Canada

Dr. Joanne Popinska is a Polish-Canadian award-winning XR filmmaker, documentarian, and sociologist, with a Ph.D. in Film Directing (specialization: VR) from the Polish National Film School. She dedicates her creative vision to developing important conversations around complex topics such as human rights, animal rights, and the environment. By using the latest technology and various narrative techniques, she is continually exploring how to get the attention of audiences and how to evoke empathy and interest from different perspectives.

Cam is an award winning filmmaker with a demonstrated history of working on documentary, commercial and outdoor lifestyle focused films. He has spent the majority of his career building his portfolio as a director, and has found success in conservation/natural history storytelling. Cam has had the pleasure of working with some of the most influential names in conservation and his latest documentary won "Best Canadian Documentary" at the BC Environmental Film Fest. Through this work he has also cut his teeth as a cinematographer and editor. Cam’s inspiration as a filmmaker comes from the environment he is in and this often comes through in his work- nature is the true artist!

Jack Weisman is an award-winning director, cinematographer, and producer whose work has premiered at major film festivals, including TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, IDFA, Sheffield DocFest, and True/False. Jack is a co-founder of the US-Canadian production company Documist, and an executive producer for The Territory (Audience Award, Special Jury Award, Sundance 2022). He holds a BFA in Film Production from York University, and is passionate about inclusive approaches to storytelling that connect with the natural world. The short documentary Nuisance Bear (Canadian Screen Awards Nominee for Best Short Documentary 2022, Honorable Mention: Best Canadian Short Film, TIFF 2021) is his directorial debut.

Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing has worked as a freelance filmmaker in Myanmar since 2006, acting as director, producer, editor, and sound recordist after attending film schools in both Myanmar and Germany. Her short, Burmese Butterfly played festivals in over 20 countries, and Period@Period won for best short at the Wathan Film Festival. Midwives is her feature documentary debut.

Shannon Walsh has written and directed feature documentaries, as well as numerous short films and VR works. Shannon's films have been broadcast, theatrically-released and exhibited in film festivals globally. Her work has also screened in museum spaces, including the Venice Biennale and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Shannon is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a 2020-2021 Guggenheim Fellow.

Born in Québec City (Canada), Olivier Higgins and Mélanie Carrier are biologists by trade. They discovered video while documenting their numerous adventures. In 2007, they directed and produced the documentary film Asiemut, which chronicles their 8000 km cycling trip from Mongolia to India. In 2010, the director-producer couple founded MÖ FILMS, an independent production company devoted to documentary films, whose objective is to contribute to the debates and societal challenges of our times. Their latest documentary feature film, Wandering, a Rohingya Story examines the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. Along with this film, they produced and designed a multidisciplinary exhibition, including the works of several artists, at the Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBAQ).

Naziha Arebi is a Libyan/British artist and filmmaker who returned to Libya during the revolution. Naziha works at the intersection of art and activism, and is co-founder of the film collective HuNa. Alongside her first feature Freedom Fields, she is currently producing the documentary feature After a Revolution, and has a fiction film in development. Naziha is a Hot Docs-Blue Ice and Sundance Lab fellow, a WEF Global Shaper and part of the Lumiere d'Afrique collective. Her artwork has been published extensively in print and exhibited globally.

Naziha Arebi is a Libyan/British artist and filmmaker who returned to Libya during the revolution. Naziha works at the intersection of art and activism, and is co-founder of the film collective HuNa. Alongside her first feature Freedom Fields, she is currently producing the documentary feature After a Revolution, and has a fiction film in development. Naziha is a Hot Docs-Blue Ice and Sundance Lab fellow, a WEF Global Shaper and part of the Lumiere d'Afrique collective. Her artwork has been published extensively in print and exhibited globally.

Rachel Leah Jones is a critically-acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on Israel/Palestine. She has a BA in Race, Class and Gender Studies, and a MFA in Documentary Media Arts. In addition to making her own films, Jones has produced extensively with others, and has been affiliated with progressive media outlets such as DEMOCRACY NOW! in New York.

Youngest ever Resident of the prestigious Canadian Film Centre Directors Lab, Slater Jewell-Kemker has been making films since she was six. An award-winning filmmaker and climate activist, Slater has been featured by Forbes twice: once for her ten year documentary feature on the rise of the global youth climate movement Youth Unstoppable, and another for her CFC short film Still which explores domestic violence and infatuation. Slater is also an accomplished speaker and frequently is invited to speak on film and climate change panels to represent the voice of youth, in addition to giving filmmaking workshops to teenagers.