CBC Launches Short-Form Digital Documentary Series

CBC Docs has launched its first foray into the realm of short-form digital documentaries with CBC Docs: Short Docs at cbc.ca/shortdocs, a destination dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers. The site features docs that reveal unique perspectives through innovative storytelling and, at less than 30 minutes in length, are meant to be shareable in the online space. A trailer for Short Docs is available online here.

"We're incredibly proud to offer up-and-coming Canadian doc filmmakers a new platform through which to share their work with a national audience," said Jennifer Dettman, executive director, unscripted content, CBC. "Creating original content for the digital space allows us to showcase shorter, shareable doc content on a whole range of subjects and to take some creative risks."

The site has launched with six short docs including: Billsville; Thunder Blanket (episodes 1-3 of 5); Underdog; Wally's World (episodes 1-3); WhyFi?; and World Famous Gopher Hole Museum; and will eventually feature a total of 18 films over the course of the 2016-17 season. Two of the films to be featured soon on cbc.ca/shortdocs made their world premieres at the 2016 Hot Docs Festival in Toronto: Frame 394 by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson and Between You & Me by Chase Joynt. In addition to the films featured at Hot Docs that will soon be part of THE LINEUP at cbc.ca/shortdocs, CBC Docs is also the exclusive sponsor of the festival's Short Films Program.

CBC Docs is the single most important destination for Canadian documentaries, sharing stories that are unique, compelling and relevant to Canadians. The Short Docs space is designed as an incubator for burgeoning Canadian voices and a national platform that showcases their work across CBC's numerous digital verticals including CBC Arts, CBC Sports, CBC Aboriginal and more. In addition to the docs themselves, the site also includes a blog featuring extra footage from the films that appear on the site as well as original content related to the subject matter of the films.