MONTREAL – Telefilm Canada is increasing its support for Indigenous filmmakers, a move that follows on the heels of its gender parity initiatives unveiled last November.
Starting in April, the feature film production and marketing financing made available for creators from Canada’s Indigenous communities will increase to $4 million annually over the next five years. Telefilm also said that it will create a jury process, with Indigenous representation, for project recommendations (while respecting conflict of interest policies), plus committed to hiring staff from Indigenous communities.
Executive director Carolle Brabant said the initiative was developed in collaboration with the industry and the Indigenous community.
“It is clear that we need to do more to support the impressive breadth of Indigenous talent in our country,” Brabant said in the news release. “And in terms of demand, Canada’s Indigenous population is young and growing fast. As well, with greater desire amongst audiences for quality content on different platforms, there is growing interest in Indigenous content, nationally and internationally.”
