Nedda Sarshar is an award-winning filmmaker and writer, who loves to tell stories that centre queer women of colour and their immigrant families. Her short film Unibrow is an Oscar-qualifying film that has garnered international recognition, and she continues to make films about diaspora communities in her hometown of Toronto.

Director will be in attendance

Thao Lam is an writer, illustrator, and a budding filmmaker who fled from Vietnam to Canada with her family as a child. Although learning English was difficult, it was picture books that helped her understand this new world and ignited her passion for visual storytelling. She has an insatiable love for coloured and textured papers, which she uses to create her exuberant collages.

Director will be in attendance

Kjell Boersma is a writer, director and animator from Toronto. Kjell’s work includes short films, animation for feature documentaries, music videos ,and experimental works. His projects combine traditional and digital animation techniques in novel ways. He directed the short film MONSTER SLAYER (2015) and co-founded the arts council Gallup Arts. In 2017, Kjell was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and TIFF Kids to write and direct DAM! THE STORY OF KIT THE BEAVER.

Stephanie Joline is an Indigenous filmmaker from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her stories provoke conversation, break boundaries, and are deeply rooted in inclusivity and feminism. Her work includes NIGHT BLOOMS (2022) and PLAY YOUR GENDER (2016). She won a Canadian Screen Award for directing in 2022.

Camrus Johnson directed the tv feature REAL LOVE for Mary J. Blige, wrote the Blacklist-selected feature script THE SEEKER, has won over 30 awards and nominations for his three short films, played the male lead on CW’s BATWOMAN for three seasons, and will soon appear as Mr.5 in Neftlix’s ONE PIECE.