In the News

Government Announces $500 Million for Canadian Heritage, Loosens CERB Requirements

In mid-April, the federal government announced that it will provide $500 million to Heritage Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations aims to help address the financial needs of affected organizations within these sectors so they can continue to support artists and athletes, according to the Prime Minister’s office. Meanwhile, the government also expanded eligibility requirements for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to include workers earning up to $1,000 a month, as well as creators making royalties from prior copyrighted works who meet other requirements.

CBC Partners with Hot Docs for FestivalAt-Home Experience, Launches Creative Relief Funds

CBC and Hot Docs in April announced Hot Docs at Home on CBC, a multiplatform festival-at-home experience providing Canadians with access to 2020 Hot Docs Festival premieres on Thursday nights starting April 16. Following the postponement of the 2020 Hot Docs Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a selection of exclusive firstrun feature documentaries that would have debuted at the festival premiered on CBC, CBC Gem and documentary Channel each Thursday. CBC and Hot Docs also partnered to expand the athome audience experience with interactive, livestreamed Q&As with filmmakers and other original digital content at CBC Docs. Meanwhile, in response to the pandemic, CBC in April launched the CBC Creative Relief Fund to provide immediate support to Canadian creators. The fund will provide $2 million in development and production funding for a diverse range of original Canadian storytelling. CBC and the Canada Council for the Arts also announced the creation of Digital Originals, a new timelimited funding initiative to help artists, groups and arts organizations pivot their work for online audiences during the pandemic. The funding will directly benefit creators of original digital content. The Canada Council will provide a total of $1 million in funding to successful applicants to develop, create and share original or adapted works with Canadian audiences online. CBC will showcase and amplify the discoverability of select projects on one or more of its platforms.

CSC Awards “virtual cocktail hour” hosted on April 4 via Zoom

CMF Launches COVID-19 Online Information Hub

In April, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) launched an online information hub to help Canadian workers and companies in screen-based industries navigate the many programs and resources available to those aff ected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on fi nancial support off ered through more than 150 programs, as well as other essential resources can be found at covid.cmffmc.ca, which the CMF will continue to update as more information comes in. Th e fully bilingual information hub includes: a directory of fi nancial and fi scal assistance programs available to workers and businesses in the screen-based industries at the federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal levels; all information on the CMF’s COVID-19 action plan and support measures; a curated newsfeed to keep stakeholders informed of the pandemic’s impact on industries and consumers, including the results of surveys conducted by the COVID-19 Production Industry Taskforce.

TIFF Joins Major Film Festivals for YouTube Streaming Event

Th e Toronto International Film Festival joined more than 20 festivals around the world for a 10-day digital fi lm festival exclusively on YouTube in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Launching on May 29, We Are One: A Global Film Festival features programming curated by major fi lm festivals – including Berlin, Cannes, Guadalajara International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Sundance, Tribeca, Venice and more. We Are One will run until June 7 on YouTube.comWeAreOne. Programming, which will include fi lms, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and conversations, will be available for free, but audiences will be able to support local communities by directly donating to organizations helping the relief eff orts for those aff ected by the pandemic, as well as the World Health Organization.

Allen Daviau ASC Dies of COVID-19 Complications

Cinematographer Allen Daviau ASC died on April 15 at the age of 77 due to complications from COVID-19, according to media reports. Born in New Orleans in 1942, and raised in the Los Angeles area, Daviau shot three of Steven Spielberg’s fi lms, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He was also nominated for an Oscar in cinematography for Empire of the Sun, Bugsy, Th e Color Purple and Avalon, and he worked on Van Helsing, Fearless,Th e Falcon and the Snowman and Defending Your Life. He received lifetime achievement awards from the Art Directors Guild in 1997 and the American Society of Cinematographers in 2007. Daviau shot thousands of commercials, as well as documentaries, industrials and educational fi lms — and created psychedelic specialeff ects lighting for Roger Corman’s Th e Trip (1967) — before he gained entry into the International Photographers Guild.

Martin Carrier to Head MELS in 2021

President and CEO of TVA Group France Lauzière in late April announced the appointment of Martin Carrier as senior vice-president, Business Development of MELS until 2021, when he will take over from Michel Trudel as president of the company. Carrier will draw on his 20-plus years of experience managing and leading international companies in his new mandate to continue MELS’ development and accelerate its growth.

From Our Sponsors

ARRI Launches Lighting Systems Course; Rolls Out Stellar 2

In early April, the ARRI Academy announced the launch of a new course designed for all levels of lighting and video production professionals. The 11-part video course, called “Lighting Systems Control with Richard Cadena,” consists of short, informative videos with classes ranging in length from five to 34 minutes. Course attendees will gain a working knowledge of standard and emerging technologies and will be trained on the latest lighting technology. The list of classes includes DMX, Building DMX network, Troubleshooting DMX network, RDM, Wireless DMX, Intro to ethernet-based networking, Testing ethernet-based networks: PING and IPCONGIF commands, Art-Net, sACN, Consoles, and ARRI LED Ecosystem. More information is available at: arri.com/ lightingsystemscontrol.

Meanwhile, ARRI launched the second rollout of the popular lighting control app Stellar. Updates include the control of third-party luminaires, including manually added fixtures, no RDM requirements, and empty DMX slot suggestion. Additional features include swap

out fixtures, grouping of different CCT ranges, configurable default intensity, and more live data. More information about Stellar 2 and its new features are available at: arri.com/stellar.

Ahmad Al Morsy csc

What films or other works of art have made the biggest impression on you?

Films: 2001: A Space Odyssey, In the Mood for Love, City of God, The Godfather, Munich. Works of art: most of Rembrandt’s work. But also, art exists everywhere, sometimes scenes of everyday life leave a great impression on you.

How did you get started in the business?

I studied cinematography at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Egypt. And I was lucky I got to train as a student with some of the biggest names in the Egyptian film industry. My first professional job was a 1 st AC on a film called Land of Fear. I was still a student at the time. I then worked for some time as a Steadicam operator. After graduating in 1998, I travelled to the USA to complete further studies in different cinematography courses such as Lighting and Advanced Cinematography. And in 2001, I DP’ed my first film, La violence et la dérision.

Who have been your mentors or teachers?

I’ve learned from all the great DPs and directors I’ve worked with, but DP Tarek El-Telmissany is my greatest mentor both in this profession and in life. He’s taught me so much, pushed me to do better, and by example, showed me how to put my heart and soul into everything I do.

What cinematographers inspire you?

Matthew Libatique asc, Emmanuel Lubezki asc, amc, Roger Deakins asc, bsc, Robert Richardson asc, Christopher Doyle hksc, Dion Beebe acs, asc, Vittorio Storaro asc, aic.

Name some of your professional highlights.

In 2010, when I DP’ed Messages of the Sea. I had stopped working on features for five years because I wasn’t happy with the artistic value of films the Egyptian cinema industry was so eager to produce at the time. Instead, I focused on building an expertise in ads and music videos. But when Daoud Abdel Sayed asked me to shoot his next film, I just couldn’t resist working with an acclaimed director whose work I’ve admired for so long. And I fell in love with the poetic yet bold script he wrote for it. The film received wide critical acclaim and was Egypt’s entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. And in 2018/2019 when I won seven awards from the Australian Cinematographers Society, three of which for my work on the feature film The Originals. And of course, when I became an accredited member of the CSC.

What is one of your most memorable moments on set?

In 2004, I was lucky enough to collaborate with one of the Arab world’s most pioneering filmmakers, Youssef Chahine. I was working as a Steadicam operator on his French-Egyptian drama Alexandria... New York. I remember in one of the longest scenes in the film, a dance sequence, I was discussing with