Grants Now Available for Emerging Filmmakers through the Forest City Film Festival

Maddie King and Andrew Gunn of young & free press are acting currently as consultants on the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell, and recently have announced over $1.5M in donations to support some remarkable new projects in Elgin County & St. Thomas. Now, Maddie and Andrew are working with the Forest City Film Festival to put out a call for emerging filmmakers to make short documentaries focussed on a few of the projects. Photo by Avelea Thorne, young & free press. 

Over the past few weeks, our team at young & free press has announced over $1.5M in donations from the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell to support a series of exciting initiatives in Elgin County and St. Thomas. Here is the quick summary of the projects revealed to-date: 

·     With $335,000, the Estate will support the construction of the “Evans Sisters’ Stage”, a new environmentally-friendly venue to be built at Springwater Forest in Elgin County in collaboration with the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority;

·     With $155,000, the Estate will fund the development of the new “Evans Sisters’ Water Trail” at Dalewood Conservation Area in partnership with the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority – this will include a new, marked water trail, as well as the purchase of canoes and kayaks for community members to enjoy;

·     With $100,000, the Estate has set up the new “Evans Trees Fund” at the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation, which has been designed to support tree-planting projects in Elgin County and St. Thomas for decades to come;

·     With $100,000, the Estate is backing the continued development and enhancement of the St. Thomas Elevated Park; specifically, the funding will be used to add pathway lighting, more green-space, and a new 3.5km-long linear arboretum;

·     With $50,000, the Estate is providing the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre the opportunity to develop the new ‘Art, Trees & Trails’ project in collaboration with Catfish Creek Conservation Authority, Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, and the St. Thomas Elevated Park – this will involve Art Centre staff curating a collection of art-work that will be reproduced on high-quality signs to be installed along local trails and in parks … the total contribution toward this project from the Estate is $115,000;

·     With $250,000, the Estate is boosting the ‘Track to the Future’ mural project through Railway City Tourism in St. Thomas – with this funding, several large-scale murals will be painted in and around the downtown area by professional mural artists;

·     With $500,000, the Estate is funding the construction of the new ‘Westlake-Evans Civic Park’ in downtown St. Thomas next to the St. Thomas Public Library. 

Now, we are thrilled to announce that funding has been provided to the Forest City Film Festival to offer three grants of $8,000 each to emerging filmmakers in southwestern Ontario! Filmmakers have the chance to make short documentaries about three of the projects supported by the Bushell Estate, including the construction of the new “Evans Sisters’ Stage” at Springwater Forest, the launch of the “Art, Trees & Trails” project by the St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, and the development of the “Track to the Future” mural project through Railway City Tourism. Interested applicants can find all the details on the Forest City Film Festival website.

Notes on the Estate of Donna Vera Evans Bushell

Donna Vera Evans Bushell passed away November 9, 2019, in her hundredth year, the last of her family. Donna’s passion was to plant trees and reminisce about her ancestors and friends while her sister Doris Evans taught music as a church organist. The oldest sister, Thelma Joiner, taught elementary school around Aylmer for forty-five years and researched local North Yarmouth history. All three sisters shared a love of their heritage as descendants of the pioneer Westlake, Penhale and Gilbert families who settled along the North Edgeware Road in Yarmouth. Their collected historical papers will eventually be deposited in the Elgin County Archives. 

Notes on the Forest City Film Festival

The Forest City Film Festival (FCFF) is a showcase for film with connections to the region of southwestern Ontario. Festival staff and volunteers bring the best of the work of film artists to the community in a juried competition for features, shorts, documentaries, short documentaries and short animations. Additionally, FCFF presents a selection of the best Canadian films of the year, industry workshops and networking, a screenplay competition, filmmaker Q&As, receptions and awards. Find all the details about the Festival at https://www.forestcityfilmfest.ca