ELEVEN NEW RECIPIENTS OF SHAW MEDIA-HOT DOCS FUNDS ANNOUNCED $241,000 IN COMPLETION GRANTS AND DEVELOPMENT LOANS AWARDED TO TOP CANADIAN DOC PROJECTS

Toronto – Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Shaw Media are pleased to announce that 11 projects have been chosen to receive a total of $241,000 in grants and no-interest loans from the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds in its fourteenth round of disbursements. Established in April of 2008, the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds consist of a $3-million completion fund and a $1-million development fund that aim to provide Canadian documentary filmmakers with much needed financial support at critical stages in their projects.

“The selection committees were impressed with the range of topics in this round, from natural resources and urban development to mermaids, Finnish cheerleaders and the female gaze,” says Hot Docs industry programs director Elizabeth Radshaw. “We’re pleased to be supporting such a diverse set of projects from many new voices in the documentary space.”

With these 11 projects, a total of 138 projects have received funding via Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds to date, with funding totalling $3,150,000 in completion grants and no-interest loans. The application process for the first round of 2015 funding will open in April 2015. For further information on the application process, eligibility requirements and deadlines, please visit website

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund
Eligible projects were considered by the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund Selection Committee, which included: Sarah Jane Flynn, Senior Director, Original Factual Content – Shaw Media; Elizabeth Radshaw, Director of Industry Programs, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; and Barry Stevens, Filmmaker.

Five completion grants totalling $180,000 were awarded to the following projects:

FAULTLINES
Production Company: Canada Wild Productions
Director: Nettie Wild
Producer: Betsy Carson

An art film with politics, this feature documentary is set in northern British Columbia and experiments with form while reflecting on one of the most complex issues of our times—how to manage the land’s resources without destroying the planet.

CHEER THE F**K UP
Production Company: Murmur Media, napafilms oy
Director: Christy Garland
Producers: Christy Garland, Liisa Juntunen
Executive Producer: Daniel Iron

The film follows an unhappy, badly losing team of Finnish cheerleaders who try to step up their game while dealing with personal battles that propel them from girls to women.

LESLIE CARON: I’LL LOVE YOU WHEN YOU’RE A STAR
Production Company: Matter of Fact Media Inc.
Director: Larry Weinstein
Producers: Vanessa Dylyn, Anne Schuchman

Award-winning actress Leslie Caron, beloved star of classic American musicals such as AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and GIGI, takes us on a journey into the golden age of film and dance and reveals the poignant human stories of the icons behind the fantasy images.

SPECTRES OF SHORTWAVE
Production Company: Magnetic Mountain Productions
Director, Producer: Amanda Dawn Christie
Executive Producer: Monique LeBlanc

An experimental documentary about the Radio Canada International shortwave towers, the film uses images captured on 35mm over four seasons, accompanied by multilingual stories, ending with the demolition of the historic site near Sackville, New Brunswick.

TEMPEST STORM
Production Company: Burlesque Queen Productions Inc.
Director: Nimisha Mukerji
Producer: Nimisha Mukerji
Co-Producer: Kaitlyn Regehr
Executive Producers: Nimisha Mukerji, Kaitlyn Regher, Danielle Colby, Chuck Braverman

TEMPEST STORM is a feature documentary that follows the controversial life story of America’s greatest living sex icon, who at 86 years old is still searching for unconditional love.

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund
Eligible projects were considered by the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund Selection Committee, which included: Lynne Carter, Executive in Charge of Production, Original Factual Content – Shaw Media; Elizabeth Radshaw, Director of Industry Programs, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; and Mila Aung-Thwin, Producer & Vice-President, EyeSteelFilm.

Six no-interest loans totalling $61,000 were awarded to the following projects:

A BETTER MAN
Production Company: Intervention Productions Inc.
Directors: Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman
Producer: Christine Kleckner
Executive Producer: Sarah Polley

A BETTER MAN is a documentary that boldly reframes the discussion about violence against women by focusing on perpetrators and the people that want to help them change.

DENSE CITY
Production Company: Twofold Films Inc.
Directors: Gavin Froome, Mike Bernard
Producer: Leah Mallen

DENSE CITY takes a clear and honest look at the viability and livability of the latest thinking around inhabiting urban environments, sorting out the greenwashing from the truly revolutionary, and helping facilitate the dialogue around exploding populations in our urban centres.

A FEMALE GAZE
Production Company: Red Queen Productions
Director, Producer: Maya Gallus

Is great art genderless? Do women approach the creative process in a different way? This film explores the very question of “the female gaze,” featuring female directors in both documentary and fiction.

LIVING WITH GIANTS
Production Company: MC2 Communication Média
Directors: Sébastien Rist, Aude Leroux-Lévesque
Producer: Jean-Simon Chartier

LIVING WITH GIANTS delves into the imagination of Paulusie, a young Inuk facing the difficulties of adulthood. Between the infinite ocean and prison walls, he must learn to find hope in a world of ever-growing complexity.

MATHIEU-MARTIN
Production Company: Parabola Films
Director: Samara Grace Chadwick
Producers: Sarah Spring, Selin Murat, Kat Baulu, Maryse Chapdelaine
Executive Producers: Annette Clarke, Dominic Desjardins

MATHIEU-MARTIN explores the language, images and glitches of memory as a whole community of young Acadians recollect stories they spent half their lifetimes trying to forget.

MERMAIDS
Production Company: 9051007 Canada Inc.
Director: Ali Weinstein
Producer: Caitlin Durlak
Executive Producer: Ron Mann

MERMAIDS is a lyrical documentary exploration of the allure and transformative power of the universal mermaid myth, from the tail-donning mers of contemporary North America to the sirens of ancient lore.

Please visit Hot Docs website for more info on films