2023Festival

2023 Regent Park Film Festival

Emerging Directors' Pitch Competition

Nov 24 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
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Location: Ada Slaight Hall | 585 Dundas St. E., Toronto, ON

This year, our annual Emerging Directors’ Pitch Competition will feature 4 new unscripted film pitches along with a showcase of the latest work created by past competition winners! Come and support the finalists as they pitch to win a development deal with CBC and $1,000 courtesy of RBC!

EDP Showcase: Black Boys Skate Too

  • Year: 2022
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Length: 6 min
  • Advisory: PG 13

The skate community in Toronto is filled with young black skaters with dreams of going pro. Black Boys Skate Too follows Tristan and friends as they unravel the nuances of skating while being black in a predominantly white sport. Nonetheless, these young men show resilience as they continue to impact skate culture and create a positive space for other black skaters to chase their dreams and do what they love most.

Directed by

Danica Dizzy Ricamara

Dizzy Ricamara is a multifaceted award-winning director/actress from Scarborough, ON. She is known for her work in short-documentaries such as “Worst Student Ever” (2018), The Community Healing Project, (2022) and CBC Gem’s “Black Boys Skate Too” (2023) highlighting the missing voices from the underrepresented communities in Toronto.

EDP Showcase: A Passage Beyond Fortune

  • Year: 2022
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English and Cantonese
  • Length: 16 min
  • Watch Trailer

Within Moose Jaw’s warm sepia landscape, A Passage Beyond Fortune follows the Chow family as they reflect on the popular but untrue myth surrounding the city’s underground tunnels. Filmmaker Weiye Su brings us a tender archive containing the buried histories of those whose lasting cultural imprints have offered new ways of connecting with ourselves and our communities.

Directed by

Weiye Su

Weiye (they/he) is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker and lens-based artist. They’ve directed Jia and A Passage Beyond Fortune in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada. Their talent has been recognized by film festivals and acclaimed mentorship programs, including Hot Docs’ Accelerator Lab, the Yorkton Film Festival Mentorship Program and the DOC Institute’s Breakthrough Development Lab.

Speakers and panelists

Ismaila Alfa Host

Ismaila Alfa was born in Zaria, Nigeria and moved with his family to Winnipeg where he studied civil engineering at the University of Manitoba. A playwright and musical artist, he toured Canada and the United States as a hip-hop musician for nearly a decade. To Alfa, music has always been his way to connect with various communities and to hear their concerns. Alfa served as the host of CBC Radio One’s Up to Speed and CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning, and is currently the host of Fresh Air.

Andy Lee Filmmaker

Andy Lee is an award-winning writer, lens-based artist and member of the Writers Guild of Canada. His passion for photography was ignited as a child in the basement darkroom of his father’s camera store, and his craft forged through Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Photography program. His images have appeared in Exclaim!, Perfect Bound and Ryerson University magazines, and have been featured online by CBC, Met Radio 1280AM and the University of Toronto. Andy is excited to further his directorial and production practice through the Documentary Media MFA program at TMU this fall.

Kai Trotz-Motayne Filmmaker

Kai Trotz-Motayne is a Guyanese-Canadian researcher; writer and aspiring filmmaker from Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. Driven by histories of movement and migration within her own family, her research focuses on the making and meaning of diaspora and how histories are transferred through generations. She holds a Joint Honors degree from McGill University in History and African Studies. Kai’s practice is grounded in the archive; both traditional and non traditional.

Madyson Arscott Filmmaker

Madyson Arscott is an emerging screenwriter and director about to enter her fourth year in Humber’s Bachelor of Film and Media Production Program. She has written and directed various short films, her most recent being ‘Timeless,’ an IMDB-credited documentary which explores womanhood and ageing; in it, she interviews her mother, her middle school film teacher and a commercial model dedicated to spreading age-positivity. Since then, Madyson has been working on expanding her writing portfolio by diving into her first feature film.

Richard Dang Filmmaker

Richard Dang is a Cambodian-Canadian director from Toronto. His short films have been featured in Toronto Youth Shorts and Canadian Diversity Film festival. Starting his directorial journey in 2016 with no formal training, he has since produced three shorts, established a photography business and worked as an assistant director within the DGC. His work aims unveil the essence of the Cambodian experience and encourage artistic expression in often-silenced communities.

Lucius Dechausay

Lucius Dechausay Juror

Lucius Dechausay is an award winning producer, director and editor based in Toronto. His first short film went on to screen at over 40 festivals including RPFF, winning multiple awards. He followed that up with Solace in the Dark, a film that premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival. As a producer, he led the dance series “The Move” and the Canadian Screen Award winning digital series “”21 Black Futures.”” Currently, he works as the Sr. Producer of Unscripted Video at the CBC producing stories that champion diversity, arts and culture.

Andrew D'Cruz Juror

Andrew D’Cruz is the Managing Editor, Digital, Unscripted Content at CBC, overseeing CBC Arts, CBC Life and the CBC Creator Network and the Unscripted Video team. He’s been building, contributing to and running websites since the late ’90s, and is (still) passionate about finding new ways to tell stories online. He previously executive produced CBC Arts: Exhibitionists, led CBC’s Canada 150 vertical and ran digital content for George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight and Steven and Chris. Prior to that he worked in magazine publishing in both print and digital roles.

Aaron Leaf Juror

Aaron Leaf has more than 15 years experience working at media organizations dedicated to serving diverse audiences. Currently the Senior Producer at CBC Arts, he previously worked as Editorial Strategist at the Toronto Star and Director of Content Development at OkayMedia in New York City. He sits on the board of the non-profit organization Feet in 2 Worlds that provides training and resources for immigrant journalists.

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Thank you to our Sponsors, Festival Partners and Co-presenters!

Sponsors