Telefilm Canada, the Canadian federal authorities’s movie financer, has cancelled its Canada Home occasion on the 2025 South by Southwest Convention and Competition amid cross-border political tensions.
Canada Home on the Austin, Texas media competition has lengthy been a gathering hub for Canadian content material producers, musicians, movie distributors and different trade gamers seeking to community, forge international gross sales and safe funding from international companions.
However SXSW this 12 months coincides with a risk of a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. from the Trump administration.
“By way of the Canada Home, Telefilm depends on partnerships to make sure monetary viability. Sadly, because of the withdrawal of key monetary companions, we’ve needed to make the troublesome resolution to pause the Canada Home, as we couldn’t maintain the identical degree of investments,” Telefilm Canada mentioned in an announcement. (SXSW is owned by Penske Media, the mother or father firm of The Hollywood Reporter. )
The Canadian movie financier had no touch upon the explanations for the withdrawal of help by conventional Canada Home companions. Telefilm Canada hosts comparable trade pavilions to showcase homegrown content material and expertise on the European Movie Market in Berlin, the Cannes Movie Competition, MIPTV and MIPCOM and the Toronto Movie Competition, amongst different occasions.
Among the many backers to drag help for Canada Home at SXSW this 12 months — usually by taking area within the pavilion — is the Canadian Impartial Music Affiliation, knowledgeable group for the Canadian unbiased music trade. On the similar time, Telefilm Canada will proceed to assist fund the Canadian Innovation Lounge on the 2025 SXSW competition.
“Telefilm stays dedicated to championing Canadian expertise and celebrating their achievements at SXSW. We are going to proceed to be current, supporting Canadian groups whose movies/tasks are chosen, and interesting with the trade on the Canadian Innovation Lounge,” the federal authorities company mentioned in its assertion.
