April 5, 2013PRESS RELEASESmarty Plants, Surviving:) The Teenage Brain, Faking the Grade go for the Golden Sheaf Awards!Winnipeg-based Merit Motion Pictures is proud to announce that its newest documentaries “Smarty Plants,” “Surviving:) The Teenage Brain,” and “Faking the Grade”[as "The Cheating Class"] have been accepted into the Yorkton Film Festival’s Golden Sheaf Awards 2013. YFF will take place in Yorkton, SK from May 23-16, 2013.Additionally, “Smarty Plants,” has also been accepted into the International Wildlife Film Festival [IWFF] in Missoula, Montana. The 2013 IWFF will take place from April 27- May, 2013.Produced by Merit Jensen Carr and directed by Erna Buffie, “Smarty Plants: Uncovering the Secret World of Plant Behaviour” is a 2013 CSA award-winning documentary that follows University of Alberta scientist and ecologist JC Cahill on a spectacular visual journey into the hidden lives of plants. Traveling the world, from the Great Basin Desert to the rainforests of British Columbia, Cahill meets up with a team of amazing plant scientists who are revealing an extraordinary, secret world – a world where plants behave a lot like us.Surviving:) The Teenage Brain uses a combination of outlandish “Jackass” style YouTube videos, new scientific research and a graphic novel approach to present cutting edge research from renowned scientists around the world that challenges preconceived views about the turbulent teen years. The program originally aired on CBC’s the Nature of Things January 19, 2012.Produced by MMPand filmmaker Andrew Blicq, Faking the Grade looks at the increased cheating going on in our education system. For the first time, viewers will get a comprehensive look at the causes and the extent of academic dishonesty.Smarty Plants and Surviving:) The Teenage Brain are produced by Merit Motion Pictures in association with CBC's The Nature of Things, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, Manitoba Film & Music, the Government of Manitoba – Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit and the Canadian Film and Video Production Tax Credit.Faking the Grade is produced by Merit Motion Pictures in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and with the participation of the Canadian Media Fund, the Rogers Documentary Fund, and with the participation of the Government of Manitoba– Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit.
