Two new documentaries are among six project announced to receive funding through the Indigenous Funding streams of Telefilm Canada. Among them is Rites of Passage, directed by Eliza Knockwood and produced by Red Giant Productions. The film marks a rare production from Prince Edward Island on the funding list. Knockwood is a Two Spirit Mi’kmaq artist and participated in 2022 DOC Atlantic Breakthrough program. She previously directed The Ice Walk and Time of Learning for Bell Fibe TV.
On the slate for the French market is Ces liens que nous ne voyons pas (The Links We Don’t See), directed by Kim O’Bomsawin and produced by Terre Innue, Inc. The Abenaki O’Bomsawin had a critical breakthrough with the 2020 feature documentary Call Me Human, which profiled Innu language artist Joséphine Bacon and won Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Ces liens que nous ne voyons pas credits Mathieu Fourner as screenwriter alongside O’Bomsawin.
Among the dramatic works in today’s funding announcement is a new drama directed by Zacharias Kunuk, Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband), along with the dramas Aberdeen directed by Eva Thomas and Ryan Wilson and Capitaine directed by William Mazzoleni Valin. Telefilm also announced support for the animated work Qaqsoss naka Wahuntsis, written and directed by Tara Audibert. The six projects total three million dollars in production funding.
