REEL CANADA

In 2005, REEL CANADA brought its travelling festival of Canadian film into six Toronto high schools. Today, we respond to 2500 teacher requests per year and run a national day celebrating Canadian cinema that reaches millions. How the heck did that happen?

What started as a need to validate the strength of Canadian film took on a whole other life. While we succeeded in proving that the toughest critics – high school students – could fall in love with Canadian cinema, the programme also demonstrated that Canadian film has the power to shape people’s shared sense of culture, identity and history. That it can help foster an inclusive community, and unite a nation.

REEL CANADA continues to expand its programming to reach all of the audiences that can benefit from seeing themselves and their neighbours reflected on-screen – from youth to newcomers, to seniors and everyone in between.

This means we also work toward a bright future for the Canadian film industry, and help would-be filmmakers and other industry professionals find the right pathways for themselves to train and work right at home.

More