Actor Deragh Campbell stands for a photo on the red carpet during the Toronto International Film Festival press conference announcing the 2015 Canadian features and shorts lineup in Toronto on Wednesday, August 5, 2015.  Feature films from actors Campbell, Fab Filippo and Aaron Poole are among those getting support from Telefilm Canada.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

TORONTO - Feature films from actors Deragh Campbell, Fab Filippo and Aaron Poole are among those getting Telefilm support.

The federal agency says it's putting $12 million towards production of 29 English- and French-language, lower-budget features across Canada — a list that also includes a project from acclaimed filmmakers Hubert Davis and Kathleen Hepburn.

Campbell, who starred in the award-winning 2019 Canadian film "Anne at 13,000 Ft," co-wrote the drama "A Portrait" with frequent collaborator Sofia Bohdanowicz.

Bohdanowicz, whose previous projects include "Never Eat Alone" and "Maison du Bonheur," directs the Ontario and Quebec project.

Filippo, star and co-creator of the upcoming CBC series "Sort Of," directs the Ontario drama "The Time We Met" by screenwriter Jonas Chernick.

Poole, whose acting credits include the films "Disappearance at Clifton Hill" and "This Beautiful City," wrote and makes his feature directorial debut on the Ontario drama "DADA."

And Davis, nominated for an Oscar in 2005 for the short documentary "Hardwood," directs the Ontario drama "The Well."

The screenwriter is Hepburn, known for her acclaimed films "The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open" and "Never Steady, Never Still."

Other lower-budget films getting Telefilm support include the Nova Scotia drama "Three Schizophrenics Walk Out of a Bar" from writer-director Barrie Dunn, who helped develop the series "Trailer Park Boys," where he played Ray LaFleur.

Vanessa Matsui, creator and star of the web series "Ghost BFF," directs the Ontario drama "Midnight at the Paradise" from screenwriter Bill Robertson.

And Mackenzie Donaldson, producer of series including "Orphan Black" and "Snowpiercer," directs the Ontario drama "Whimper" by screenwriters Cheryl Meyer and Anthony Grant.

Thursday's funding announcement came a day after Telefilm said it achieved its 50 per cent gender parity target for financing films with women in key creative roles during the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The Crown corporation said of the films it financed in that period, 50 per cent had a woman as a producer, while 54 per cent had a woman as a screenwriter.

Fifty-four per cent of those films also had a woman as a director.

Seventy per cent of Telefilm-backed projects had at least one woman in one of those key creative roles over the year, similar to the average of the last three years.

And 54 per cent of funded projects had at least two women in key creative roles, higher than last year's results of 47 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2021.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2021