CBC Special Programming - Season Launch 2014-2015

Premieres fall 2014 on CBC Television

Balletlujah is a film that celebrates the music of one of Canada’s most iconic artists, k.d. lang, and follows the creation of a ballet based on her work.

Framed by intimate and revealing interviews woven through spectacular dance performance, Balletlujah explores the emerging friendship and spiritual connection shared by k.d. and Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître, as they collaborate on the creation of a great new Canadian artistic endeavour.

Set to the long, languid notes of k.d. lang’s best-loved songs, the performances move far beyond the staged production of Balletlujah by recreating the dances in some of the places that have inspired k.d.‘s music—the vast golden prairies, a country bar, and a picnic with horses galloping in the distance.

Sure to be the definitive k.d. lang documentary, Balletlujah reveals k.d. as you’ve never seen or heard her: raw, unguarded, funny, emotional, and above all else, a true Canadian artist worthy of celebration.

The producers are Corkscrew Productions (Scott Henuset, Brent Kawchuck and Heather Edwards), the director is Grant Harvey.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Broadcast winter 2015 CBC Television

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s Canadian Screen Awards is the annual awards show celebrating the best in film, television and digital media, uniting film and television in one gala event and showcasing the country’s finest talent. Part of Canadian Screen Week, the two-hour live Broadcast Gala will air in March 2015 on CBC-TV.

Broadcast fall 2014 on CBC Television

CBC-TV is the home of the 2014 Canadian Country Music Association Awards™ and will broadcast the celebration of Canadian country music from the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta on Sunday, September 7th at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT), with encore airings on CMT (Canada) starting at 10 p.m. ET.

Each year, the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) honours its members who have excelled during the past year, with a Canadian Country Music Award. The awards are handed out each fall during Country Music Week.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Returns fall 2014 on CBC Television

Fridays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)

Every spring, Halifax is gripped by laughter as dozens of Canada’s best comedians invade the city for the Ha!ifax Comedy Festival. CBC-TV captures the best of the event in six half-hour episodes filmed on location in every corner of the city, ranging from a casino to various historic pubs around town.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Returns Friday, August 22, 2014 on CBC Television

Fridays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)

JUST FOR LAUGHS returns to CBC for another series of hour-long stand-up specials, featuring the greatest comedians of the past and present. From Don Rickles to Russell Peters, JUST FOR LAUGHS continues to bring the funny to CBC.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Canada’s greatest cultural export. No, it’s not Celine Dion or Rob Ford— JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS has been making people laugh, on purpose, in more than 100 countries and on every airline in the world. CBC celebrates this milestone with an hour-long special featuring the very best GAGS from the past 15 years.

PUNCHLINE, CBC’s online comedy channel, is THE destination for all things funny! With tireless curation and a collection of clever Canadian contributors, Punchline provides an irreverent take on… everything. Punchline is also home to original comedy webseries and spotlights the best of what’s funny in Canada. Now available in 2D!

_____________________________________________________________________________

Continues summer 2014 on CBC Television

Sunday at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT), Thursday at 1 a.m. (1:30 NT)

QTV is Q‘s weekly one-hour program that highlights the best content from the daily radio program. Award-winning broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi brings you feature interviews and musical performances. Q brings you the kind of smart, intimate, fun, and feisty conversation you simply won’t find on most talk shows.

It’s a magazine show that’s unpredictable in the best sense - proud to be “a wild mix of culture by way of Canada” as described by The New York Times. The Globe and Mail noted the show’s “raging popularity across a variety of platforms—podcasts, television, websites, satellite radio, terrestrial radio, and occasional live remote broadcasts.”

If you haven’t already, it’s time to discover Q.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Broadcast fall 2014 on CBC Television

The Scotiabank Giller Prize is dedicated to celebrating the best in Canadian fiction each year and to bringing these books to the attention of all Canadians.

Hosted by CBC Radio’s Jian Ghomeshi, the Scotiabank Giller Prize Gala will bring together the worlds of literature, music, celebrity, art and dance in a spectacular black-tie awards ceremony to be broadcast on Monday, November 10th. The award-winning jury for the 2014 prize is comprised of Canadian author Shauna Singh Baldwin (The Selector of Souls), British novelist Justin Cartwright (Other People’s Money) and American writer Francine Prose (Lovers at the Chameleon Club: Paris, 1932). The ceremony will be live streamed at CBCBooks.ca.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize awards $50,000 annually to the author of the best Canadian novel or short story collection published in English, and $5,000 to each of the finalists. The award was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife, literary journalist Doris Giller.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Returns Friday, July 11, 2014 on CBC Television

Fridays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)

The Winnipeg Comedy Festival presents the best of Canadian comedic talent in five one-hour gala events, shot in the beautiful Pantages Theatre. Each show revolves around a single theme as comedians poke fun at our collective obsessions with food, dating, and technology, among other subjects.

_____________________________________________________________________________