Natasha. a 2015 Canadian film, is in English and Russian. A Canadian film could be primarily in Russian or any other language other than French, English, or Indigenous languages, but wouldn't qualify for Telefilm Canada funding. Now the rules are changing on language.
This adjustment is one of several changes in Telefilm Canada funding for Canadian films.
Making the case for Canadian film in 3 parts
Deepa Mehta made the case in making the case for Canadian film for changes in the language requirements. One of her reasons for Bill C-10 was to get the language barriers removed. Bill C-10 and its equivalent is in a high layer of purgatory yet Telefilm Canada did change the rules.
Mehta told the story during the panel discussion of shooting Water in English as well as Hindi to get Telefilm Canada funding.
Mehta's latest film Funny Boy would have qualified for Telefilm Canada funding since the majority of that film (63%) was in English. Then again, Telefilm Canada nominated the film in an Academy Awards category that only allowed up to 49% of English language content.
"While we agree with Mehta on language, she wants to use the changes to make films to get taxpayer funding that are not in Canada with a majority of non-Canadians. We argue that funding priorities should be given to filmmakers who want to shoot in Canada with a majority of Canadians. We fear that a deluge of requests will deprive filmmakers who want to make films in Canada."
We wrote that at the time about the panel discussion. Our thoughts were more about Canadian films such as Natasha rather than Funny Boy.
Canada is a country of immigrants and those stories are Canadian. Featuring them in that language shouldn't be a penalty for Telefilm Canada funding. Encourage a point system that rewards using Canadians on and off screen and filming in Canada.
Telefilm revamps aim to usher in new era for Canadian film industry rocked by COVID-19 pandemic (The Globe and Mail)
Canadian films now will need an eligible distributor if the overall budget is at least $3.5 million. Here are some of the rest of the highlights, in the words of Telefilm Canada.
- The "two strikes" rule will be discontinued for the 2022-2023 fiscal year to take into account the pandemic's impact on the industry.
- Funding participation is increased for projects with budgets between $1.5 million and $3.5 million.
- The cap on "greenlight" funding has increased.
There are more details to those changes.
Canadian film notebook: Marketing Canadian films as not Canadian
Canadian film case study: My Salinger Year
Canadian films in name only such as French Exit and My Salinger Year get Telefilm Canada funding without having to put much of Canada into those films. There is very little French in French Exit but a small amount of another language has never been an issue.
The issue is that Telefilm Canada has limited funding. While we agree on lifting the language barriers, there will be more slices on a limited sized pie.
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The funding from a potential Netflix tax. A requirement that cable companies carry a Starlight cable channel to showcase Canadian film. These have been some of the ideas to get more revenue to help grow the Canadian film industry.
Canada is already making great films but few Canadians know how good they are. They hear about Canadian films in name only and international films made in Canada while pretending to be anywhere else but the Great White North.
photo credit: Natasha film
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