Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Prom Night

Posted: 12 Oct 2018 12:10 PM PDT

On the night of their teenagers’ prom, three overprotective fathers find a positive pregnancy test and go on a mission to find out which one of their teens is pregnant before the end of the night.

Creative team

Writer/director: Samantha MacAdam
Producer: Aaron Yeger

Filmmaker’s statement

It’s prom night, one of the most exciting nights in a teenager’s life and one of the proudest moments in a parent’s, but in this uproarious comedy, three overprotective fathers have their deepest parenting insecurities revealed when a positive pregnancy test is found on the night of their teenagers’ prom.

Fueled by worry, anger and weed cookies, things go from bad to insane as the hunt for the truth becomes a high-stakes and no-filter debate about which teen is pregnant. From stalking to a physical fight, the fathers eventually band together and come to some surprising, hilarious and touching realizations about themselves and their relationships with their teenagers.

By the end of this cautionary tale, the burning question of the night will turn one father’s world upside down.

About Samantha MacAdam

Samantha MacAdam is a Guyanese-Canadian award-winning filmmaker and working mom.

Her writing career formally began when she entered and won a pitch competition to write the storyline for the animated feature film The Nut Job 3, starring Will Arnett and Liam Neeson.

Her directorial debut, Prom Night (which she also wrote), stars comedy heavyweight Gerry Dee (Mr. D) and comedy vets Marty Adams and Frank Spadone. The short comedic film premiered at Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival and gained cross-border success as part of comedian Kevin Hart’s LOL Network development deal contest. Samantha was the only Canadian in the contest’s top five, and the only solo female director featured.

Currently, she is pitching the feature-length screenplay of Prom Night to various studios and is also writing a mini-series based on the murders of America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes.

The post Prom Night appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

The Photograph

Posted: 12 Oct 2018 12:04 PM PDT

Sahar, a young Afghan bride-to-be, lands in Canada from Afghanistan. Soon she finds herself wandering the streets in search of her husband, whom she has never met.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Fazila Amiri
Producer: Salar Pashtoonyar
Cinematographer: Alejandro Coronado
Editor: Raghed Charabaty

Filmmaker’s statement

Growing up in the Afghan diasporic community in Canada, I have many friends and relatives who have travelled from Afghanistan to Canada in arranged marriages in the hope of pursuing a better life abroad.

In The Photograph, my characters are trying to understand, relate and express their upbringing about the complexity and absurdity of the arranged marriages that are forced upon them by custom and culture.

About Fazila Amiri

Fazila Amiri is an Afghan-Canadian director and screenwriter whose films look closely at the lives, struggles and dreams of Afghan people in Afghanistan and around the world.

Fazila is an MFA candidate in film production at York University, with a BFA in film studies from Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University.

Her short films Unknown Artist (2018) and The Photograph (2017) have been shown in international film festivals including the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the 41st Montreal World Film Festival and the 31st Atlantic Film Festival.

She is a recipient of the 2018 Telefilm Talent To Watch Program and the winner of The Lindalee Tracey Award at the 2018 Hot Docs International Canadian Documentary Festival.

Currently Fazila is on the festival circuit with her latest short film, Kabuli Bicycle (2018).

The post The Photograph appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).