About
291 FILM COMPANY
In our 20-year existence, 291 Film Company has produced award-winning broadcast television series’ and arts and nature documentaries for major Canadian broadcasters including documentary Channel, APTN, Oasis, VisionTV, Knowledge, Bravo!, and Citytv. 291’s shows are distributed internationally, in nearly all of the countries in the world through broadcasters, festivals, and streaming. They are used in many Canadian and US universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. They are in numerous library collections, including the National Gallery of Canada.
291’s productions have been nominated for 10 Gemini/Canadian Screen Awards, for key categories including producing, directing, cinematography, sound, and music, winning in 2008 for the arts and nature series Landscape as Muse (Best Arts Documentary Program or Series).
291 produced the theatrical feature documentary and digital media project Bugs on the Menu, nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Cross-Platform Project Non-Fiction. Its latest productions are the 2022 Leo Award-winning series Visionary Gardeners, 2020 Canadian Screen Award-nominated (Best Documentary Program) Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters, and Ageless Gardens (Seasons I-IV), which has been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards, including a 2024 nomination for the Rob Stewart Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series.
COMPLETED PRODUCTIONS
Visionary Gardeners, I-II (2022-2024, 10x30)
Ageless Gardens, I-IV (2018-2023, 20x30)
Soviet Bus Stops (2022, 1x60)
Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe (2019, 1x30)
Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters (2018, 1x60)
Bugs on the Menu (2016, 1x90/60)
Grasslands (2014, 1x60)
The DocMakers (2013, 1x60)
The Nature of Inspiration (2012, 1x60)
Great Minds of Design, I (2011, 6x30)
Untamed Gourmet, I-II (2010-2012, 12x30)
Saskatchewan River Delta (2009, 1x60)
Landscape as Muse, I-V (2004-2008, 51x30)
AWARDS
2024 Canadian Screen Awards Nomination
-- Rob Stewart Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews, Mark Bradley, Moses Znaimer, Beverley Shenken, Ageless Gardens, Season IV
2023 Danish Academy Award Nominee
Robert Prisen 2023 (Short film of the year: Documentary), Soviet Bus Stops
2023 Lund Architecture Film Festival
-- ArchFilmLund Prize 2023, Soviet Bus Stops
2023 Leo Awards Nominations
-- Best Direction: Ian Toews, Ageless Gardens, Season IV “Art in the Garden”
-- Best Cinematography, Documentary Series: Ian Toews csc, Ageless Gardens, Season IV “The World in a Garden”
-- Best Picture Editing, Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, Ageless Gardens, Season IV “The World in a Garden”
-- Best Musical Score, Documentary Series: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season IV “Art in the Garden”
-- Best Short Documentary: Ian Toews, Kristoffer Hegnsvad, Christopher Herwig, Nicholas Zajicek, Soviet Bus Stops
2022 SOCAN Foundation Awards Winner, Honourable Mention
-- Best Original Theme Song: Amanda Cawley, Visionary Gardeners, Season I
-- Best Original Non-Fiction Score: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season III “Sacred Spaces”
2022 Canadian Screen Music Awards Nomination (Screen Composers Guild of Canada)
-- Best Original Score for a Non-Fiction Series or Limited Series: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season III
2022 Leo Awards Winner
-- Best Musical Score, Documentary Series: Jacqueline Perriam, Erik Abbink, and Amanda Cawley, Visionary Gardeners “Beauty and Delight”
2022 Leo Awards Nominations
-- Best Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, Ian Toews, Visionary Gardeners, Season I
-- Best Direction, Documentary Series: Ian Toews, Visionary Gardeners “Seeds and Time”
-- Best Cinematography, Documentary Series: Ian Toews csc, Visionary Gardeners “Seeds and Time”
-- Best Musical Score, Documentary Series: Brendan Ostrander, Darren Phillips, and Amanda Cawley, Visionary Gardeners “Seeds and Time”
2022 Canadian Screen Awards Nomination
-- Best Original Music, Non-Fiction: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season III “Sacred Spaces”
2021 Leo Awards Nominations
-- Best Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, Ian Toews, Ageless Gardens, Season III
-- Best Cinematography, Documentary Series: Ian Toews csc, Ageless Gardens, Season III “Learning in the Garden”
-- Best Musical Score, Documentary Series: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season III “Sacred Spaces”
2020 Canadian Screen Awards Nomination
-- Best Documentary Program: Ian Toews, Mark Bradley, Mike MacNaughton, Hildy Bowen, Cary Ciesielski
2020 Leo Awards Nominations
-- Best Cinematography, Short Documentary Program: Ian Toews csc, Victor Cicansky: The Gardener’s Universe
-- Best Editing, Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, Ageless Gardens, Season II “Gardening for the Mind”
-- Best Musical Score, Documentary Series: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season II “Gardens of the Spirit”
2020 Western Canadian Music Awards Nomination
-- Visual Media Composer of the Year: Wolf Willow, Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters
2019 Golden Sheaf Awards Nominations (Yorkton Film Festival)
-- Best Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, David Springbett, Ian Toews, Beverley Shenken, Moses Znaimer, Ageless Gardens, Season I
-- Best Multicultural (Over 30 Minutes): Mark Bradley, Hildy Bowen, Cary Ciesielski, Mike MacNaughton, Ian Toews, Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters
-- The Ruth Shaw Award (Best of Saskatchewan): Mark Bradley, Hildy Bowen, Cary Ciesielski, Mike MacNaughton, Ian Toews, Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters
-- Best Research: Tina Giroux, Ian Toews, Etthén Heldeli: Caribou Eaters
2018 Leo Awards Nominations
-- Best Documentary Series: Mark Bradley, David Springbett, Ian Toews, Ageless Gardens, Season I
-- Best Direction: Ian Toews, Ageless Gardens, Season I "Healing Plants"
-- Best Cinematography: Ian Toews, Ageless Gardens, Season I "Healing Plants"
-- Best Editing: Jason Nielsen, Ageless Gardens, Season I "Healing Plants"
-- Best Sound: David j. Taylor, Ageless Gardens, Season I "Healing Plants"
-- Best Musical Score: Amanda Cawley, Ageless Gardens, Season I "Healing Plants"
2018 Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Regina (Department of Film)
-- Presented to Ian Toews for excellent and outstanding contributions to the art of film, and the film industry.
2017 Canadian Screen Awards Nomination
-- Best Cross-Platform Project – Non-Fiction: Ryan Andal, Jason Legge, Stefan Grambart, Mark Bradley, Ian Toews, Mike Wavrecan, Bugs on the Menu
2017 Leo Awards Nomination
-- Best Web Series: Mark Bradley, Ian Toews, Mike Wavrecan, Bugs on the Menu
2014 Canadian Screen Awards Nomination
-- Best Direction in a Documentary Series: Ian Toews, Untamed Gourmet, Season II "Prince Edward Island Lobster"
2010 Gemini Awards Nomination
-- Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews, Saskatchewan River Delta
-- Best Sound in a Doc Program or Series: Cary Ciesielski, David j. Taylor, Lucas Hart, Saskatchewan River Delta
2009 CFTPA Indie Award Winner
-- Best Documentary Series: Ian Toews, Landscape As Muse, Season IV
2008 Gemini Awards Winner
-- Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews, Landscape as Muse, Season IV
2007 Gemini Awards Nominations
-- Best Direction in a Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews, Landscape as Muse, Season II "The Forest with Peter von Tiesenhausen"
-- Best Performing Arts Program or Series or Arts Documentary Program or Series: Ian Toews, Landscape as Muse, Season III
2000 Tampere International Short Film Festival. Tampere, Finland
-- Grand Prix, International Competition: Four Corners
1999 New York Exposition of Short Film. New York, USA
-- Jury Award Experimental Film: Four Corners
1999 Media City Film Festival. Windsor, ON, Canada
-- Jury Citation for Excellence: Four Corners