‘Riceboy Sleeps’ Award; NFTS & Netflix Black Scholarship – Briefs – Deadline

Lawrence Cortez

‘Riceboy Sleeps’ wins Best Canadian Film Award
Anthony Shims Riceboy is sleeping has won Canada’s biggest film prize, the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. The award, decided by the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA), comes with a cash prize of CAN$100,000 ($72,000). Riceboy is sleeping beat the nominated Clement Virgos Brother and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future. The semi-autobiographical film explores the challenges of living between two cultures through the story of a Korean immigrant single mother raising her son in Canada. Shot in the Greater Vancouver area and Korea, the film had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, winning the Platform Award, and subsequently played in Busan and a number of other festivals. The win comes as Toronto-based distributor Game Theory Films gears up for the title’s Canadian release on March 17. The feature will also be released in Korea, Singapore and the US in the coming months. “The Toronto film community has been so good to us since TIFF where this crazy journey began and I hope to make more films in the future that will warrant the same kind of support,” commented Shim.

NFTS and Netflix re-team on grants for black British women
The National Film and Television School (NFTS) has teamed up with Netflix to launch the second year of applications for its Cinematography Scholarship for Black British Women. The scholarship, fully supported by Netflix, funds the recipient’s two years of study costs on the NFTS cinematography course and includes a stipend for annual living expenses. Filmmakers Ndrika Anyika and Lami Okrekson were the first recipients, and began their studies at NFTS in January 2023. Applications for 2024 are now open. Fiona Lamptey, director of UK features at Netflix, announced the news: “True diversity in film gives us a range of perspectives, it challenges us to see familiar things differently, to tell stories in new ways through alternative points of view. We are delighted to continue our work with the National Film and Television School this International Women’s Day to increase equality and representation behind the camera.”

Modern films mark International Women’s Day with the launch of a new digital space
Eve Gabereau’s innovative UK indie distributor Modern Films has launched a mixed media digital space called The Modern Line. The aim of the site is to create connections between current filmmakers and new releases on the Modern Films chart with past filmmakers in the library, via podcasts, text, images, music, moving images and personal stories from filmmakers about the inspiration behind their films. The site had a soft launch in February with a podcast featuring writer-director Emily Atef in conversation with filmmaker Lisa Rovner (Sisters with transistors), to mark the UK release of her film More than ever. The film now officially launches with a special International Women’s Day focus on female-identifying filmmakers, profiling them and asking who inspires them, what is their advice to young filmmakers and what is their creative process and bible. Participants include Jacqueline Lentzou (Moon, 66 questions), Posy Dixon (Keyboard Fantasys), Zeina Durra (Luxor) and Dina Amer (You look like me).

The Tim Burton Expo heads to Italy
Globetrotting ‘The World Of Tim Burton’ exhibition has been commissioned by Italy’s National Cinema Museum. The show will run for six months from October 2023 to April 2024, against the backdrop of the museum’s dramatic Mole Antonelliana architectural landmark. Burton will also give a masterclass during this period. He follows in the wake of recent guests of honor Kevin Spacey and Isabella Rossellini. Drawn from Burton’s personal archive, the show comprises around 500 items relating to his work. Since its creation in 2014, the show has visited a dozen countries and is currently on display at Pavilion Bukit Jalil in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumper. “It will be wonderful to see how Tim Burton’s colorful and whimsical world will fit into the magical space of the Mole Antonelliana,” said museum director Domenico De Gaetano.