Toronto ON – documentary, CBC’s digital channel, and the Documentary Organization of Canada | l’Association des documentaristes du Canada (DOC) are pleased to announce the recipients for the first edition of their documentary apprenticeship program—Giving Voice: Filmmakers Working with Filmmakers. The program, funded by documentary, is the extension of DOC’s widely attended public Masters’ Speaker Series: Filmmakers Talking to Filmmakers.
For this first edition, documentary and DOC are especially delighted with the group of master filmmakers who have stepped forward to guide the successful apprentices.
“This is exactly what we set out to achieve with the program,” explained Lisa Fitzgibbons, executive director of DOC, “to match promising, dynamic candidates with successful and skilled documentary filmmakers and producers. These mentors are highly regarded by their professional peers and will provide a valuable working experience to those eager to take on new roles within documentary production.”
Aisling Chin-Yee will be honing her producer skills under the guidance of one of Canada’s most promising, up-and-coming producers, John Christou and his production house, Prospector Films. In addition to a big slate of upcoming new releases, Christou is known for his role as development producer on Brett Gaylor’s RIP: A Remix Manifesto and as producer on Yung Chang’s feature documentary Up the Yangtze.
Michael Dayan has been accepted as an apprentice by producer Audrey Mehler to work closely with her at Vancouver’s Paperny Films. Co-founder of the company in 1994, Mehler has directed, produced and executive produced quality programs and series such as The Boys of Buchenwaldand Love Shines.
Susannah Heath-Eves will assist internationally renowned director Yung Chang on his latest venture, The Fruit Hunters, an NFB co-production for CBC-TV’s The Nature of Things. Chang has received accolades all over the world for his masterful cinematic portrayal of challenging social issues including a Genie Award for Best Documentary and an Emmy nomination for Best Cinematography for his work on Up the Yangtze.
Julien Fréchette will be working closely with human rights documentarian Patricio Henriquez on the completion of his current project on El Salvadoran journalist and filmmaker Victor Regalado. Henriquez, through his production company Macumba International, is known for unflinching social justice documentary works such as Under the Hood, a Voyage into the World of Torture and his recent release on the detention of Omar Khadr, You Don’t Like the Truth, 4 Days inside Guantanamo.
Giving Voice: Filmmakers Working with Filmmakers is designed for documentary professionals transitioning to the next stage of their career and is constructed as an exchange where both parties benefit from the experience. The masters benefit by having passionate and creative professionals to work with, while the apprentices have access to the breadth of experience of artists having earned critical acclaim and established their voice in documentary. The chosen apprentices will work with the masters for a period of four months during production.
The second application round is open immediately and scheduled to close June 10, 2011. Announcements regarding the next recipient pairs are expected in early July. Master-apprentice pairs can get more information at http://docorg.ca/en/giving-voice-filmmakers-working-filmmakers
About documentary
documentary is a digital television channel devoted to showing the best documentaries from Canada and around the world – from legendary filmmakers like D.A. Pennebaker and the Maysles brothers, as well as from the archives of its partners, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and The National Film Board. With its special emphasis on feature length films, watching documentary is like having a cinema in your own living room, showing award-winning films 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
About DOC
The Documentary Organization of Canada | L’Association des documentaristes du Canada (DOC) is a bilingual national arts service organization dedicated to supporting the art of independent documentary filmmaking in Canada. It offers member services, professional development, networking events, and collective representation through advocacy. DOC believes that its members and their work play an essential role in Canadian society by promoting the expression of diverse viewpoints on social, political, and cultural realities, thus fostering reflection and debate. DOC advances the documentary genre by supporting artists wanting to develop their craft.
