Enigmatico Films was formed in 1993 by husband-and-wife filmmakers David Mortin and Patricia Fogliato, who have since created numerous award-winning documentaries and performing arts specials for television. They recently released their debut theatrical feature, Mad Ship, starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Gil Bellows, Line Verndal, Aidan Devine and Rachel Blanchard. Mad Ship is the story of a Scandinavian immigrant, driven to madness by ruined dreams and the tragic death of his wife, who embarks on a quixotic mission to build a homemade ship and sail out of the prairie dust bowl at the height of the Great Depression. The film received its World Premiere at the 2012 Whistler Film Festival as a nominee in the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature, and has gone on to win several ‘Best Feature’ awards and nominations on the U.S. festival circuit.

Black Widow (2005) is a macabre film noir musical for CBC Television, starring singers Sarah Slean, Martin Tielli, Mary Margaret O’Hara, and actors Tom McCamus and Julian Richings.   The film received a Czech Crystal for Best Performing Arts Program at the prestigious Golden Prague International Television Festival. The film also received six Gemini Award nominations, including Best Photography, Editing, Sound, and Performance in a Performing Arts Program, as well as Best Costume Design and Original Music Score.

Youkali Hotel (2003), also for CBC, stars acclaimed Canadian cabaret singer Patricia O’Callaghan, and features performances by Mary Margaret O’Hara, Hawksley Workman, Kurt Swinghammer and Albert Schultz. Youkali Hotel was nominated for the Rose D’Or in Europe, and received three 2004 Gemini Award nominations for Photography, Editing and Production Design – ultimately winning the award for Best Photography. The film also received three awards at the 2004 Yorkton Film Festival, including Best Direction-Dramatic, Best Arts Production, and Best Performance.

Also in 2003, Patricia wrote and directed Dear Juliet, an hour-long documentary produced by Primitive Entertainment for TVOntario’s The View From Here. The film explores the enduring myth of Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, and the thousands of lovelorn letters which people from all over the world write to her each year, addressed simply: Juliet, Verona, Italy.

David has co-written several feature-length performance specials for the internationally renowned arts production company, Rhombus Media, including the Emmy Award-nominated September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill (1995), starring Teresa Stratas, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Betty Carter and Charlie Haden. He was also Co-Writer and Associate Director of Tuscan Skies – Andrea Bocelli (2001), a music special for A&E Television and worldwide DVD release, and Stormy Weather: The Music of Harold Arlen (2002), featuring singers Sandra Bernhard, Deborah Harry, Jimmy Scott, Rufus Wainwright and Hawksley Workman.

David and Patricia also co-directed and produced Enigmatico (1995), a Genie-nominated and Hot Docs Award-winning arts documentary that interweaves the poetry, opera, painting, sculpture and photography of several prominent Italian-Canadian artists; Time on Earth (1997), which follows three seniors as they travel the highways of North America in their motor-homes; and The Lanza Sessions (2000), a behind the-scenes portrayal of the recording of the musical soundtrack for a yet-to-be-made Hollywood biography of Mario Lanza, featuring Canadian opera star, Richard Margison, as the voice of Lanza.