CFC and the National Film Board of Canada invite accomplished directors with new feature length documentary projects to take part in an immersive experience at the Canadian Film Centre commencing in January 2009 with the goal of developing the next successful Canadian theatrical documentary. 

The Feature Documentary Program’s ambition is to develop for production consideration original feature documentaries for Canadian and international cinema audiences.

Cinematic documentaries require a set of creative strategies to entice, engage, entertain and challenge audiences.  The skills necessary to achieve this will be reconsidered, reinvestigated and revitalized by participants in the Feature Documentary Program.  If you are an experienced Canadian documentary director with a great idea, you will want to join this unique program: a fertile incubator nurturing several new projects.  The creative process will be rigorous, the cinematic standards high.  

The Program combines an intensive residency at CFC with cycles of supported inquiry focused on, developing a treatment, and will include shooting and editing a demo to demonstrate the power of characters and proposed visual approach.

Specifically tailored to the precise needs of 4-6 successful applicants, the six month Feature Documentary Program focuses on personal guidance from some of Canada and the world’s greatest documentary minds.  Four 3-day sessions (in January, February, April, June 2009) at CFC will feature hands-on workshops, screenings and debate. These sessions will be reinforced with on-going support throughout the six month program from recognized experts in creative and craft categories. Residents will benefit from on-going dialogue with session leaders who have been purposely selected to complement individual projects. The goal is not academic enlightenment but the direct and creative application of the best practices that the documentary world has to offer Feature Documentary Program projects.

Program curriculum will be customized to the unique creative challenges posed by the selected projects. The program will focus on the unique cinematic challenges of theatrical documentary and include an in-depth investigation of topics such as effective research, shooting for the big screen, approaches to structure, effective storytelling, sound design, editing and emerging digital technology. Session leaders will be familiar with participants’ proposals, and there will be ongoing reference to these projects. 

Each successful applicant will receive a full scholarship (valued at $5,500). In addition, commitments of cash and services to support development of individual project will be considered.

The program is designed around one-on-one guidance from the directors, producers, and craftspeople involved in the program.  Residents will be required to continually develop and enhance his/her own project through concentrated contact with top professionals and their peers. It is a practical, demanding and results-oriented program of development, designed to reflect the needs of the chosen participants and to mirror and enhance the real-world documentary development process. 

This is a program for directors, not producers.  It aims to strengthen and support unique directorial voices in the feature-length form.

Supplementing a formidable pool of directorial talent, specific highly-experienced individuals who represent positions that are essential to the documentary filmmaking process will also play a role, among this group: producers, researchers, writers, directors of photography, sound engineers, editors, composers, video-post production engineers, and other industry professionals.

Participants’ projects will be reviewed for production consideration at the conclusion of the Documentary Program.  The National Film Board will have an option to produce or co-produce  one or more projects.  

Ultimately the CFC/NFB Feature Documentary Program aims to provide an incubator for talented directors with viable theatrical documentary ideas and the goal of seeing one or more of those projects become Canadian theatrical documentary successes.