For the second year, Telefilm has partnered with the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) and Hot Docs to present Docs-in-Progress – Canadian Showcase! Happening online June 25 from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. (France time) this Canadian showcase is one of eight events presented by different countries, each with excerpts and pitches of four projects. For doc producers seeking international attention, this is the place to be!

Let’s spotlight the Canadian creators bringing this showcase to life:

1- The Dawnsayer

Written, directed, and produced by Paul Marc Kell

• With 20 years of filmmaking and theatre experience, Paul Marc Kell’s works have wowed fests from Cannes to SXSW. In 2015-16, he was showrunner of 11 episodes of Viceland’s Dead Set On Life (with Matty Matheson).

2- Pipeline in Paradise

Written and directed by Julia Ivanova, produced by John Ritchie

• Julia Ivanova and her works were the focus of a 2019 Hot Docs retrospective! Her other films include Family Portrait in Black and White, about a Ukranian foster mom of 17.
• John Ritchie has overseen the creation of more than 500 hours of factual and scripted films and television series. He produced the multi-award-winning feature documentary 65_RedRoses and of told the life stories of Terry Fox, Emily Carr, Phil and Tony Esposito, Rick Hansen, among many others.

3- The Free Ones (Les libres)

Written and directed by Nicolas Lévesque, produced by Jean-Philippe Archibald and Nicolas Lévesque. This project is funded through Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program!

• Nicolas Lévesque is more than a filmmaker known for TV projects and short docs (like 2013’s In Guns We Trust, named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top 10)! He’s also a photographer; photo books include Lutte and Derniers souverains.
• As a producer and director of photography Jean-Philippe Archibald’s credits include the short doc Rich in Bollywood (which, fun fact, was directed by Nicolas Lévesque).

4- No Ordinary Man

Written by Aisling Chin-Yee and Amos Mac, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, produced by Sarah Spring

• A co-founder of the #AfterMeToo movement, filmmaker Aisling Chin-Yee was chosen for the 50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment program. Her feature debut, The Rest of Us, premiered at TIFF in 2019 and stars Heather Graham and Sophie Nélisse.

• Chase Joynt is a transgender film artist and writer whose 2017 book You Only Live Twice (co-written with Mike Hoolboom) was named one of the year’s best by CBC and The Globe & Mail. His award-winning short Framing Agnes is being adapted into a feature as part of Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program!

• As President of the Board of Directors of the RIDM and co-chair of the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, Sarah Spring also co-founded the production house Parabola Films.

For more background on these filmmakers, click here! Love docs? See what we’re planning at Sunnyside of the doc.