“On behalf of all Quebecers, I am proud to support and encourage Mr. Lemire and his team, who plan to conclude their great adventure with an unprecedented public awareness campaign on climate change and major environmental issues.”

On the occasion of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change earlier this month, Quebec premier Jean Charest cheers on Jean Lemire, the biologist and filmmaker who is leading the Antarctic mission.

The oceanography-research sailing ship Sedna IV is now on its most important scientific and filmmaking journey; when it’s all over, Seville Pictures will have Canadian and international rights to the Antarctic Mission television series and the feature film Le Dernier Continent. Bon! Visit antarcticmission.ca for more info.

(Seville Pictures also wants you to know that their film Merry Christmas by Christian Carion has been nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film. Merry Christmas is the true story of a Christmas 1914 truce among front-line German, French and Scottish soldiers. The film has not opened in theatres here yet.)

THINGS TO DO: Congrats to the Dot Film Company for the inclusion at Slamdance of Things To Do, a feature that’s one of 11 projects selected from approximately 1,000 submissions to compete in the Narrative Feature Film category. Things To Do is the only Canadian Narrative Feature Film selected for competition. Co-written by Theodore Bezaire and Mike Stasko, directed by Bezaire, the film centres on a man in his mid-20s who leaves the big city after witnessing a traumatic event to return to the comforts of his childhood home, whereupon he compiles a comedic list of “Things To Do” with an oddball acquaintance from his past. Visit dotfilms.ca.

STORIES OF STRENGTH: In the market for the gift that keeps on giving? Please consider Stories Of Strength, an anthology put together by writers all over North America who were united in their effort to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina. The writers contributed about 100 stories, essays and poetry on the theme of strength, and 100% of money earned from book sales goes to such disaster relief charities as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. This project was headed by author Jenna Glatzer (For Keeps) and attracted contributions from many well-known writers. The book has a story and an original hymn by award-winning science fiction novelist Orson Scott Card, an essay by actor Wil Wheaton, contributions from several Toronto writers including Frank Baron, and a short story from Christian romance author Robin Lee Hatcher. Order at storiesofstrength.com.