Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Farm is a Four-Letter Word

Posted: 27 Oct 2017 10:02 AM PDT

[LANGUAGE WARNING]

When a TV documentary crew visits The MacIntyre Farm for a story on a floundering industry, they discover a couple at the end of their rope with no fucks left to give.

Creative team

Writer: Kira Hall
Director/producer: Ryan Couldrey

Filmmaker’s statement

Farm is a Four-Letter Word began with a text message I received from Kira Hall containing a brief pitch about a farm where all the fucks had dried up and the family had no fucks left to give. From there, we worked together to build this zany mock-documentary centered on a crass idiom.

Not being a big fan of handheld TV documentary-style filming was about the best reason I could think of to produce a short film in that style. We spend so much time in metaphorical padded rooms we build for ourselves, afraid step outside and test ourselves. With every project I work on, I try to get as uncomfortable as possible – magic happens when I can’t rely on what I know for sure would work.

For all the suspension of reality Farm asks of its audience (we never even see what a “farmed fuck” looks like), it also grounds itself in the real – the desire for a purpose, and the hope that we might have something of value to offer back to the earth. We can’t help but give a fuck.

About Ryan Couldrey

Ryan gives suggestions to actors and presses buttons on cameras in Toronto, Canada.

He’s working on a few things right now including: a high-school horror-revenge feature, a children’s show about social media obsession, a creature-feature about misogyny in Hollywood, and a short about a kid who yanks out other people’s teeth for the Tooth Fairy.

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Famílias

Posted: 27 Oct 2017 09:55 AM PDT

Upon the conversion of one of its members to a radical Christian Church, a family spirals out of control and breaks apart.

Famílias proposes a discussion about tolerance, mutual understanding and inclusion.

Creative team

Writer/director: Joffre Faria Silva
Producers: Betty Orr, Laura Blaney, Robson Goulart

Filmmaker’s statement

In the past decade, there has been a rapid proliferation of evangelical churches all around Brazil. Moreover, in the 2014 national elections large numbers of evangelicals were elected to Congress and have proposed legislation to return to traditional family values and curb the rights of women and LGBTQ.

Famílias delves into such reality. My goal is to have both sides of the issue engage in a productive dialogue to create more harmony in society.

About Joffre Faria Silva

Born in Brazil, Joffre Faria Silva lives in Toronto where he works in art direction for the film and television industry.

Joffre graduated with honours at Concordia University, Montreal, receiving his BFA with specialization in film studies.

He has written several short and feature-length films in both Portuguese and English languages. He has directed six short films and one feature-length, Offside (Impedimento), which was shown in 14 film festivals around the world winning six awards.

He is currently working on producing his next feature-length film, Famílias.

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It’s All in Your Head

Posted: 27 Oct 2017 09:33 AM PDT

A bedtime story about the monster in the closet.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Greg Jeffs
Producer: Colette Jeffs

Filmmaker’s statement

It’s All in Your Head is my first time stepping behind the camera to direct the action.

In my first few years producing I have been very fortunate to have worked with a director, Spencer Estabrooks, who runs a clean and easy-going set. I learned a lot from watching him work but the reality of shooting a short film meant I had to make a lot of decisions on the fly.

I knew I wanted to go with a practical monster which added time to the schedule. I knew, as a father, that I wanted my daughter to play Sara Lynn, despite having never been on a set before let alone one as dark and scary as the one our designers had built.

Writing the short, I had a very definite design in mind for the monster. This is a beast that is born inside the mind of a seven-year-old girl. It has jagged lines and distorted figures. It’s darkness, or what lurks in the shadows.

I hope you enjoy it.

About Greg Jeffs

Greg Jeffs first produced Dead Walkers (directed by Spencer Estabrooks, 2009) which quickly became one of the most successful short films of the year. After premiering at Toronto After Dark, the film toured to Spain, London, Los Angeles and New York.

In Spain, at Sitges, the film was acquired for worldwide distribution by Shorts International where it became one of the first Canadian short films to be made available for purchase in the iTunes store.

In July 2011, the film was acquired for Canadian broadcast on Movie Central. The Alberta Media Development Fund awarded his company, Insurrection Films Inc., with development support to explore feature expansion.

Greg wrote and produced his second short film Tasha (directed by Spencer Estabrooks, 2012) which was funded by BravoFACT and aired nationally (Canada) on Space.

His third short film (writer, producer) The Hunt was acquired by Raven Banner Films for a theatrical release in Canada and in January 2014 it was named the best short film of 2013 by Rue Morgue magazine.

In 2015, Greg was selected as a participant in the National Screen Institute’s Features First initiative for Hidden Star, written by his wife Colette Jeffs.

It’s All in Your Head is his directorial debut.

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