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D Films Canadian distributor on Tiff selections from Serendipity Point Films and Distant Horizon

Santa Monica-base Myriad Pictures heads to Afm with slate additions Through Black Spruce and Clara, both of which premiered in Toronto last month.

Kirk D’Amico and his team will launch international sales on Don McKellar’s Through Black Spruce (main picture), which tells of a young First Nations woman whose twin sister sets out to find her after she disappears, forcing a clash between the Northern Ontario community she fled years ago, and Toronto, where she modelled before vanishing.

The drama stars Tanaya Beatty, Brandon Oakes,...

Future scholars of the Cultural Appropriation Wars of the late 2010s are going to find a lot to talk about with Don McKellar’s “Through Black Spruce,” a film produced by a Cree woman (Tina Keeper) and directed by a white Canadian man that deals explicitly with sexism and Indigenous issues, and is based on a book by novelist Joseph Boyden whose own First Nations identity has recently come under dispute. More casual viewers, however, are going to wonder where all that offscreen drama went, and how it can possibly have translated into such low-blood-sugar lethargy. Ostensibly a First Nations riff on the perennially popular missing-girl genre, “Through Black Spruce” is a disengaged slog that confines its poetry to a title that nonetheless remains appropriate in one key way: The film creaks like it’s made of wood.

The cast, however, appropriately featuring indigenous actors playing the indigenous roles, is not to blame.

Yesterday, the ceremony of the Writers Guild of Canada Awards was hosted by comedian Debra Digiovanni. During that night, the winners, who work either in the film or television industry, were revealed.

Dishing out the awards were special guest presenters including Yannick Bisson (Murdoch Mysteries), Kristin Booth (Crackie, Young People Fucking), Inga Cadranel (The Bridge, Rent-a-Goalie), Enrico Colantoni (Flashpoint), and screenwriters Mark Farrell (Corner Gas, Dan for Mayor), Michael McGowan (Saint Ralph, One Week), Jennifer Pertsch (6Teen, Total Drama Island), Christin Simms (Captain Flamingo, Dino Dan), Shelley Eriksen (ReGenesis) and Leila Basen & David Preston (Heartland).

Now, without further ado, let's present the winners.

Animation:

Total Drama Action - “The Sand Witch Project”

Written by Shelley Scarrow

Children & Preschool:

Max and Ruby - “Max Says Goodbye”

Written by Kate Barris

Documentary:

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet – 40 Years of One Night Stands

Narration written by Robert Lower

Episodic half-hour:

Less Than Kind -...

The Writers Guild of Canada (Wgc) just announced the finalists for the Wgc Screenwriting Awards. Those finalists come from the industry of television, filmmaking and web series. Besides, comedian Debra Digiovanni will host the 14th Annual Wgc Screenwriting Awards on April 19, 2010.

So, the finalists are...

Animation:

* Grossology - "New Recruits." Written by Richard Clark.

* Total Drama Action - "Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen." Written by Alex Ganetakos.

* League of Super Evil - “Glory Hog." Written by Philippe Ivanusic-Vallee and Davila LeBlanc

* Total Drama Action - "The Sand Witch Project." Written by Shelley Scarrow.

Children & Preschool

* Max and Ruby - "Max Says Goodbye." Written by Kate Barris.

* Max and Ruby - "Ruby's Good Neighbor Report." Written by Shelley Hoffman & Robert Pincombe.

* Zigby - "Zigby's Collection." Written by Louise Moon

Documentary:

* Malls R Us (Feature Version). Written by Helene Klodawsky.

* The Royal Winnipeg Ballet - 40 Years of One Night Stands. Narration Written by Robert Lower.