MFM Newsletter - October 2026 | Manitoba Film and Music

Dear friends and colleagues,

Breakout West was held in Victoria earlier this month, and it was incredible. Our Music Programs Director, Stephen Carroll was there and said the Manitoba artists who showcased delivered outstanding performances. Plus, several MFM-funded artists and producers were among the winners of the Western Canadian Music Awards.

The JUNOS are just six months away – follow our Instagram for an exciting announcement on Nov. 9. If you're an artist hoping to be a part of the JUNO Awards, check out From Submission to Spotlight: Navigating the JUNO Awards (Nov. 9). RSVP is required. Our CEO Lynne recently spoke about the process of bringing the JUNOS to Winnipeg at the Tourism Talks summit held by Winnipeg Economic Development and Tourism - see pictures from the event here. IMG_5083.jpg (159 KB)

Lynne and Steven Foster also made a trip to NYC, where they met with producers with projects for Winnipeg and attended Roll Call: Workforce Development for Film Commissioners put on by Bloomberg Media and MNN. They even spotted Manitoba's Summer H. Howell on a billboard in Times Square. (Check out Summer's interview about the Carrie season 1 finale.)

Untitled Design.png (417 KB) We are proud to have announced the recipients of our inaugural Manitoba Indigenous Short Film Fund. Chosen projects include: The Thing Is (Jessie J. Willard, Paige Frost), Soulless (Tyshana Hobson, J.J. Neepin), and ‘POUF’ (Junior Whitefish, Oliver Darrius Merrick King (ODMK), Charlene Moore). Learn more about their projects here.

Anything you want to add to our newsletter? We can’t include everything, but we certainly try! Please send your news to info@mbfilmmsic.ca before the 15th (subject line: Newsletter).

~From the team at MFM

Elena Sturk-Lussier on winning the Prix Gémeaux de la relève (Emerging Talent Award)

Elena Sturk-Lussier-Gemeaux - Copy.jpg (47 KB)

At the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s gala in Montreal on September 13, Manitoban Elena Sturk-Lussier received a high honour: the Prix Gémeaux de la relève (Emerging Talent Award) for local production Les faillites d'Astrid. Elena was the first Manitoban to be awarded the prize. We talked to her about her career, the awards, and what’s next.

How did Les faillites d'Astrid come to be, and what role did you play?

I first wrote Les faillites d’Astrid during an online screenwriting course during the pandemic, put it in the proverbial drawer, and took it out three years later to submit it to the Independent Production Fund’s short form series development program. It’s a series based on my own, and many others’, experience moving back in with my parents as an adult and feeling like a failure. I wrote and directed the entire series.

What was the most ‘Manitoba’ or ‘Winnipeg’ moment you experienced while filming?

We filmed the entire series within a two square kilometer radius — all within St-Boniface. We filmed in real places that are important to our community. Probably the most Winnipeg, or Francophone community moment during shooting was when we shot at the Festival du Voyageur. Folks kept coming up to crew members to say hi — we just kept running into people we knew from the community!

You’re the first Manitoban to win this award and said, “Vive le Manitoba!” in your acceptance speech. Tell us how Manitoba plays a part in your story.

Manitoba plays such a huge part in my career and in the stories I tell. I mostly work in French — the Francophone community has given me many opportunities and continues to support and promote my work. I’m so grateful to them. Not only do I tell stories based in my community, but many of them are set in the Manitoban wilderness: our prairies and lakes and forests have deeply impacted me.

MFM was a funder of an earlier project – Slurp – tell me a bit about that project. Where can people find that?

Slurp is a short gastronomic thriller shot at my parents’ cabin on Lake Manitoba, made by an entirely women and non-binary cast and crew. We all slept over at the cabin and my mother came to help me cook the meals for everyone. I was able to try out some food horror sequences and just had so much fun doing it. The film has finished its small festival run and is available on my Vimeo page.

You shared a demo for a future project called Le Garage – tell us what’s next?

Yes! I once again received development funding from the Independent Production Fund to develop a new short-form series called Le Garage. Just like Les faillites d’Astrid, the series is in French and set in St-Boniface. It’s about a young woman trying to revive her community’s crumbling dive bar — based on the real Garage Café, formerly on Provencher — and each episode is told from the perspective of a different employee.

Otherwise, I’m in the financing stage for my first feature film.

MFM is proud to have supported Elena (and Sturk Films); we supported Les faillites d'Astrid through our Television and Web-Based Development Fund and Television and Web-Based Production Fund, Slurp through our Grant Program for Emerging Talent, and the development of Le Garage through our Television and Web-Based Development Fund, with Ninis Productions Inc. We can’t wait to see what’s next!

Spotlight on MFM’s Indigenous: IMPACT music funding program

Brandi Vezina.jpg (54 KB) Indigenous: IMPACT (Incubator Music Program Audio Content Touring) is a funding and mentorship program designed to assist new and emerging Manitoba-based Indigenous artists launch a broad range of music initiatives to develop their careers.

Successful applicants to the IMPACT program will receive a funding award (up to $5,000 for level 1, $10,000 for level 2) and will be paired with an Indigenous mentor. Mentors can help with content creation, recording, video production, live concerts or promotion.

Métis country music artist Brandi Vezina participated in the 2024-25 IMPACT program. She worked with IMPACT program mentor Jerry Sereda on developing her career further, and headed out on tour with funds from the program.

“I’m grateful the IMPACT grant allowed me to diversify my business model and helped me gain confidence booking my own tours while promoting new music. Maarsii MFM for the opportunity to grow and evolve in this business,” says Vezina.

MFM has supported Vezina’s career through our Promote program, which helped fund Brandi and Scott Nolan’s video for “Paper Town”.

Indigenous: IMPACT application deadline: Thursday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m.

Learn more about how to apply on our website. If you have any questions, please contact our music programs department.

Music Programs

Indigenous: IMPACT (Deadline: Nov. 12)

Produce Program (Deadline: Jan. 21, 2027)

Produce (Out-of-Province Artists) Program (Deadline: Jan. 21, 2027)

Promote Program (Open now)

Perform Program (Open now)

Film & TV Financing

Upcoming Manitoba Film & Video Tax Credit changes

Feature Film Development Fund

Television and Web-Based Development Fund

Pitch Readiness Program for Multi-Episode Productions

All Film & TV Financing and Tax Credits

BRAVO

847679765_18666723535002034_1616672642607731622_n.jpg (83 KB) Ande Brown’s Half-Naked won Best Emerging Short Film at the Reel Pride Film Festival, screened at the Toronto Independent Film Festival, and will screen at the Nottingham Film Festival in the UK (Nov. 23-29). MFM funded the film through our Grant Program for Emerging Talent.

Several Manitoba (and MFM-supported) artists have been nominated for the Canadian Folk Music Awards – see the full list.

Ila Barker chosen for the AE West Artist Entrepreneur Program.

Ian Bawa’s Strong Son won three Canadian Feature Awards at IFFSA Toronto - Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor (Mandeep Sodhi), and received a Special Mention at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

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Little House on the Prairie announces new cast members for season 2 as production wraps.

Tinge and Kwiat participate in CBC and SOCAN’s Reverie Indigenous Music Residency.

Producer Karen Tusa spoke with Steinbach Online about shooting The Diabetic Kitchen’s second season across southeastern Manitoba.

Angeline Javier chosen as a part of the 2026 Unsung Voices’ Summer Youth Video Production Workshop. Her short film, Route 16, will premiere at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival on Nov. 15. MFM supported the film through our Grant Program for Emerging Talent.

Tim Riedel, Fawnda Neckoway and Edmon Rotea received the Outstanding Feature Film Producer Award at Reelworld Film Festival for Ancestral Beasts.

Sundown awarded the silver Audience Award at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.

Watch

Acting Good (Season 5) - CTV *The fifth and final season the longest-running Manitoba-shot series

Nuisance Bear (trailer) *Feature documentary opens in Canada Dec. 4.

Universal Language (film, dir. Matthew Rankin) - CBC Gem

Rich Kid (film) - Amazon Prime

ICED: The Lost History of Hockey (documentary, dir. Will Jones) - Manitoba Documentary Archive (MBDA)

The Wild Turkey Experiment, (documentary, dir. John Whiteway) - MBDA

Cool Sweepings (series) - Bell Fibe TV1 (Oct. 30)

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