No love from Canada

The folk festivals in Canada may love The Grandmaster, but obviously the Canada Council for the Arts does not. Or at least they don't love my documentary.

Last year I asked the CCA for $16,000 to shoot my film. They said no. But thanks to a $4000 grant from Cinergia I got enough cash to at least cover most of my out of pocket costs. That allowed me to still shoot my doc. Of course it meant I've been basically working for free on this thing, but hey it's a labour of love, right?

So this year I felt confident that if I showed the CCA how I was able to shoot enough material for a great documentary, with virtually no budget, then for sure they would want to get behind me with support for post-production. Right?

Wrong.

I got the PFA letter from CCA again. And this time they made sure to point out that my project has been turned down twice, so not to bother them again until I have a different project to submit.

The deadline for Cinergia is coming up at the end of July. So before I leave for Canada I will submit a grant application for post-production to them and hope that once again I'll find the love in Central America that escapes me in the country of my birth.