Reel Canada (stylized as REEL CANADA) is a non-profit organization based in Toronto dedicated to the presentation of Canadian films in Canadian schools. It is the organization behind National Canadian Film Day, an event in April, inaugurated in 2014.

History

Reel Canada was founded in 2005 by

Jack Blum Jack Blum is a Canadian writer, producer, director, story editor, actor, educator and communications consultant based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With his longtime partner Sharon Corder, he has written and produced more than fifty hours of telev ...

and

Sharon Corder Sharon Corder is an American writer, producer, and educator based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With her husband Jack Blum, she has written and produced more than fifty hours of television drama for both Canadian and American broadcasters. In 2005, B ...

along with a committee of filmmakers and other prominent members of the Canadian film and TV industry, including

Colm Feore Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of ...

and

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; hy, Աթոմ Եղոյեան, translit=Atom Yeghoyan; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in the 1980s from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. Egoyan m ...

. The organization was conceived as a way to engage young people in Canadian arts and culture and build an audience for Canadian film by bringing those films to high school classrooms. To date, the organization has held over 1000 screenings across the country, expanding to include

ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...

screenings to new Canadians through a program called "Welcome to Canada" and National Canadian Film Day.

National Canadian Film Day

Beginning in 2014 and held every April, National Canadian Film Day is an effort to promote Canadian film across Canada through synchronized screenings, events, and panel discussions. The inaugural event, held April 29, 2014, was officially recognized in the House of Commons of Canada. The 2017 edition, a special sesquicentennial celebration, is on April 19, 2017. In 2019, the organization held the sixth annual National Canadian Film Day (NCFD) celebrating 100 years of Canadian cinema, with more than 1,000 events held in 600 Canadian communities and 25 countries. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

, the 2020 edition of National Canadian Film Day was staged online, including film screenings on various streaming video on demand platforms and television channels, and a four-hour livestreamed broadcast featuring interviews with Canadian actors and filmmakers. The hosts of the livestream, Ali Hassan and

Peter Keleghan Peter Keleghan is a Canadian actor and writer, perhaps best known for portraying Ben Bellow in the comedy series ''18 to Life'', Clark Claxton Sr. in the comedy series '' Billable Hours'' and Ranger Gord in '' The Red Green Show''. Currently has ...

, received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...

nomination for Best Host in a Web Program or Series at the

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...

in 2021. In 2022, for the first time a National Canadian Film Day event was held outside Canada, with professor Brad Warren and his Canadian wife Tanja organizing a screening of the films '' Indian Horse'', '' My Internship in Canada (Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre)'', ''

The Red Violin ''The Red Violin'' (french: Le Violon Rouge) is a 1998 drama film directed by François Girard and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Carlo Cecchi and Sylvia Chang. It spans four centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious red-co ...

'' and ''

Bon Cop, Bad Cop ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop'' is a 2006 Canadian dark comedy-thriller buddy cop film about two police officers – one Ontarian and one Québécois – who reluctantly join forces to solve a murder. The dialogue is a mixture of English and French. The t ...

'' at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

in Conway,

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

."Why a South Carolina university is hosting a Canadian film festival"
''

As It Happens ''As It Happens'' is a Canadian interview show that airs on CBC Radio One in Canada and various public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio Exchange. Its 50th anniversary was celebrated on-air on November 16, 2018. It has bee ...

'', April 20, 2022.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.reelcanada.ca/ Film organizations in Canada Arts organizations established in 2005 Non-profit organizations based in Toronto