On April 20^th celebrate Canada's 149^th birthday through homegrown cinema

TORONTO, March 10, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, REEL CANADA announced that National Canadian Film Day (NCFD), the one-day, coast-to-coast celebration of Canadian film, will return for a third year on Wednesday, April 20, 2016. It's a day to sit back in your seat, take off your toque, and have some FUN. Presented with the generous support of Cineplex Entertainment and CBC, NCFD is a day for all Canadians to celebrate Canada by watching a great Canadian film.  This year, NCFD will hold more than 250 public and private events across the country, and increase access to Canadian film across all major platforms - in-theatre, broadcast and online - in celebration of Canada's 149^th birthday!

"This is a party for all Canadians - everyone is invited and there are lots of ways to celebrate," said Jack Blum, Executive Director, REEL CANADA. "Since the whole country is gearing up for our sesquicentennial in 2017, we figured we should get a jump on things and have some fun this year with our 149^th birthday.  After all, those don't come around that often, right?"

"We've known all along that if Canadians actually had the chance to watch great Canadian film they would be excited to see more of it," added Sharon Corder, Artistic Director, REEL CANADA. "It is really inspiring to see so many Canadians eager to participate in NCFD and motivated afterwards to share what the day signifies for them. I've noticed a shift in dialogue about our homegrown cinema since we first launched.  We've been making great Canadian films for a long time; now it seems Canadians are eager to discover them."

On NCFD, Canadians across every province and territory who want to watch a great Canadian film actually can. Programming and details for all screening events, will be announced later this month and will be available at www.canadianfilmday.ca. The list of community screenings continues to grow, including the recent addition of 11 Indigenous communities hosting events in Wikwemikong First Nation, ON, Haida Gwaii, BC, and Kuujjuaq, QC. Additionally, Canadians can expect to see Canadian film:

• in movie theatres
• in museums, public libraries, video stores, rep movie houses  & retirement homes and more
• via online platform offerings
• on major Canadian broadcasters
• at film festivals, small and large, across the country

For the first time, NCFD will unite high schools across the country to speak with actors Colm Feore and Patrick Huard in a LIVE-stream Q&A. More than 50 high schools are expected to participate in the streamed Q&A after watching BON COP, BAD COP in their school auditoriums.  Interested high schools can still sign on to participate by emailing Email Contact.

Earlier this month, NCFD released a promotional spot that will be seen on-screen in Cineplex Entertainment and Landmark theatres for the month of April, as well as on major broadcast outlets and online platforms. The 30-second animation can be seen here: https://youtu.be/KwDv1U3j6Ao

National Canadian Film Day is also made possible by the generous support of our many industry partners, including Telefilm Canada, Entertainment One, National Film Board of Canada, Canadian Media Producers Association and Landmark Cinemas. Major broadcasters that are programming Canadian films in support of the day include Bell Media, Shaw Media, Corus, Sundance Channel and Hollywood Suite.

Members of REEL CANADA's Board and Advisory committees, including Atom Egoyan, Colm Feore, Patricia Rozema, Don McKellar, Paul Gross, Tara Spencer-Nairn, and Eric Peterson, are available for interviews in support of NCFD.

ABOUT NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY National Canadian Film Day (NCFD), an initiative of REEL CANADA, was created as a new way to celebrate this great nation, embrace Canadian cinema, and have some FUN.  As part of its educational programs, REEL CANADA has presented over 1,100 festivals of Canadian films for over 400,000 high school students and new Canadians across the country since 2005. For more information, visit reelcanada.ca or canadianfilmday.ca. Find NCFD on Twitter, Facebook and Instragram: @canfilmday using #NCFD #CanFilmDay.

SOURCE REEL CANADA

Image with caption: "National Canadian Film Day (CNW Group/REEL CANADA)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160311_C9958_PHOTO_EN_44684.jpg