King Lear, directed by artistic director Antoni Cimolino and starring Colm Feore, will be screened in February 2015. King John is directed by Tim Carroll and stars Tom McCamus and Seana McKenna and will be released in April. Antony and Cleopatra, directed by Gary Griffin and starring Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh, will have its first screenings in May.

"With these three productions, we launch a project dear to my heart, to create a Canadian collection of the entire Shakespeare canon, which allows us to preserve the performances of our greatest actors and share them with an audience far beyond our borders," Cimolino said in a statement.

"The Stratford Festival canon collection will extend the Festival's reach and heighten its profile around the world," executive director Anita Gaffney added. "It will also serve as a valuable educational resource, allowing students to see Canadian productions of all of Shakespeare's works, supplemented by online study guides that we will create for each production."

King Lear will be directed for film by Joan Tosoni and captured Oct. 21. Antony and Cleopatra and King John will be directed for film by Barry Avrich and will be captured on Sept. 25 -26, respectively.

The films will be produced by Melbar Entertainment Group and executive producer Barry Avrich. The Stratford Festival's 2014 theatre season continues through Oct. 25.

Visit stratfordfestival.ca for more information.