Village Gamer

Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that five feature films from across the country will be funded under the Canada Feature Film Fund’s selective and performance components.

“The diversity of the films testifies to Telefilm’s commitment to highlighting Canada’s cultural richness,” said Michel Pradier, Telefilm’s Director of Project Financing. “This time around, we have an interesting portfolio of two international coproductions (The Boy Who Smells Like Fish and Foxfire), a drama starring Oscar-nominated actor James Cromwell (Still), a regional first feature (The Disappeared) and a dark comedy (Cottage Country).”

The Boy Who Smells Like Fish (Ontario and Nunavut Region)
Canada-Mexico coproduction (majority Canada)
Writer/director: Analeine Cal y Mayor
Production: Rhombus Media (Canada) and Redrum SA de CV (Mexico)
Distributor: Alliance Films

At first glance, Mica seems like a perfectly normal boy. But first glances can often be deceiving… For one, Mica’s house is now a museum dedicated to Guillermo Garibai, the legendary Spanish crooner. Mica spends most of his time there, giving guided tours to aging Garibai fans. But stranger still, Mica smells. Like fish. Numerous doctors, his life-long therapist and even his own parents are at a loss. No one wants to be Mica’s friend. Girls won’t talk to him. His life appears pointless, uneventful, doomed. That is, until Laura walks into it.

Cottage Country (Ontario and Nunavut Region)
Director: Peter Wellington
Writer: Jeremy Boxen
Production: Cottage Country Productions
Distributor: Alliance Films

Todd wants everything to be perfect at the family cottage, where he plans to ask Cammie to marry him. Things take a bad turn when Salinger, Todd’s lazy brother, shows up with his girlfriend, Masha. When Todd accidently kills his brother with an axe, Cammie decides not to let Salinger’s murder—or Masha’s less-than-accidental death—get in the way of the couple’s happiness. Todd’s proposal goes swimmingly (just as the bodies of the two guests disappear into the lake), and the lovers return to the cottage—where a party is in full swing, making things even more complicated. Dov, Salinger’s buddy, starts to seriously question where the missing guests are, and tensions rise (along with the number of bodies) when the cops arrive.

Foxfire (Ontario and Nunavut Region)
Canada-France coproduction (majority Canada)
Writer/director: Laurent Cantet
Production: Foxfire Productions (Canada) and Haut and Court SAS (France)
Distributor: Alliance Films

Upstate New York, 1953, a working-class neighborhood in a small town. In this violent post-war culture controlled by men, a group of headstrong teenage girls unite into a sisterhood of blood: they form the Foxfire gang, a secret female-only society, recognized by the flame tattoed on the back of its members’ shoulders. ‘Foxfire’ for pretty foxes, but also ‘Foxfire’ for fire and destruction. Legs, Maddy, Lana, Rita and Goldie cannot accept any longer to be humiliated and discriminated against for being poor, and being girls. Headed by the feisty Legs, the girls set on a trip for revenge, and try to pursue their impossible dream: living according to their own rules and laws, no matter what. But there’s a price to pay…

Still (Ontario and Nunavut Region)
Writer/director: Michael McGowan
Production: Mulmur Feed Company
Distributor: Mongrel Media

Still is the true story of Craig and Irene Morrison. Married for sixty-five years, Craig and Irene were still very much dedicated to each other and their family. They had lived most of their lives in the same house overlooking the Bay of Fundy, but now it was in serious need of repairs. Add to that fact Irene was now starting to show signs of dementia, and it was only a matter of time before their home would be unsuitable. Though Craig was nearly ninety, he decided to build the house himself. When he started, he never envisioned the obstacles he would confront. Still is the story of love, of independence and of dignity.

The Disappeared (Atlantic Region)
Writer/director: Shandi Mitchell
Production: Two Dories Film

Six men, two lifeboats, the fight of their lives. If they succeed, they live. If they fail, they die. They die together, lost and alone in the vast, unforgiving emptiness of the North Atlantic Ocean.