BravoFACT Announces Award Recipients from April 7 Jury Meeting

TORONTO (April 11, 2017) – Bell Media’s BravoFACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent) announced today the 11 BravoFACT award recipients from the April 7 jury meeting. Selected from 202 applications, a total of $512,750 was awarded to Canadian filmmakers for the production of short films. With this announcement, BravoFACT has awarded more than $30 million in grant funding to some of Canada’s most talented filmmakers, for both scripted and documentary projects since the fund’s launch in 1995. Continuing to fulfill BravoFACT’s Female Filmmaker initiative, funding for ten out of the 11 projects was awarded to female-led projects. It has been another incredible year of accomplishments for BravoFACT and BravoFACTUAL-funded films, with many having enjoyed success in Canada and abroad. Recent accomplishments include BravoFACTUAL-funded short film My Enemy My Brother, which was short-listed for an Academy Award^® in the Documentary Short Subject category and has been adapted into a feature-length film. The short is set to screen at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, along with three other BravoFACTUAL-funded films: Invading Giants, Mother Canada, and Take a Walk on the Wildside. BravoFACT also confirmed that a $50,000 grant was awarded to BravoFACT-funded short film Good Girls at the second annual WIFT-T BravoFACT Pitch Competition on March 30. To view previous BravoFACT-supported films, click here. The BravoFACT fund recipients from the April 7, 2016 jury meeting are: Be My Guest – David Jermyn (Director/ Writer), Richard Rotter (Producer) A young couple’s experiments with a grey-market mind-transfer technology exposes irreversible fault lines in their relationship. Connect the Dots – Taylor Hill (Director/Producer/Writer), Anja Savcic (Producer/Writer) The meaning of intimacy is challenged after a young man brings his one-night stand to a funeral reception. The Day Grunge Died – Angie Bird (Director/Writer), Michelle Woodward (Producer), Ella Rowan (Writer) In the spring of 1994, three teenaged girls embark on an after-school adventure to find their friend Viktor and break the news to him in person that their rock star idol has died. Giltrude’s Dwelling – Jeremy Lutter (Director/Producer), Marcy Waughtal (Writer/Producer) Orphaned at the age of 11, Giltrude, an interdimensional shut-in, has waited 15 years for her parents to come home. When a life-or-death dilemma comes knocking, Giltrude must look beyond her front door and learn to face the outside universe. The Inherent Traits of Connor James – Alyssa Pankiw (Director/Writer/Producer), Jason Aita (Producer), Nicole Segal (Producer) This dark dramedy follows a happily married lesbian couple (Lea and Court) and their three-year-old son on a trip back to Lea’s hometown, for her best friend Connor’s funeral. The grieving family then finds out that Lea’s little boy is biologically related to their dead son. Pearls – Shelley Thompson (Director/Producer/Writer), Kimberlee McTaggart (Producer) Seventeen-year-old Don is surprised to find an ally in his mother, who must let go of her son and imagine the young woman he’ll become. Defying his father, Don leaves home with the help of his mom. Platypus – Trevor Kristjanson (Director), Jessica Gibson (Producer), Charles Beaudette (Producer), Josh Benoit (Writer) Jensen Murphy is a middle-aged “human taxidermist,” whose work has left her longing for a living human connection. Rae – Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Director/Writer), Gavin Sheppard (Producer) While organizing her seventh birthday party, Rae, a young Mohawk girl and her schizophrenic mom, find their roles reversed within their mother-daughter relationship. Screen Thru – Patrick Maloney (Director/Writer), Katie Nolan (Producer), Katy Maravala (Producer), Peter Huang (Writer) A world changing invention and modern-day vigilante tool allows its users to physically reach through their computer screens and smack people who promote hateful and discriminatory behaviour on the World Wide Web. Slash/Back – Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Director), Nyla Innuksuk (Writer/Producer), Ellen Hamilton (Producer) In a quiet Arctic hamlet surrounded by majestic fjords, a group of badass Inuk girls are keeping a secret. If they are careful, they may be able to use that secret to save their community from an incoming alien invasion. Touch – Bryan Kawalsky (Director), Kathryn Alexandre (Producer /Writer), Tatiana Maslany (Producer) A young man struggling to cope with the loss of his father turns to a stranger for comfort. The next submission deadline for BravoFACT is May 12, 2017. For information about BravoFACT and BravoFACTUAL program requirements, and application guidelines, visit http://bravofact.com.