Eight women directors from across Canada have been selected to attend the 20th annual session of Women In the Director’s Chair, which includes the pilot program, WIDC Story & Leadership. Over the coming months this top-notch group of content creators will develop their feature films and web series, working with an ensemble of hand-picked professional actors, technicians and other industry experts. A major component of the program takes the form of an Industry Immersion at the 15th anniversary Whistler Film Festival (December 2-6), and culminates with a three-month mentorship tailored to advance each director’s project.
Mounting their sophomore feature films are East coast favorites, Mary Walsh (A CHRISTMAS FURY, based on the characters from the riotously-funny TV series Hatching, Matching and Dispatching), Anita Reilly McGee (BLACK MAMMY), and WIDC Feature Film Award-winner, Jordan Canning (SUCK IT UP). Weaving fiction into their prolific body of documentary works from Ontario are, Maya Gallus (NIGHTS IN THE UNDERGROUND), and Frances-Anne Solomon (HERO). Also from Ontario is Nicole Dorsey, developing a debut feature BLACK CONFLUX, along with BC-based actress Ana De Lara (THE VIRGIN MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB). Multiple award-winner Marie Clements is developing a new interactive web series CROOKED BONES, based on the true story of First Nations artist, Connie Watts.
"WIDC understands that being committed to bringing women’s voices to the screen means investing in the storyteller. Not simply as a “one off” but as a continued partnership between stakeholders who recognize that the development of skill, process, and creation has lasting and profound value,” states Metis actor/ writer/director, Marie Clements. “I am honored to be in this year’s Story & Leadership Program with some of Canada’s most talented and innovative filmmakers."
Award-winning director Rachel Talalay (DR.WHO, TANK GIRL) will be one of this year’s key mentors focusing on directing action. This year’s line up also includes peer mentors, award-winning WIDC alumnae, writer/directors Siobhan Devine (THE BIRDWATCHER, which premieres at the Whistler Film Festival), and web series creator Karen Lam (MYTHOS), along with popular WIDC instructors, writer and Jungian expert, Dr. Carolyn Mamchur, and screen-writer / story consultant Linda Coffey (THESE ARMS OF MINE). Industry guests include, John Galway (Harold Greenberg Fund), Maureen Levitt, (Super Channel), independent producer, Lael McCall, (Principia Productions), and Telefilm Canada’s Lauren Davis.
“Taking part in this WIDC workshop makes me excited about the possibility of someday having television and film represent the perspectives of women, “ states Mary Walsh, a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award in the Performing Arts. “Although women make up 51% of the Canadian population, they comprise less than 20% of the directors and screenwriters working in Canadian Film.”
The Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program has earned an international reputation for propelling over two hundred Canadian women directors’ skills, stories and careers to the next level of excellence. Creative Women Workshops Association, The Banff Centre and ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) have been WIDC collaborators, and Telefilm Canada has been a major sponsor since the program’s 1997 inception. WIDC and the Whistler Film Festival collaborate again through the WIDC WFF Industry Immersion.
The Festival’s online box office is now open for Industry Passes, Festival Passes and Ticket Packages allowing you to select your films in advance and share them with friends and family. New for 2024, WFF has introduced a Festival Credential that provides access to the Music Café, ShortWork Showdown and Festival Lodge, and is included in select ticket packages if purchased by October 31.
The Whistler Film Festival + Summit are supported by the Government of Canada through and Western Economic Diversification, Telefilm Canada, Province of British Columbia, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation and the American Friends of Whistler, and is sponsored by Variety, Cineplex, Creative BC, The Harold Greenburg Fund, Encore, Pandora, L’Oreal, Columbia, Sorel, Whistler Blackcomb, Gibbons Life and the Westin Resort & Spa Whistler.