Whistler Film Festival’s Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship
Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship, a four-day creative and business immersion program focused on strengthening and advancing scripted projects takes place in conjunction with the Whistler Film Festival + Content Summit from November 28 to December 2.
Offering a curated itinerary that includes a focus on creative, marketing and distribution as well as scheduled market meetings with attending industry and advisors, the 18th annual Whistler Film Festival (WFF) has confirmed the seven finalists and faculty.
“WFF’s Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship is recognized by the industry for the strong support it offers to Indigenous storytellers. This year we are excited to include a feature length project alongside six short form projects,” said Julie Di Cresce, WFF’s Director of Industry Programming. “It gives us a great sense of pride to witness fellows excel and advance their projects through mentorship and relationships built during their time at the Whistler Film Festival.”
Formerly known as the Aboriginal Filmmaker Fellowship, the newly named Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship (IFF) at WFF aims to enhance the project development for emerging Indigenous Canadian content creators with short film content, webisode projects or pilots for episodics still in the script stage. Participants will receive feedback on their scripts and projects as well as guidance on development opportunities from established content creators, producers and industry professionals, and high level of strategic advice and mentorship.
The filmmakers selected to participate in the Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship include:
- Jade Baxter (BC) — HUNTING PARTY OF TWO
- Roger Boyer (MB) — THE FIRE
- Heather Hatch (AB) — WRECKED
- Trevor Mack (BC) — PORTRAITS FROM A FIRE
- Amber Sekowan-Daniels (ON) — THE MAN WITH NO HEAD
- Trevor Solway (AB) — SANDHILLS
- Darcy Waite (MB) — ZOMBIES DON’T EAT DUMB PEOPLE
Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship advisors, mentors, and guests include: Program Facilitator Kyle Irving — Partner, Eagle Vision Inc.; Valerie Creighton — President & CEO, Canada Media Fund (CMF); Jesse Wente — Director, Indigenous Screen Office; Kathleen Meek — Manager, Original Content, Drama & Factual, Corus Entertainment; Tania Koenig-Gauchier — Manager of Programming, Western Region, APTN; Shane Belcourt — Director, Red Rover; Mehernaz Lentin — Senior Director, CBC Films / CBC English Services; andNathaniel Lyman — Lawyer, Chandler Fogden Aldous Entertainment Law.
The Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship is supported by Creative BC, CMF, APTN, Eagle Vision, and the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.
The Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship is one of WFF’s slate of 11 talent programs designed to provide creative and business immersion experiences for over 70 Canadian artists — including directors, producers, screenwriters, actors and musicians. Additional talent to be selected for WFF’s programs including the Power Pitch, Producers Lab, Doc Lab, Stars to Watch, Music Showcase, MPPIA Short Film Award finalists, WIFTV & WFF Film Market Preparation Mentorship, and WIDC Story & Leadership Industry Immersion will be announced in November.
WFF’s Summit schedule and guest lineup are now available at whistlerfilmfestival.com, and will be updated regularly. WFF’s full film lineup and schedule will be available online on November 1 in addition to the 16 films that have already been announced.
The Whistler Film Festival is funded by the Government of Canada through Telefilm Canada, and by the Province of British Columbia and the Resort Municipality of Whistler through the Resort Municipality Initiative, is supported by the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and the American Friends of Whistler, and is sponsored by Variety, Creative BC, Cineplex, Whistler Blackcomb, Tourism Whistler, RE/MAX Sea to Sky Real Estate, Encore Vancouver and the Westin Resort & Spa Whistler.
