Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Six-year-old Sarah is a budding entrepreneur – she pulls teeth for The Tooth Fairy.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Ryan Couldrey

Filmmaker’s statement

A Fistful of Molars came about while sitting under the spotlight at my dentist’s office, wherein I randomly asked, “Hey, would you be okay with having a horror film shot in here?”

They were onboard, and even though the version of this short that ended in a dark dental office didn’t end up being filmed, it was very much a catalyst for this coming-of-age story. That, and I also wanted to imagine the chain of events that would lead someone like Sarah down such a path.

I mean, who wouldn’t go down that path if they were getting that kinda coin under their pillow for baby teeth?

About Ryan Couldrey

Ryan Couldrey is a Toronto-based director/writer who will also DOP, edit and score soundtracks where necessary (like with A Fistful of Molars).

He had a lovely end to 2018 with multiple films hitting festivals like Toronto After Dark (Baby Blue Canoe as director and Clown Killer as DOP), Blood in the Snow (A Fistful of Molars), and achieving finalist status with the international Rode Reel competition for Best Special FX against 1,650 other submissions (Skin Deep).

Having filmed a few things with actual children (A Fistful of Molars actress Darby Butcher pictured with Ryan above), in 2019 he hopes to film something with his garbage children (aka lil’ black cats) Nova and Astro.

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The story of a canoe group from Penelakut First Nation as they train to compete in the world’s largest outrigger canoe race.

Creative team

Writer/director: Steve Sxwithul’txw
Producer: Michele Mundy

Filmmaker’s statement

Outrigger racing is a global sport embraced by many Indigenous peoples. We follow a canoe group, known as For the People, from a small isolated First Nation village (Penelakut) on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They will represent their community in the Queen Lili’uokalani race, which is the world’s largest outrigger canoe race in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

The inspiring story brings together a group of Indigenous youth who train for months, receive coaching, make significant sacrifices, fundraise and race in competitions along the west coast of BC, with the ultimate goal of taking their group to Hawaii in September 2017.

Elders provide traditional teachings and guide the youth around the responsibility that is connected to representing their community on an emotional journey of determination, perseverance and strength and leaving the struggles of Our People, On the Water.

About Steve Sxwithul’txw

Steve Sxwithul’txw is from the Penelakut Tribe, located just off Vancouver Island. He was raised in the Cowichan Valley by his mother along with his five siblings.

Recently, he directed and produced his own series, Tribal Police Files, the second season of which aired on APTN in 2018. He also directed his first short film called Leave it on the Water, now debuting across north America on the film festival circuit.

In 2014, the award-winning doc series he produced called Warrior Games aired on APTN. Steve also works with the government as a cultural safety advisor and on varying initiatives which highlight learning for Indigenous youth.

Steve is the lead for the development of the Indigenous Walk of Fame which will honour excellence in the genres of TV, film, arts, music and sports and will be located in the City of Victoria in 2020-21.

His first passion is his family, which includes his three children Jacob, Haley and Chelsea.

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When Kris’s partner Jess comes home from an evening out, the night takes an unexpected turn.

Creative team

Writer: Erin Carter
Director: Justine Stevens
Producers: Ali Mashayehki, Al Magee, Neil Huber

Filmmaker’s statement

Soft Spot is a very personal film for me and one I am extremely excited to share.

As part of the LGBTQ+ community, growing up I was thankful for the traditional ‘coming out’ narratives I saw on TV and in movies, but as I grew to accept my own sexuality, I became frustrated that most queer content revolves around coming out.

Soft Spot, for me, was about pushing past what I had seen to create the kind of content/stories I want to see more of. The characters are struggling with the themes of love and loss, which is relatable to all members of the audience.

This film pushed me as a director because there was so much complexity to the emotional beats in the film and, at the end of the day, I’m very proud of what we created. Erin Carter and Allison Louder were incredible to work with and brought such depth to the characters in this film. I hope this story speaks to others the way it does to me.

About Justine Stevens

With a passion for authentic storytelling, Justine Stevens is an award-winning, Canadian director and filmmaker who isn’t afraid to tell the stories often underrepresented in the film industry.

Currently based out of Toronto, she has acquired an impressive resume with her work on the award-winning web series The Girls Guide (2013) (LAWebFest Best Narrative Short, LAWebFest Best Ensemble Cast), the music video Rockstar, and short films The Haze (2012) (Broadcast Educators Society Best Drama), Soft Spot (2017) and Undone (2018).

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After a bad breakup, a seasoned wedding photographer decides to start shooting divorces.

Creative team

Writer/director: Christine Buijs
Producer: Shannon Fewster

Filmmaker’s statement

Divorce Photographer is a comedy about a wedding photographer and her inability to find happiness in relationships. It explores the flip side of relationships – breakups, anxiety and trust issues. My vision with this short film is to question our automatic assumptions about relationships – that they are the be-all-end-all of happiness – and turn that concept on its head.

Despite its comedic tone, Divorce Photographer comes from a personal place for me, and I’ve drawn on some of my personal experience to help guide the story and the actors’ performances. My goal has always been an honest humour – one that makes people laugh because they recognize some truth in the comedy and in the characters’ struggles. My hope is that we still feel real empathy for these characters, as much as we also recognize and laugh at our own plights in them.

The main reason I’ve written this film is because I’ve grappled with feeling like an outsider for being a mostly single woman in her late 20s. I find there are very few positive single female role models in the media – single women are often depicted negatively rather than positively. Many of the seemingly strong female characters still focus their lives around their relationships with men, despite being accomplished career women in their own right.

The character of Carla of course feels this way at first – though she is accomplished on her own, she feels like her life is not complete until she finds and marries the perfect guy. Her journey is one of discovering that perhaps she doesn’t need a relationship to feel complete and happy, and perhaps she can find fulfillment in her own passions, dreams and friendships.

I also think this is a confusing time for romantic relationships in my generation, as traditional marriage and family values erode and couples experiment with many different types of relationships. We no longer follow the cookie cutter ‘Go to college, get a relationship, get a job, get married, have kids, retire’ template. Relationships are varied and experimental and often confusing. We don’t really know how to define an ideal relationship any more. Divorce is quite common and becoming less and less taboo. This flexibility is a good thing but can also cause problems as people struggle to define their relationships with each other.

My goal with this film is to connect to the audience of today – the audience who has been through a bad relationship (or several) and had to overcome it to become a stronger person. The audience who has realized their quest for a relationship may in fact turn into a quest for self-realization, and that love can come from more than just marriage.

About Christine Buijs

Christine is a director of photography and director based in Toronto. She is a graduate of the Women in the Director’s Chair program (2013), was a recipient of NSI Drama Prize (2014) and a finalist for the Cayle Chernin Award in Media Arts (2015).

Her short film Divorce Photographer has played at numerous festivals including HollyShorts, Calgary and Whistler, and has garnered awards and attention worldwide winning the Special Jury Prize at the Canadian Film Fest in 2016 before selling to Air Canada and CBC.

She attended the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab (2016), and shadowed on season two of the hit Disney show Backstage. She is currently developing her first feature film. She is also a member of Women in Film & Television (WIFT) and an honorary member of Film Fatales Toronto.

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