New Zealand documentary filmmakers Tom and Sumner Burstyn cleaned up at Toronto’s Hot Docs Pitch Forum earlier this month with their pitch for new film Some Kind of Love.

Presented by Tom Burstyn and Canadian co-production partner Trish Dolman of Screen Siren Pictures, the pitch prompted immediate cash offers from 10 international broadcasters, with more deals under negotiation. It also won the coveted Shaw Media-Hot Docs Forum Pitch Prize, which includes a cash prize of C$10,000 and is voted on by attending international buyers.

Some Kind of Love was also runner-up for the Cuban Hat Prize, voted for by the audience.

The Burstyns, whose This Way of Life was shortlisted for an Oscar, have been working on Some Kind of Love for three years. Unable to qualify for New Zealand support due to funding criteria, the film is now in post-production in Canada and has commitments from such top international broadcasters as the BBC, Super Channel and ARTE.

Some Kind of Love is about the consequences of obsession, the burden of obligation and the great divide between art and science, told through an aging artist, her brother the scientist and their dilapidated mansion.

More info:

• Tom and Sumner Burstyn’s production company is Cloud South Films, and they can be reached via info@cloudsouth.co.nz

• For more on Some Kind of Love, see the website of Screen Siren Pictures, their Canadian co-production partner.

• The Hot Docs Forum is considered the most effective documentary market in North America for documentary-makers seeking international co-production financing.