The Theatrical Documentary Program (the “Program”) supports Canadian production companies at the production and/or postproduction stage of their feature-length documentary projects aimed primarily at theatrical audiences. The guiding principles of the Program are to invest in:
- theatrical documentary films that will speak to Canadian and international audiences, and that will bring both cultural impact and audience engagement. Telefilm seeks to fund theatrical documentaries that will be available to audiences through theatrical, festival and community releases, and that will build and contribute to our Canadian cultural legacy.
- filmmakers with a strong sensibility and perspective who will bring original voices and approaches and will advance cinematic expression.
- emerging and established filmmakers to support them in advancing their artistic career through ambitious and impactful films.
- greater equity and representation in storytelling, that reflects gender parity and diversity from various
communities including Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, Gender-diverse
identities and expressions, as well as People with Disabilities, from all regions of the country. - creative teams from Official Language Minority Communities and those situated outside the main production centres of Toronto and Montreal.
- Indigenous content that is produced by creators who are Indigenous and/or have engaged in meaningful
research, collaboration, and cooperation with Indigenous communities impacted by their projects. - creative teams who are from underrepresented communities or who have engaged in meaningful research, collaboration, and cooperation with the communities impacted by their projects.
- content creation that helps advance sustainable production practices and that encourages environmental responsibility.
Resources within the Canada Feature Film Fund (“CFFF”) are allocated on a linguistic basis which maintains approximately one third of funding for French-language projects