This year’s edition of CBC’s Short Film Face-Off will feature a film produced in the NWT.
BAIT! from director Keith Robertson, has been selected to represent the northern territories as one of nine finalists in this year’s competition.
Each episode in the TV series features three short films which are screened and then critiqued in person by panelists from Canada’s film and media industry. Once a final three films are selected, the overall winner is then chosen by viewers.
The winning filmmaker receives a prize to use towards the creation of their next short film, which will be licenced for broadcast by the CBC.
Robertson’s BAIT! was originally created for the Dead North Film Festival in 2017 and was chosen to be part of a Canadian Short Film programme at Cannes later that year. It has since screened at the Available Light Film Festival in Whitehorse.
In the film, an ice-fisherman drops his bait in the water but soon finds himself being lured by something beneath the surface.
This isn’t the first time an NWT film was featured in the CBC series. Painted Girl, a film by Yellowknife filmmaker Jen Walden, was part of the competition in 2016.
For a full listing of this year’s CBC Short Film Face-Off selections, visit this link: http://www.cbc.ca/shortfilmfaceoff
Scott Clouthier is a filmmaker, editor and colourist based in Hay River, NWT. He is a former Vice President and Executive Director of the NWTPMA.