TVO announces exclusive sponsorship of Hot Docs' Canadian Spectrum Screening Program

Smoke Traders, powerful TVO-commissioned documentary on the 'contraband' cigarette trade from the Mohawk perspective selected for Hot Docs

TORONTO, April 20, 2012 /CNW/ - TVO, Ontario's public educational media organization and proud supporter of Canadian documentary filmmaking, is pleased to partner with Hot Docs as the exclusive sponsor of the Canadian Spectrum Screening Program. This partnership will raise awareness of the important role TVO plays in supporting documentary filmmaking and Ontario's independent production industry.

"We're very excited to be partnering with Hot Docs to continue to highlight the importance of documentary filmmaking in Ontario," says Jane Jankovic, TVO's commissioning editor. "Through this new relationship, two like-minded organizations that share a belief in the power of documentary filmmaking will work together to help people better understand the world we live in."

Hot Docs is North America's largest documentary film festival, attracting over 150,000 audience members primarily from Ontario. TVO's exclusive sponsorship of the Canadian Spectrum showcases the very best in Canadian documentary cinema from the past year and is consistently the most popular screening program of the Festival. All films in the program are eligible for the Best Canadian Feature and Special Jury Prize Awards. Hot Docs takes place April 26 - May 6, 2012.

"TVO's commitment to documentary film and its generous support of the Canadian Spectrum program at this year's Festival is greatly appreciated," says Hot Docs executive director Chris McDonald. "With such vital partners Hot Docs can continue to excel in our mission to showcase and support the incredible work of Canadian documentary filmmakers."

TVO also champions documentary filmmaking all year round with Doc Studio. TVO created the Doc Studio website to help foster Ontario's emerging filmmaking community. A platform to showcase documentary filmmakers and their work, it also acts as a learning community that supports point-of-view filmmaking. Visitors to docstudio.tvo.org will find full-length videos of documentaries by some of Canada's best auteur filmmakers, interviews by directors and the industry's top names, and will be able to participate in forums with other documentary enthusiasts and filmmakers to exchange ideas on their craft.

TVO at Hot Docs 2012:

Smoke Traders - The TVO-commissioned Smoke Traders has been selected for Hot Docs 2012. Peabody Award-winning Rezolution Pictures and Ontario director Jeff Dorn have produced an extraordinary documentary over a three year span. An ensemble of characters traffic cigarettes across the river separating the Ontario-Quebec border with the U.S. lands of the Akwesasne Territory. It's highly lucrative and has brought many Mohawk communities out of poverty and into wealth - they won't give up easily. With the Mohawk Nation controlling 50 per cent of the cigarette trade in Eastern Canada, Canadian authorities aren't happy about the taxes eluding them. Canada calls it illegal. Mohawks call it good business.

Thursday, May 3 at 9 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lighbox 3
Friday, May 4 at 3:45 p.m. at the Cumberland 2

Ping Pong (produced in association with TVO) - Pensioners from across the world meet in Inner Mongolia to compete in the over-80s table tennis championships. The portrait of eight determined characters from all over the world takes us from their lives back home, with training schedules that rival athletes a quarter of their age, to the fiercely competitive arena and what is possibly their last chance for glory. A true story of the power of the human spirit, Ping Pong offers funny, moving and inspiring stories of battling it out on the table.

Sunday, April 29 at 4 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre
Wednesday, May 2 at 1:30 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre
Sunday, May 6 at 1:15 p.m. at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

The Mystery of Mazo de la Roche (produced in association with TVO) - Mazo de la Roche was one of the most successful women writers of the 20th century. Her novel Jalna, the dramatic story of a family dynasty in northern Ontario, skyrocketed her to international fame in 1927 when she won a major literary prize. Despite her fame, her private life remained a mystery. Beautifully shot and edited, the film transitions between lush fictional scenes that speculate about her private life, to literary archives and interviews, her biographers and acclaimed writers.

Sunday, April 29 at 4:45 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Monday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre
Sunday, May 6 at 4:15 p.m. at the Cumberland 3

The World Before Her (produced in association with TVO) - Twenty hand-picked contestants for the Miss India pageant enter an intense month-long beauty boot camp in Bombay. Winning the coveted title means instant stardom, a lucrative career and freedom from the constraints of a patriarchal society. In another corner of India, young girls undergo physical combat training and learn how to be obedient Hindu women at a camp run by the women's branch of the militant fundamentalist movement. Director Nisha Pauja gained extraordinary access to women and their families living in two very different worlds—it's the first time a camera has been allowed into the fundamentalist camp—to craft a brilliant film that captures the choices and contradictions facing young women in India today.

Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre
Saturday, May 5 at 9:30 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lighbox 1
Sunday, May 6 at 11 a.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre

For more information visit hotdocs.ca

About TVO

TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. TVO is funded primarily by the Province of Ontario and is a registered charity supported by sponsors and thousands of donors. For more information, visit tvo.org

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Media contact:

Marco Ouji
TVO Communications
416.484.2600 x 2305
[email protected]