The Canadian Film Fest is a non-profit organization devoted to the celebration, promotion and advancement of Canadian filmmaking talent. By exclusively featuring Canadian films, our goal is to provide filmmakers with valuable showcasing and networking opportunities and to offer the public homegrown productions to view and enjoy.

CANADIAN FILM FEST CANCELS 6th ANNUAL EVENT DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS



TORONTO March 17, 2009 – The Canadian Film Fest, an event devoted entirely to the advancement, promotion, and celebration of Canadian film, is saddened to announce this year's event will be cancelled due to lack of funds.

The Canadian Film Fest has not been able to secure any monetary government support at any level and in these economic times, when corporate sponsorship has been drying up, it has been especially difficult to secure sufficient funding from private sources. But the CFF is actively working towards returning for 2010.

“It's an absolute shame that it's proven so difficult to find support for our filmmakers, our culture, our stories but we're not giving up and are already planning a big comeback for 2010,” says Festival Director Bern Euler. “This is too important to give up on and several sponsors from years past feel the same including Cineplex Entertainment, Leo Burnett, William F. White International, Delta Chelsea Hotel, among others, who were more than willing to keep the show going. But we will be back.”

About The Canadian Film Fest

The Canadian Film Fest is devoted to the celebration, promotion and advancement of Canadian filmmaking talent. By exclusively featuring Canadian films, its goal is to provide filmmakers with valuable showcasing and networking opportunities and to offer the public homegrown productions to view and enjoy. Held annually in downtown Toronto theatre locations the festival showcases short and feature films and also includes opening and closing galas, parties, panels and other meet-and-greet sessions. For more information please visit The Canadian Film Fest Web site at: www.canfilmfest.ca.

Hey Everyone, if you missed RPS: THE WAY OF THE TOSSER, here's your chance to catch one of the funniest movies ever made by man.


Rock, Paper, Scissors: the Way of the Tosser 2008
April 4th & 5th ONLY 9:30p.m.
Filmmakers and Cast Present for Q & A

Bloor Cinema
506 Bloor Street West - Toronto
9:15pm Tosser Red Carpet
9:20pm Grand RPS Champion Announced on the 4th (MUCH MUSIC and media will be there)

Tickets Available $8.00 in advance at
www.wayofthetosser.com
Tickets Also Available at the door $10.00

TRAILER -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ohtMdfRM-s

CANADIAN FILM FEST
ANNOUNCES 2008 FESTIVAL AWARD WINNERS


March 31st, 2008, Toronto, Canada – The 5th annual Canadian Film Fest (CFF) recently marked the end of another fabulous year, boasting a record-high number of sell out screenings, high box office sales and fantastic parties. The CFF (which ran from March 25th– 29th, 2008 at the Carlton and Varsity Cineplex Odeon cinemas and which was sponsored in part by Bell Canada) remains the only Toronto film festival dedicated solely to the celebration, advancement and promotion of exclusively Canadian short and feature film works.

Now, with the dust settled and the ballots tallied, the final results of the fest are in…

The Best Feature, Best Short, Reel Canadian Indie, Best Screenwriting award and special jury prizes were selected by a distinguished panel of judges, including director Johnny Kalangis (2007 CFF entry THE MAD), producer Simone Urdl (AWAY FROM HER, REDACTED) and Andre Bennett, President of Cinema Esperança International Inc. The People's Pick for Best Flick award was chosen based on ballots cast by Festival filmgoers. The Adflix award showcases the best in short films by Canadian ad agencies.

The results are as follows:


Best Feature
THE LAST HIT MAN
Joe Mantegna stars in this eccentric thriller from writer/director Christopher Warre Smets about an ageing assassin (Joe Mantegna) who discovers he's dying and decides to hide the truth from his daughter. But when a younger hit man is sent to clean up the mess after a botched hit, he impacts their lives in more ways than initially intended.

Best Short
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS
Writer/director Jamie Cussen's hilarious short comedy about three nine-year-olds who embark on a quest for beer and cigarettes and are lead down the path towards adulthood…and find something far greater.

Cineplex Entertainment's ‘People's Pick For Best Flick' Award
MR. BIG
This gripping documentary examines criminal confessions resulting from an RCMP undercover sting strategy known as "Mr. Big". Filmmaker Tiffany Burns investigates RCMP actions after her brother Sebastian and his friend are convicted of murder. Their confessions are made to an undercover RCMP police officer who builds a relationship with the suspects while presenting himself as an organized crime gang member. Considered entrapment in the U.S. and England, Burns questions the ethics of using the "Mr. Big" sting technique.

William F. White ‘Reel Canadian Indie' Award
RIVER
Producer/Director/Co-Writer Mark Wihak's RIVER follows the exploits of Stan (Adam Budd) and Roz (Maya Batten-Young), two people living in a small city on the Canadian prairies. Stan has just finished university and is working on a novel; Roz has a dead-end job and roams the city with her camera. When Stan and Roz meet, they help to nurture each other's artistic dreams and discover what is possible – in friendship and in themselves.

Meridian Artists ‘Best Screenwriting' Award
RIVER
Screenplay by: Maya Batten-Young, Adam Budd, Mark Wihak

Buck Productions ‘Adflix' Award
HAROLD
Director Justin Harding's branded short film tells the story of a mannequin that wakes up one day and realizes that he wants more than what his life currently offers.


Other awards administered by the CFF included the Special Jury Prizes. They are as follows:

Best Director
Brett Sullivan for THE CHAIR

Best Cinematography
Gavin Heffernan for GRAND WHEEL

Best Female Actor
Shauna MacDonald for PRODUCTION OFFICE

Best Male Actor
Adam Budd for RIVER

Honorable Mention
Darkness Falls in Gitxsan (short)


Festival Highlights
One of the Festival's mandates is to help advance the Canadian film industry by promoting Canadian filmmaking talent, providing a venue to feature these films for audiences to view and enjoy. This year, 7 world premieres, 5 Canadian premieres, and 19 Toronto premieres (31 films in total) from across the country were screened at the Varsity and Carlton Cineplex Odeon Cinemas, with seven sold out shows. The Festival welcomed over 4,000 attendees at screenings, panel discussions and gala parties this year. The Canadian Film Fest presenting sponsor is Bell Canada. Key Sponsors included Leo Burnett, Buck Productions, Cineplex Entertainment, 70 Main Street, William F. White International, Delta Chelsea Hotel, Meridian Artists, Jones Brown Insurance Brokers, Premiere Underwriting, IFC, Imarion, Videoscope, The Butcher Shop, Steam Whistle, Grand Marnier, Playback, eye WEEKLY. The Canadian Film Fest is held in association with Film Circuit of the Toronto International Film Festival Group.

Hi Everyone,

As you may know, every year we at the Canadian Film Fest have to say no to a ton of movies that really should have their day up on the big screen. We hate that we have to do this but we just don't have the screens to accomodate all the deserving films. This came to the attention of the fine folks at the Bell Video Store and they proposed a solution: Why not have an online film festival for short films? So just like that, we went to work, furiously putting together a site that gives us a chance to show off our stuff.

Check out www.bellvideostore.ca/canfilmfest to see what we've put together. There will be a prize for Best Short Film and it will be screened at the Canadian Film Fest before the Closing Night movie. We're looking for all genres of films as long as they're under ten minutes. The site has all the details.

Good luck to everyone!

Cheers,

Bern Euler
Festival Director
Canadian Film Fest
The Best In Canadian Film
www.canfilmfest.ca

First Weekend Club
TalkBack 2008
~ A Film Artist Salon ~

Sunday, March 2, 2008, 3:00pm


Update: New Featured Guests!

TalkBack: A Film Artist Salon is back for its third year. Join us at The Drake Hotel for an afternoon of intimate conversations with some of Canada's finest filmmaking talent!

We are thrilled to announce the following Genie nominees joining us this year: Vic Sarin (Director and Cinematographer of Partition) Daniel Iron (Producer of Away from Her), Amy Belling (Producer of Regarding Sarah), and Robert Stewart (Director of Sharkwater).

We are also thrilled to have Paul Gratton as our distinguished Host this year. Paul is the former VP for Entertainment Specialty Channels for CHUM Television and sits on the board of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Televison. He is also a member of the Canadian Feature Film Advisory Committee, and has held a number of prestigious positions that have greatly contributed to the Canadian Film Industry.

Would you like to win 1 of 10 double passes to this event? We thought so... Well, it's fairly easy - email us right now and send us your guess for this year's Genie winner in the Best Motion Picture category. You don't have to guess it correctly to win, but you do have to send in your guess by 2:00 PM Friday. Names will be drawn randomly and winners contacted by email. AND, if you do guess correctly, your name will automatically be entered to win an additional prize - a five film prize package including the Best Picture from the 2008 Genie Awards.

Filmmakers Kris Booth and Ramona Barckert wrote a screenplay called "At Home By Myself... With You" . To get it made they have started collecting POCKET CHANGE so that they can fund their film. Among all the many contributions, Filmmaker (and CFF best picture award winner) Chris Smets helps the Pocket Change Fund by paying it forward... take a look at the Youtube link (VIDEO BLOG # 4.1). after that, take a look at the other video blogs on-line.