The Canadian documentary community is engaging in a symbolic moratorium during Hot Docs on Friday, May 4th at 12:30pm to protest the Federal cuts to arts and culture in Canada.

Filmmakers, festival representatives, distributors, film students and documentary fans will gather for a one-hour demonstration at the corner of Charles Street and Queen’s Park, (in front of the Royal Ontario Museum stairs).

“We can’t pretend this is business as usual. Our colleagues are losing their jobs and Canadians are losing access to a cherished cultural tradition. Our documentaries are celebrated around the world — but they’re on life support in Canada,” says documentary producer Katie McKenna.

The Documentary Organization of Canada is reporting that 1,500 full-time documentary jobs have been lost in the past two years. Canadian independent documentary production volume has decreased 30% since 2008, while CBC, CTV and Global Television have all reduced their documentary strands.

“Hot Docs is supposed to be a week of celebration of the Canadian documentary industry. Instead, we are wondering how many Canadian films can continue to be made when this government continues to cut its funding to Canada’s cultural industries,” says documentary producer Sarah Spring.

The recently-announced funding cuts include:
– 10% cuts to CBC and NFB, including 18 full-time jobs lost in the CBC documentary unit
– A 50% cut to the Telefilm Rogers Theatrical Documentary program
– The closing of the NFB Cinérobothèque in Montreal and the Mediathèque in Toronto.

The documentary community is calling on Canadians to speak up about the cuts! Join us on Friday, and
– Tell Minister James Moore what they think of the cuts
(on Twitter: @jamesmoore_org)
– Contact the CBC, CTV, Global TV to ask them to reinstate documentaries in prime time
– Upload a video about why you love documentary to
https://www.facebook.com/WeLoveDocumentary

Addendum: The original press release incorrectly stated that Global TV has “reduced its documentary strands”. In 2011, Global announced a new documentary strand, Close Up, and has further supported the documentary community through the Shaw Hot Docs Development and Production Funds as well as the Shaw Hot Docs TDF Best Canadian Pitch award. The organizers regret this error.