The National Film Board ofCanada and local broadcaster The Documentary Channel have partnered to boostproduction of theatrical documentaries, the former increasing by $323,000(C$400,000) its annual production allocation and the latter increasing byC$400,000 its feature documentary licensing fees.

The new money comes in thewake of an announced $1.62m (C$2m) pilot program from Telefilm Canada andpublic broadcaster CBC for the development and production and completion oftheatrical-oriented feature-length documentaries; Telefilm will provide C$1.5mand the CBC C$500,000.

Speaking at the BanffTelevision Festival's Documart, NFB chief Jacques Bensimon said, "As the NFB has been a major player in Canadian featuredocs, we will be enriching the non-CBC component of the Telefilm pilotprogram." He said investing in theatrical product played to Canada's reputationas a leading documentary producing nation.