Reel Canada

Reel Canada was founded in 2005 by Jack Blum and Sharon Corder{{cite web|last1=Gorber|first1=Jason|title=It's National Canadian Film Day|url=http://torontofilmcritics.com/features/its-national-canadian-film-day/|website=torontofilmcritics.com|date=29 April 2015 |accessdate=29 January 2016|ref=4}} along with a committee of filmmakers and other prominent members of the Canadian film and TV industry, including Colm Feore{{cite web|last1=Jancelewicz|first1=Chis|title=Colm Feore, Canadian Actor, talks TIFF Spotlight and his Vast Career|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/28/colm-feore-interview-tiff-2014_n_5625021.html|website=Huffington Post|date=28 July 2014 |accessdate=2 February 2016}} and Atom Egoyan.{{cite web|last1=Egoyan|first1=Atom|title=Biography of Atom Egoyan|url=http://www.egofilmarts.com/bio.html|website=Ego Film Arts|accessdate=2 February 2016}} 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.{{Cite web|title = CTV Toronto {{!}} News Video - Latest Toronto News Headlines, Breaking News and Live Reports|url = http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.2226566|website = toronto.ctvnews.ca|access-date = 2016-02-02}}{{cite web|last1=DeMara|first1=Bruce|title=Canadian movies now playing in school gyms|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/02/16/canadian_movies_now_playing_in_school_gyms.html|website=The Toronto Star|date=16 February 2007 |accessdate=29 January 2016}} To date, the organization has held over 1000 screenings across the country, expanding to include ESL screenings to new Canadians through a program called "Welcome to Canada" and National Canadian Film Day.{{cite web|title=Canadian Film Day 2015|url=http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/canadian-film-day-2015|website=Point of View|accessdate=29 January 2016|ref=5}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Crouse|first1=Richard|title=National Canadian Film Day: What homegrown cinema lovers can expect on|url=http://www.metronews.ca/views/in-focus-richard-crouse/2014/04/24/national-canadian-film-day-what-homegrown-cinema-lovers-can-expect-on-april-29.html|website=Toronto Metro|publisher=Free Daily News Group Inc.|accessdate=2 February 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Monk|first1=Katherine|title=Canadian Film Day celebrates with 44 homegrown movies|url=http://o.canada.com/entertainment/movies/canadian-film-day-celebrates-with-44-homegrown-movies|website=canada.com|accessdate=2 February 2016}} The inaugural event, held April 29, 2014, was officially recognized in the House of Commons of Canada.{{Cite web|title = Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 076 (Official Version)|url = http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=6549050|website = www.parl.gc.ca|access-date = 2016-02-03}} The 2017 edition, a special sesquicentennial celebration, is on April 19, 2017.{{cite web|title=National Canadian Film Day|url=http://canadianfilmday.ca|website=National Canadian Film Day|accessdate=29 January 2016|ref=6}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-happy-national-canadian-film-day-heres-what-you-should-be/|title=Happy National Canadian Film Day! Here's what you should be celebrating and worrying about this year|last=Hertz|first=Barry|date=April 17, 2019|work=The Globe and Mail}}

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, 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.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cdn-film-day-virtual-1.5540038 "Canuck movies to be celebrated virtually on National Canadian Film Day"]. CBC News, April 21, 2020. The hosts of the livestream, Ali Hassan and Peter Keleghan, received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Host in a Web Program or Series at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.Brent Furdyk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210330100408/https://etcanada.com/news/762146/television-nominees-announced-for-2021-canadian-screen-awards-schitts-creek-leads-the-pack-with-21-nominations/ "Television Nominees Announced For 2021 Canadian Screen Awards, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Leads The Pack With 21 Nominations"]. ET Canada, March 30, 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 and Bon Cop, Bad Cop at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.[https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.6425253/why-a-south-carolina-university-is-hosting-a-canadian-film-festival-1.6425256 "Why a South Carolina university is hosting a Canadian film festival"]. As It Happens, April 20, 2022.

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.reelcanada.ca/}}

Category:Film organizations in Canada

Category:Arts organizations established in 2005

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Toronto