. This is the film`s English Canada premiere but it screened in Berlin last year as well as at the BFI London Film Festival. Deneuve plays Bettie, an attractive, sexy 60-something, who sees her life spinning out of control with her failing restaurant and love relationship. One Sunday in the middle of a busy lunch shift, she steps out for a short break, gets in her car and drives away

This new documentary from Vancouver-based filmmakers Helen Slinger and Maureen Palmer`s Bountiful Films premiers on CBC Television’s Doc Zone tonight, Thursday, March 27 at 9:00 pm (9:30 pm NT). It opens on a startling scene of maternal anguish, but this is no ordinary mother. Twenty-five years ago this December, Monique Lépine’s son Marc murdered 14 young women at Montreal`s École Polytechnique. Today his mother makes the link between her son`s crimes and his abused and neglected upbringing.

In the quarter century since Lépine’s murderous rampage, there’s been a sea change in our understanding of a young child’s developing brain. With what we know today, it’s probable that many criminals could be stopped in their tracks – before they graduate grade one. And keeping just one person from a lifetime in prison saves tax-payers $3.5 million – $5 million if there’s an addiction involved. And crime costs are just the tip of the iceberg. Troubled kids cost us billions in health, education and social services every year as well as immeasurable pain and suffering.

More importantaly, we can fix this problem for a fraction of the cost of what we’re paying in largely failed attempts to fix it later. We already know how. Researchers have tracked the progress of kids enrolled in pioneering high-quality early childhood intervention programs. Four decades later, the kids who got help are much more successful and lead healthier lives as adults than those who did not.

Angry Kids & Stressed Out Parents follows children and parents enrolled in three groundbreaking interventions. These programs work with parents and kids to help children master the skills they need to do well in life, like self-control and self-regulation. From middle-class kids to children of poverty, we witness young lives transformed, social problems solved, and billions of taxpayer dollars saved.

And today there’s fresh urgency to invest in solutions since, for the first time in North American history, more children suffer from mental health conditions than from physical ones. Parents are coping with staggering levels of anger, aggression, and other behavioural problems. Experts in child development believe the problem is going to get worse, not better, because too many parents are too busy, too stressed, or too poor to invest in the most important time in a child’s life: the first six years.

The interventions:

Triple P – The Positive Parenting Program is available to all Canadian families. For this production, three families allowed the filmmakers to follow them through the multi-week Triple P program as they mastered tools to teach their kids self-control. 3-year-old Jilliane pitches frequent and uncontrollable temper tantrums. 3-year-old Jackson hits and kicks his mother when she asks him to do a simple task. And 5 year-old Luke’s back talk and acting out has pushed his mom to her limits. By the end of the documentary, the changes in each child’s behaviour are astonishing. The skills learned in Triple P prevent the development of the worst behaviour problem: conduct disorder. Preventing just one case of conduct disorder through early intervention results in a lifetime savings of $280,000.00.

The PAX Good Behaviour Game is a deceptively simple – and cheap – program available to children in Manitoba elementary schools, as part of the regular curriculum. It makes learning self-control a game that children love to play and the results are astounding: PAX is proven to affect rates of high school graduation, adult criminality, suicide.

The Abecedarian Program is operating for the first time in Canada in Lord Selkirk Park, a poor, predominantly First Nations neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Developed in the 1970s to change the future for primarily black, very poor children in North Carolina, the program is built on intense one-on-one learning, imbedding language skills into everything. By age 30, the original North Carolina Abecedarian children were four times more likely to be university graduates, 50 per cent more likely to be employed full time, and 84 per cent less likely to receive social assistance. With Canada’s First Nations population rapidly expanding, these are vital statistics.

Across the community, every dollar spent on early childhood intervention saves as many as $17 down the road. Yet it’s always problematic for governments, seeking re-election, to spend now in order to save later. But there’s another statistic worth keeping top of mind for governments and voters – children who go to juvenile detention are close to 40 times more likely to become adult criminals. By the time a child lands in juvie it’s often too late. But a decade earlier, we can make a huge difference. We now have the power to stop many future criminals – in kindergarten.

Angry Kids & Stressed Out Parents, subtitled How to Stop Crime, Save Billions, & Raise Happier, Healthier Children premieres on CBC Television`s Doc Zone (click to see a trailer for the program) tonight, March 27 at 9 pm (9:30 pm NT). The documentary will be broadcast again on Saturday, March 29 at 11 pm ET (8 pm PT) on CBC News Network. Written and directed by Maureen Palmer and produced by Helen Slinger and Maureen Palmer, Angry Kids & Stressed Out Parents is narrated by Ann Marie McDonald. Produced by Bountiful Films in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. There is more about this program on the Bountiful Films website.

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life was directed by British-born, Montreal resident, Malcolm Clarke. In fact, the entire production crew was made up of “Montréalais” including co-producer Nick Reed; Executive Producer, Frederic Bohbot; Co-screenwriter and Editor, Carl Freed; Composer, Luc St-Pierre and Director of Photography & Co-Producer, Kieran Crilly.

The documentary was shot in Alice Sommer’s Central London flat where she relentlessly played her grand piano well into her 110th year. Although she was reticent at first to play for the cameras, she overcame her shyness and her immense talent is showcased with “a little bit of Bach.” Her friends Anita Lasker Wallfisch and Zdenka Fantlova, a cellist and actress respectively, also joined the discussion on film as they looked back on their shared experiences. Sadly, Alice passed away exactly one week prior to the Oscars, on February 23rd. The Lady in Number 6 has been called “one of the most inspirational and uplifting stories of the year.” In the midst of the Second World War, Europe was plunged into years of bitter conflict and misery. During that time, Alice Sommer suffered experiences that no human being should have to endure. Along with her son Raphael, she was taken to the Theresienstadt concentration camp while her mother and husband were taken to Auschwitz and Dachau, never to be seen or heard from again. As a means to survive the terrors of the camp, Alice played over 100 concerts for her fellow inmates. Music preserved her mental sanity and her life. As she never tired of saying: “Music saved my life and music saves me still.”

Distributed in Canada by Bunbury Film The Lady in Number 6 will receive its Toronto Premiere on April 13, 2014 at the Al Green Theatre and the Miles Nadal JCC. Tickets are only $10 and are available for purchase on the day of the screening, Sunday, April 13, at the theatre. The short film will be screened four times–12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 6:30pm–and following each screening, the audience is invited to participate in a Q & A session with director Malcolm Clarke and Executive Producer Frederic Bohbot.

Perhaps Guillaume Cyr said it best when in his acceptance speech, picking up the first Jutra of the night for Best Support Actor in Louis Cyr: l’homme le plus fort du monde, he urged the viewing public to see the films in theatres. “It’s called Québécois cinema not Québécois DVD,” he said, reminding everyone in not so subtle a message that the true measure of the industry`s success is at the box office. He may have inadvertently reminded attendees that the heyday for local cinema has passed and how nice it would be if there could be a tangible turnaround in all their fortunes.

But even if mildly subdued, it was a night to celebrate and Louis Cyr: l’homme le plus fort du monde would give many reason to cheer and feel good about their work. Nominated in 11 categories, the biopic about the legendary Québec strongman ended up sweeping the night winning 9 of the 11 nominations including Best Picture and the coveted billet d’or, or Golden Ticket, which is award to the film with the best box office take.

Antoine Bertrand won the Best Actor Jutra for his portrayal of Louis Cyr and Carmen Alie, who won a Canadian Screen Award added a Jutra for Best Costume also for Louis Cyr.

The producer of Louis Cyr, Christian Larouche, emphasized the need to make movies people want to see when he commented that the province’s filmmakers are making too many depressing movies. “If we tell stories that people want to see, people will come to the cinemas. Certain films are too dark.”

Here at Northernstars we think there might have been another contributing factor last year. Three of the province`s and Canada`s best filmmakers, Denis Villeneuve, Jean-Marc Vallée and Ken Scott were off making films elsewhere. Specifically, Villeneuve was busy with two films, Enemy, for which he received a Best Director nod at the recent Canadian Screen Awards and Prisoners; Vallée directed Dallas Buyers Club which produced a couple of Oscars® earlier this year and Ken Scott was south of the border with Delivery Man, a Hollywood remake of is hit film Starbuck.

It should also be noted, and it was pointed out in a statement from the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official languages, that the industry, if viewed by numbers alone, seems to be healthy. In fact the Jutras received submissions of 173 short- and medium-length fiction films, 39 feature-length fiction films, 36 short- and medium-length animated films, and 29 feature-length documentaries.

Honoured at the Canadian Screen Awards with a Best Picture award, Gabrielle, a story about a developmentally challenged young woman who falls in love with a man in her choir, won five Jutras, including best direction and screenplay for Louise Archambault, best supporting actress for Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and as the Québec film that enjoyed the best box office returns outside of the province. It didn’t do too shabby at home either, although its $1 million take a home was a far cry from Louis Cyr.

In keeping with so much of the atmosphere last night — that is looking back instead of forward — the highlight of the evening had to be the tribute to actress and director Micheline Lanctôt, which was capped by a surprise appearance by director Ted Kotcheff. Always remembered for his classic 1974 film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, it was a thrill for the audience both at the soirée and watching on TV to see the two of them together again.

Speaking in French, Kotcheff stated that Lanctôt was an actress without equal.

A quick recap of some of the other awards handed out last night includes Pierrette Robitaille for her work in the film Vic + Flo ont vu un ours and Michel La Veaux who won Best Cinematography for his work on the Gabriel Arcand feature Le démantèlement. Click here for a complete list of Jutra winners.

Northernstars.ca congratulates all of the winners at the 2014 Jutra Awards.

“We are so proud to be showing these incredible films and combining them with amazing live events and experiences.” said Cook. “We truly hope it will be a festival of ideas, discussion and amazement and we’re looking forward to bringing the best filmmaking in the world to the world’s greatest audience.”

In addition to the opening night international premiere of Brian Knappenberger’s The Internet`s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, which is an inspiring and emotional portrait of a young Internet visionary, other notable films in the Special Presentations program include: Pavel Loparev and Askold Kurov’s Children 404, a firsthand account of LGBT youth in Russia; Anthony Baxter’s A Dangerous Game, an explosive tale of everyday heroes battling against Donald Trump’s development plans; Chad Walker and Dave LaMattina’s I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story, a big-hearted tale of the man behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch; Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters, depicting a local pastor risking everything to welcome the desperate men migrating to a small North Dakota community; Cynthia Hill’s Private Violence, a beautifully crafted story exploring the fact that the most dangerous place for a woman is her home; Igal Hecht’s The Sheik, a personal and emotional tale of Olympic wrestler and pop culture icon the Iron Sheik (pictured); and Joe Berlinger’s Whitey: UNited States of America vs James J. Bulger, which strips away the myths surrounding infamous Boston gangster and FBI informant James “Whitey” Bulger.

Because our focus at Northernstars is on Canadian films and filmmakers, we can tell you that this year`s offering cane be described by the single word, stellar. In the competitive Canadian Spectrum program, notable films include: Thomas Wallner’s Before the Last Curtain Falls, a stunning portrayal of the tumultuous off-stage lives of six aging Belgian transvestites and transsexual performers; Vic Sarin’s The Boy from Geita, the story of a young Tanzanian boy with albinism surviving a brutal attack and given hope with the promise of surgery in Canada; Ray Klonsky and Marc Lamy’s David & Me, following a tenacious filmmaker’s quest to prove a man’s innocence 28 years after his incarceration; Julia Kwan’s Everything Will Be, a heartwarming and cinematically stunning ode to a Vancouver community in transition; Tony Girardin’s Marinoni, the story of Canada’s most revered bicycle craftsman attempting a world cycling record at 75 years old; John Kastner’s Out of Mind, Out of Sight, which follows the filmmaker’s return to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to capture patients struggling for control of their lives; and Amar Wala’s The Secret Trial 5, the shocking story of five Muslim men imprisoned without charge under Canada’s controversial security certificates policy.

The films by Kwan and Kastner are just two of seven National Film Board documentaries that will screen at this year`s festival. A third is the film Jutra. With an ingenious assembly of archival footage and animated sequences, director Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre creates a clever and astute cinephile portrait of Claude Jutra, the director of Mon oncle Antoine.

Bound to be one of the more popular screenings is the Canadian film Super Duper Alice Cooper. Directors Reginald Harkema, Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn (pictured below) will not only be at the festival, but joining them onstage will be the subject of their documentary, the legendary rocker Alice Cooper. But the big news about the film was unveiled by Hot Docs Executive Director, Brett Hendrie who caused attendees to erupt in applause when he announced that the film`s Canadian premiere and a post-screening Q&A will be simulcast to 47 theatres across Canada as part of Cineplex Entertainment’s Front Row Centre Events. “If I said we had a secret plan to bring Alice Cooper, three great Canadian filmmakers, and the Hot Docs Festival into communities coast-to-coast, I’d be lying,” said Hendrie, “But, happily these pieces came together and now national audiences from Saint John to Victoria will be able to attend Hot Docs.”

Super Duper Alice Cooper is the story of Vincent Furnier, preacher’s son, who struck fear into the hearts of parents as Alice Cooper, the ultimate rock star of the bizarre. The film is the first ever “doc opera”—a dizzying blend of documentary archive footage, animation and rock opera—and features exclusive interviews with members of the original Alice Cooper Group, Elton John, Iggy Pop, John Lydon, Dee Snider and of course, Alice himself. This special screening will take place on Monday, April 28, at 9:00 pm at Toronto`s downtown Scotiabank Theatre.

The Redux program at this year`s Hot Docs will highlight five films that deserve another outing on the big screen. Additionally, Hot Docs will present two retrospective programs: Focus On John Zaritsky, a mid-career retrospective of the filmmaker’s work; and the Outstanding Achievement Award Retrospective, honouring the influential work of English documentary filmmaker and journalist Adam Curtis. Also a premier documentary conference and market, Hot Docs will be welcoming over 2,000 industry delegates who will partake in a wide array of industry events and services, including conferences sessions, receptions and parties, Hot Docs Deal Maker, The Doc Shop and the Hot Docs Forum, April 30 and May 1.

The festival itself opens on April 24 and runs until May 4 and there is more information online.

The festival, now in its 8th year, only runs for three days starting this Thursday and wrapping on Saturday. In that short time 6 features and 14 shorts are on tap all screening at The Royal on College Street in Toronto.

“From dramas, to documentaries and genre films, this year’s lineup represents the diversity of work coming from the Canadian filmmaking community,” said Bern Euler, Executive Director of the Canadian Film Festival. “It is an honour to present these films for Toronto audiences to enjoy and celebrate all of the talent in our own backyard.”

Here`s a rundown of the features at the 2014 Canadian Film Fest:

PATCH TOWN (Opening Night Film). Director: Craig Goodwill Cast: Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Rob Ramsay, Scott Thompson. Inspired by his award-winning short film of the same name, Craig Goodwill’s feature debut is a surreal, one-of-a-kind vision of faux Russian folklore laid over a sharp satire of contemporary consumer culture. Jon is just another mindless laborer on an assembly line, but at no ordinary factory. Day after day he and his fellow drones harvest kids from cabbages – kids that will go on to become the beloved toys of little boys and girls in the land outside this dreadful factory. But when Jon discovers an awful secret that he and all the indentured workers are actually grown-up and discarded toys, he’ll have to take on a villainous corporation to reunite with his long-lost mother, protect his newfound family, and finally find freedom.

THE BIRDER Director: Ted Bezaire Cast: Tom Cavanagh, Mark Rendall, Jamie Spilchuk, Cassidy Renee, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Allana Harkin, Scott Cavalheiro, Jim Annan, Graham Greene and Fred Willard. Ron Spencer, a mild-mannered high-school teacher and devoted bird watcher is thrown into a tailspin of despair after his long sought after position as “Head of Ornithology” at the local Birding Park is given to the young and flashy Floyd Hawkins.

THE PRIVILEGED Director: Leah Walker Cast: Sam Trammell, Joshua Close, Laura Harris, Lina Roessler. Richard Hunter, a promising young lawyer at a prestigious firm, has the perfect future mapped out. However, a costly mistake with a powerful client has put it all at risk. In a desperate attempt to save his job, Richard and his wife Tara spend the weekend at the cottage of senior partner Preston Westwood. The young couple is quickly seduced by their charismatic hosts’ lavish lifestyle but it is clear that something ominous lies just below the surface. After a devastating act of violence reveals that they have become pawns in a blood feud between the Westwoods and a local family, Richard and Tara must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for success: their morals, their marriage, or their lives.

PLAY THE FILM Director: Alec Toller Cast: Kristian Bruun, Kelly McCormack, Danny Pagett, Colin Munch, Tim Walker, Caitlin Driscoll, Gwen Cumyn, Roger Bainbridge, Peter Higginson, Robb Wiggin, Conor Bradbury, Claire Armstrong, Bryony Byrne, Suzette McCanny. When the opening night of a new play goes horribly awry, the actors are forced to frantically improvise the plot onstage. Clashing egos, tested friendships and a series of disastrous misunderstandings combine to create the most offensive, shocking and accidental piece of theater ever to debut in front of a live audience.

H & G Director: Danishka Esterhazy Cast: Breazy Diduck-Wilson, Annika Elyse Irving. A modern retelling of The Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, H & G follows a girl and a boy living in poverty and neglect. After finding themselves lost in the woods, they see a house that appears to be magical and rush toward it. But in this house, danger lurks and all they have is each other.

AFTERPARTY (Closing Night Film) Director: Michelle Ouellet Cast: Graham Coffeng, Ali Liebert, Nicholas Carella, David Milchard, Jodi Blafour, Christina Sicoli, Emma Lahana, Peter Benson, Erica Carroll. On the night of his brother’s wedding, best man Charlie gets the old gang back together for a fun-filled, post-reception after party at the newlyweds’ home where he has been staying for several weeks. Unsure of how to proceed with his own troubled marriage, Charlie reunites “the fellas” fifteen years after high school in hopes that revisiting the past will help him find clarity about his plans for the future. What Charlie finds, however, is that while his friends have all taken different paths, they are all faced with similar conundrums that come with being in their thirties.

There`s an impressive list of short films and more information available online at the Canadian Film Fest website. Click here for a link to that an other March 2014 film festivals.

In fact there is little doubt that the brutal conditions in which he has spent most of his life in captivity have made him into a lethal threat to those people who love him most – his trainers. Meanwhile SeaWorld insists there is nothing to be concerned about here, and continue to propagate self-serving myths about the orcas even as they endanger the lives of their employees.

In the first of a new series of environmental films copresented with Sea Shepherd, Vancity Theatre is bringing back one of their biggest hits from last year. Blackfish is a powerful exposé of how orcas fare in captivity in aquatic parks. Credited with changing hearts and minds, Blackfish is an unforgettable film. Adding impact to this special screening, former Seaworld trainer, Carol Ray will be in attendance to introduce the film.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas.

More information and advance ticket purchase is available online. Also, don’t miss Hong Kong Spirit Film Week which kicks off at VIFF Vancity today, March 14.

“The projects selected for the 15th edition of our renowned international co-financing event offer an incredible breadth of topics from around the world. We look forward to these stories being presented to key international buyers and attending industry observers at the Hot Docs Forum,” said Hot Docs industry programs director Elizabeth Radshaw

Attended by over 500 leading industry professionals, the Forum is focused around a schedule of pre-selected international project presentations made to a roundtable of key international commissioning editors and an observers gallery composed of fellow producers, distributors, sales agents, funders and other buyers. Participating buyers confirmed to date include ARTE TV, ARTE/ZDF, BBC Storyville, Beijing Keying Media Co Ltd, CBC, CNN, DR Danish Broadcasting Corporation, Java Films, MSNBC, NHK, PBS, RAI 3, SBS Television, SRC, SVT Sveriges Television, TVOntario, YLE, and others.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds Hot Docs Forum Pitch Prize will be awarded to the best Canadian pitch at the event, as determined by a committee of international (non-Canadian) commissioning editors in attendance. The winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize to be used toward the production and completion budget for their project.

The Cuban Hat Award will return to the 2014 Hot Docs Forum, continuing with their “real cash, no strings attached” prize. All the money raised over the two days of the event will be given to the observers’ favourite pitch, as determined by ballot. The Entertainment One Mounties’ Hat Pitch gives Hot Docs Forum observers the chance to secure a last minute presentation slot during the event. A business card will be drawn and the individual will be granted the available 2014 pitch slots.

The following projects will be presented at this year’s Hot Docs Forum:

THE ACCIDENTAL ANARCHIST, Hopscotch Films Ltd, Mentorn (UK)
AMINA – A GAY GIRL IN DAMASCUS, Esperamos, The National Film Board of Canada (Canada)
THE BABUSHKA’S OF CHERNOBYL, The Babushkas Of Chernobyl LLC (USA)
THE BLIND CINEMA CLUB, Big Red Barn Films, PBS ITVS (Independent Television Service) (USA)
A BLIND EYE, Sole Possession Productions, Big Mouth Productions (USA)
THE BLUE ID, ARTvoltage, MOXIE (Turkey)
A COLD WAR, Sling & Arrow, JOTZ Production Pty Ltd (Australia)
(DIS)HONESTY – THE TRUTH ABOUT LIES, SALTY Features, CNBC (USA)
IN THE SHADOW OF THE DREAM, Pumpernickel Films, Ran-Entertainment , Dream Shadow LLC (France, USA)
THE KOREAN DREAM, Morena Films S.L., Halley Productions, Met Film Production, Taskovski Films (Spain, France, UK, Germany)
LET THERE BE LIGHT, EyeSteelFilm (Canada)
LOGS OF WAR, Platypus Productions, Big World Cinema (Kenya, South Africa)
THE NIGHT DAD BROUGHT US HOME, Indie Film As (Norway)
THE PRICE WE PAY, InformAction Films Inc. (Canada)
PUTIN’S NUMBER ONE ENEMY, Double Bounce Films, Roast Beef Productions (UK)
THE SKYJACKER’S TALE, Cave 7 Productions Inc. (Canada)
TEMPEST STORM, Shot Glass Productions (Canada)
TWO MEN, A CAR, AND THE WALL, 212BERLIN FILMS, Alfeneeks Films (Mexico, Palestine)
WRESTLING ALLIGATORS, Wrestling Alligators, Inc. (USA)

Hot Docs is North America ’s largest documentary festival, conference and market. An outstanding selection of approximately 200 documentaries from Canada and around the world will be presented this year. Hot Docs will also mount a full roster of conference sessions and market events and services for documentary practitioners, including the renowned Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Deal Maker and The Doc Shop. In partnership with Blue Ice Group, Hot Docs operates the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, a century-old landmark located in Toronto ’s Annex neighbourhood.

“Tonight we gather in the company of our country’s brightest and most glamorous talent to celebrate the best in Canadian film and television,” said Martin Katz, Academy Chair, pictured with US actress Maria Bello, who was in attendance to support Denis Villenueve`s film Prisoners. “I am honoured to celebrate and applaud this year’s outstanding nominees and winners. Their work brings us together, around screens big and small, enriching our communities through story,” he said.

“At 65 years young, we

The awards show itself had started off in regular fashion, but as it approached the midway point the scene and energy shifted. From the upbeat celebration of this year`s winners, a slightly more poised and deliberate scene unfolded. It began with a wonderfully edited montage of some of David Cronenberg`s work over the past few decades. Some of the clips that were used, he later admitted, were not in the original films as they dated back to the days of the Ontario Censor Board. In their tribute to Cronenberg, actors Jay Baruchel and Viggo Mortensen spoke frankly about the director`s place in the business.

“Mainstream movie business people, much as they might praise him time to time, seem very reluctant to reward him officially. I can understand that because David basically is not one of them. And I think they know it — a fact that probably makes them even more uncomfortable than his movies do,” said Mortensen, who has starred in three of Cronenberg`s films A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method. “I think we’re definitely doing the right thing here tonight,” he continued, saying of Cronenberg that he is “the finest director and the sanest man I know for the artistic excellence and the singular courage of his work.”

Cronenberg significantly altered the tone of the tribute by telling a joke. “A man visits his doctor. He says ‘Doctor. I can’t pee.’ The doctor says ‘How old are you?’ He says ‘I’m 93.’ The doctor says ‘You’ve peed enough.’ When I was asked if I would accept this lovely award, it did occur to me the Academy was sending a message that went: David, you’ve peed enough.” Fortunately for us he graciously accept the special tribute. “Somehow I found a way to say yes,” he said. “I can accept this fantastic and very sweet award that has been given to me by my colleagues with, I know, an incredible sweetness and affection — which makes it, you know, just a beautiful thing.”

Back in the media room, Northernstars.ca Publisher, Ralph Lucas asked the director about the changes he has seen in the Canadian film industry since he first started making his films. Cronenberg responded in part by praising Telefilm Canada and the Canada Council for making his first films possible. “Without their support, I would not have been able to make my movies in Canada.”

Cronenberg`s award was one of three that had been previously announced. Don Carmody (pictured above) was on hand to pick up his 8th Golden Reel Award, which is given to the film that enjoyed the highest box office take during the previous year. And Emanuel Hoss-Desmarais was given the Claude Jutra Award for Best First Feature Film, Whitewash, which was produced by Luc Déry and Kim McCraw.

Click here for a complete list of winners from last night`s Canadian Screen Awards.

Freeman was the first actor to join the Saskatchewan branch of ACTRA in 1967 and has been named a Life Member of the union, as well as the Canadian Public Relations Society, the Regina Women’s Network and Regina Little Theatre.

She was one of the first employees of Regina`s CKCK-TV and later became a CBC Radio on-air personality on Matinee Comment in Winnipeg and Regina. She has received numerous honours, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Mayor’s Arts & Business Awards, Woman of Distinction from the Regina YWCA and Trimark Canadian Women`s Mentor Arts and Culture Award. Jean co-authored Fists Upon a Star: A Memoir of Love, Theatre and Escape From McCarthyism, with the late theatre pioneer Florence Bean James, which was short-listed for a 2014 Saskatchewan Book Award. Most recently, her children’s book Terror on Turtle Creek has also been short-listed.

“Jean Freeman is not only an accomplished actor, she is a writer, a communicator and a pioneer in the Saskatchewan film and television industry,” said Ferne Downey, ACTRA National President. “When trouble came to Saskatchewan with the provincial government dismantling the film and television tax credit incentives, Jean fought back. We applaud Jean for the vision and strength she has provided to her union and the province’s whole entertainment industry.”

The mandate of the ACTRA National Women’s Committee includes exploring the concerns of female ACTRA members and supporting women within ACTRA and in the audiovisual industry as a whole. Heather Allin chairs the Committee. Jean Freeman is the fifth woman to be chosen “ACTRA Woman of the Year” for her artistic and advocacy achievements and joins past recipients Shirley Douglas, Tantoo Cardinal, Sandi Ross and Mary Walsh.

ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is the national union of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada.