from ampr

The Documentary Organization of Canada | Association des documentaristes du Canada (DOC) and CBC’s digital channel documentary are proud to announce the recipients of the 2013 documentary mentorship program – GIVING VOICE: FILMMAKERS WORKING WITH FILMMAKERS. Seven pairs of talented apprentices and established Canadian documentary filmmakers have been chosen to work on a variety of exciting new projects.

“What an embarrassment of riches in this third year of the program!” states Lisa Fitzgibbons, Executive Director of DOC. “There is such a fantastic selection of projects and apprentices and we are excited at the prospect of the program’s outcomes. Giving Voice is fostering the development of a wide range of skills across the country and will have far-reaching impact in its capacity building within the Canadian documentary sector. We are grateful to documentary channel for supporting such a unique professional development program.”

Eligible projects were reviewed by the Giving Voice Selection Committee, comprised of Chanda Chevannes, Ed Barreveld and Jordana Ross.

Apprentice director Michèle Garceau, a resident of New Brunswick and Quebec, will work side by side with mentor Ève Lamont, an award-winning Director and camerawoman through Montreal-based Les Productions du Rapide-Blanc. Garceau will assist Lamont on LE COMMERCE DU SEXE, a feature documentary which will expose the various facets of the business of sex work, along with the ensuing social and economic consequences.

Apprentice Lina Trichilo will work closely with Executive Producer Anne Pick of Real to Reel Productions in Toronto. Trichilo will take an active part in handling various responsibilities, including researching, writing and clearances, on two documentaries: ECCENTRICS, a feature length documentary exploring the health benefits of non-conformism, directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker John Zartitsky; and GAMBLING ON EXTINCTION which examines the illegal trade of endangered animal body parts.

Apprentice Rachel Bower will be working under the guidance of Producer Edward Peill in a documentary for CBC Nature of Things called TREK OF THE TITANS, co-directed by Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason. The film will follow the annual migration of the endangered leatherback turtle from Trinidad to Nova Scotia. Bower will also have the opportunity to participate in the “making of” video, which will be featured on the CBC website.

Apprentice Serene Husni, a new immigrant from Palestine, will assist mentor Elisa Paloschi through Eyesfull, her Toronto-based production house. Husni’s responsibilities will range from post-production and editing to research, creative development and distribution on three documentary projects: DRIVING WITH SELVI, EMBRACING VOICES and MEMORY OF FORGETTING, an interactive documentary about a Sicilian ghost town, which uses the metaphor of decay to explore the displacement of the town’s people.

Apprentice Andrew Moir will hone his producer skills working under the guidance of award-winning Toronto producers Joanne Jackson and Diane Warmé on the documentary SONGBIRD SOS, a Canada-France co-production directed by Su Rynard (Kardia). This documentary will examine the alarming decline of songbirds throughout the world and will link the phenomenon to global pollution and climate change.

Apprentice Jamie Bourque, a member of the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, will be working closely with veteran Producer Pati Olson through her Edmonton-based company, Bogart Productions. Bourque will embark on an Associate Producer mentorship on the half-hour television series CHAOS & COURAGE SEASON 2 for APTN. The convergent documentary series showcases Canadian Aboriginal women as ‘First Responders’ in their communities.

Apprentice Maria Psaila, a native of Nova Scotia will work alongside seasoned documentary filmmaker Walter Forsyth on the development and proposal for the documentary LONG MAY WE RUN, which will look at the popularity of running. Maria will gain experience researching, production managing, shooting and editing, and conducting interviews.

GIVING VOICE: FILMMAKERS WORKING WITH FILMMAKERS, funded by CBC’s digital channel, documentary, is designed to help professional documentary filmmakers move to the next level in their careers. The program offers each apprentice the unique opportunity to gain “in-the-field” training with a seasoned documentarian. Working under the guidance of established professionals, the selected apprentices will receive the unique opportunity to gain insight into their mentors’ winning approaches and techniques while observing the creative process first-hand.

Dedicated to fostering the art of independent documentary making in Canada as one of its key mandates, DOC is keen to provide a platform of support to the documentary community through this initiative.

GETTING REAL – The Documentary Organization of Canada recently published the fifth volume of Getting Real: an Economic Profile of the Canadian Documentary Industry, which takes an in-depth look at the state of Canadian documentary production up to the end of 2010/11. The report states that documentary production is facing its steepest drop in production volume in almost a decade. More info is available at: http://www.docorg.ca/en