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Women in Film Festival 2011 blog by Women In Film & Television Vancouver www.womeninfilm.ca

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Pitching a Pitch Session: Book Early to Avoid Dissapointment!

Do you have an amazing idea that you want the world to hear? Are you the next green-light star destined for the film history books?
If you think that you have an amazing idea that you must tell someone, you are an excellent candidate for WIFTV's pitching sessions. 

A pitch session is a one-on-one non-public session that is conducted in an open room in a "speed dating" style. You may book one-on-one 10 minute pitching sessions and pitch your project directly to leading film industry professionals.

This year we have an amazing cast of professionals including: Bill Hurst, Stacey Landers, Caroline Coutts, Maureen Levitt, Robert Hardy,  and Tracey Friesen.

Click here for further information. Remember: book early and let your talents be heard!

Super Sandman Spectacular!

We have great news at VWIFF headquarters!


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WIFTV has an agreement with the Sandman as our Host Hotel. 
This means that when you book a room, or rooms, via the WIFTV website you will receive excellent preferred rates!
And, because you book through our website, WIFTV will receive support from the Sandman Hotels for fundraising purposes!


So this is a win/win and an excellent way to party down during the holiday season and through out the new year!


For more information, please click here to visit our website!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Happy Holidays from VWIFF!

We here at the Vancouver Women in Film Festival would like to extend our warm wishes and the happiest of holidays to you this season!
We thank you so much for your continual participation. Our festival would be nothing without the support and attendance of our amazing fans. Your patronage means the world to our staff and film makers! 
If you are interested in showing your appreciation for the festival during these winter-filled months, we have the perfect idea!


Are you tired of giving away smelly socks and ugly sweaters to your family and friends? Would you like to gift something that helps a community and gets you free swag?

Well we have the perfect idea!

If you donate to our 2011 fundraiser, we have some excellent perks for you or for a significant other in your life!


Some of the perks include:



- Your name listed with other donors and partners during the festival.

Your name listed with other donors and partners during the festival
- A goodie bag and swag from the festival

- Your name listed with other donors and partners during the festival
- A ticket to the Opening Night Reception and Feature screening

- Your name listed with other donors and partners during the festival
- A festival pass to all screenings

- Your name listed prominently with other donors and sponsors during the festival
- A goodie bag and swag from the festival
- A ticket to the Opening Night Reception and Feature screening
- A festival pass to all screenings


How to Make a Difference!

Here is a little bit of math for you:
(don't worry, it's exciting and you may end up with presents!)


If two hundred people donate a mere five dollars to our festival, us here at the Women In Film Festival would be able to make our fundraising quota for the event! One thousand dollars doesn't seem like much in our world, but it would give extensive benefits to everyone involved in our festival. These extra funds means we could present many more opportunities to the film makers and you, our audience!


So please, consider donating to our wonderful festival!


Follow the link!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Festive Festival Fundraising!

Are you looking to help out an amazing event in Vancouver?
Need a gift idea for the holidays that is more unique than socks and sweaters?

The wonderful women at WIFF have created a fundraising website for the 2011 festival!

We know that money is a precious commodity, especially during the holidays; so we have included some extra perks to give you more bang for your buck!

Would you like some swag? movie passes? your name in lights?!

Related News: WIFTV's 2010 Artistic Merit Award


North Vancouver actor April Telek was honoured with Women In Film and Television’s 2010 Artistic Merit Award for her performance in Amazon Falls. The film, directed by Katrin Bowen, will be released theatrically next year.


Learn more about April Telek's life, career, and what she did to achieve the 2010 Merit Award!

Monday, November 8, 2010

A Women In Film Exclusive: Interview with Sarah Jane Potts

This year, WIFF's Alicia Bernbaum had the amazing opportunity to speak with Sarah Jane Potts, actress in the new film Heart of a Dragon, based on Rick Hansen's story.


Potts is most known for her films: Kinky Boots, 2005, After School Special, 2003, and Wonderland, 1999.


She excels in the role of Amanda, a physiotherapist driven to make a difference, in this adaptation by Michael French.
In our interview, Alicia digs deep for intimate details, including: international humidity, familial relations, and the actor/director relationship, as well as many other exciting facts.


Watch the full interview here:



Learn more about the film

Friday, November 5, 2010

Festival Fundraising Extravangaza!

Hello readers,

The final film submissions are in and we are looking forward to an incredible lineup of entertainment!

If you are interested in the film festival, there are so many ways to engage and support the Women in Film and Television society!

This year, WIFF has set up a website for all those who would love to help us maintain and promote the festival. If you are interested, please visit:


Are you undecided on whether or not you would like to donate?
Let us entice you by showcasing the sensational events the festival has to offer!

"Kicking off with an Opening Night Film & Reception, this year’s program is packed with Pitch Sessions, New Media Day panel discussions, Talk Back sessions with Directors, and an Industry Showcase, all culminating with a special screening in celebration of International Women's Day...In addition to offering independent filmmakers a professional screening opportunity, the festival also serves to build audiences and appreciation for relevant cinema by women".

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Related News: Vancouver Short Film Fest!

Vancouver Short Film Festival


This year, celebrating International Animation Day on October 28, BC's best short films, and VSFF's fifth anniversary.


In case you haven't heard, tickets to the Vancouver Short Film Festival are on sale now!
How: Purchase online at www.vsff.com or at the door (subject to availability). Tickets are $8-10 online, passes $40-45. Door sales will be more expensive so get yours now!

For more information visit WIFTV or VSFF

Enjoy a great film festival!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Seeking Film Submissions

Submission deadline: November 1st, 2010
Vancity Theatre, Vancouver, BC CANADA


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Vancity Theatre, Vancouver, BC CANADA
International Women's Day is celebrated March 8th

SHORT & FEATURE FILMS NOW BEING ACCEPTED


Click here to read the submission criteria and to submit online.
Click here to read more about our film festival.

Related News: WIFTV Event: Meet the Filmmakers!


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are pleased to present the 16th annual

MEET THE FILMMAKERS

Join us on Monday October 11th at 6:00 pm for a FREE session moderated by Carol Whiteman (Women in the Director`s Chair) that will explore the experiences of directors,Katrin Bowen (AMAZON FALLS) and Halima Ouardiri (MOKHTAR), who recently premiered dramatic films at the Toronto International Film Festival that will now be screening at VIFF. Given that it is “the year of the female director,” we will be exploring how gender affects directorial style and process. This intriguing panel will take place at the VANCITY THEATRE ATRIUM, 1181 Seymour St., Vancouver BC. 
Women in Film and Television (WIFTV), Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society, and Praxis Centre for Screenwriters, in conjunction with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), is pleased to present the 16th Annual program Meet the Filmmakers.  This series of informal dialogues and insightful panels of filmmakers ‘in conversation’ offers the unique chance to glimpse the creative process from behind the screen, and through the eyes of some of contemporary cinema’s most intriguing auteurs.  
Special thanks to UBC’s CiTR 101.9 FM for sponsoring and live broadcasting these events

Related News: WIFTV Event: Sex Money Media!


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Be a SexMoneyMedia delegate for a day!
Full registration :  $250 CAD / One day registration: $145*
Student registration 
: $125 CAD / One day registration: $75*

You can now *be a delegatefor a day! For $145 (or $75 as a student - does not include the opening night reception and film on Thursday, October 14), you can attend a full day of *keynotes and panelson the Friday or Saturday. Industry game-changers, ground-breaking research, meetings, workshops and *master classes– don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to reshape the role of women in the media landscape.

Symposium Highlights and Updates:
Director Mina Shum joins Ingrid Veninger and Rachel Talalay (Director, Tank Girl, Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures) the day-long *Director’s Toolkit Master Classon Thursday, October 14.

Presented by WIFTV, Marquise Lepage, Filmmaker, Realisatrices Equitables, joins the “PLEASE ADJUST YOUR SET” and explores the possibilities for reorganizing independent media production in Canada to be more equitable, generating more original content. Moderated by: Sharon McGowan, Filmmaker, Chair, Film Production Program at UBC and featuring Madeline Di Nonno, Executive Director of See Jane and The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; Rita Deverell, CM., Broadcaster & Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies, Mount St. Vincent University and Jacqueline Levitin, Filmmaker, Professor (SFU).

REAL LIVES: REEL WOMEN OF CHINESE CINEMA” discusses women directors in China and their current... Moderated by Berenice Reynaud, and includes Louisa Wei, Filmmaker, City University (Hong Kong), Helen Leung, SFU, and Ning Ying, Filmmaker (China), on Friday, October 15.

Mercy Murugi, Producer, Hot Sun Films (Nairobi), joins the “INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKERS panel moderated by Kay Armatage, Filmmaker and University of Toronto, discussing the opportunities for independent feature length drama in the current global media environment along with directors Ning Ying and Rachel Talalay, and on Saturday, October 16.

Including award-winning director, Tracey Deer, “ABORIGINAL SCREEN CULTURE: WHAT IS IT?” unpacks the evolving definition of Aboriginal screen culture and locate the practice within dramatic film narratives. Moderated by: Dana Claxton, UBC, and includes Tantoo Cardinal, CM., Actress & Filmmaker and Shelley Niro, Filmmaker. Presented by the UBC Film Department, Friday, October 15.

 “CULTURE AND COMMERCE IN THE DIGITAL AGE": A Conversation with Canada’s Leading Women” keynote panel with Trina McQueen, Broadcast Journalist and former president of CTV Inc.; Rita Deverell, Broadcaster and Nancy's Chair of Women's Studies, Mount St. Vincent University; Rita Cugini, Commissioner, CRTC Ontario Region and Valerie Creighton, President & CEO, Canadian Media Fund on Friday, October 15. Presented by IATSE and CBC.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Seeking Film Submissions

6th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival (March 4-8, 2011) Seeks Film Submissions

For more information about eligibility criteria and how to submit, please visit:
The 6th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival, scheduled to take place March 4-8, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada, officially launched its Call for Submissions, looking for short and feature film submissions in all genres. The 2010 Festival received hundreds of submissions from all over the world. 

All independent filmmakers (women and men) are encouraged to apply. Submissions featuring strong female characters and stories are encouraged. Eligible films must have THREE of the following (one woman may serve in more than one role): a woman as Writer, a woman as Producer, a woman as Director, a woman as D.O.P., a woman as Lead Actor, a woman as Lead Animator / Editor.

There was such a breadth of vision, expression and storytelling in the submissions we received last year. I’m very excited to see what we’ll be presenting to our audiences in 2011,” says Festival Director and WIFTV Board Member, Roslyn Muir. “In addition, we’ll be bringing back New Media Day, originally introduced in our 2009 festival, where industry experts shed light on new trends and the future of filmmaking in Canada.” Last year’s opening night feature film, Penelope Buitenhuis’ "A Wake" went on to be part of Telefilm’s Perspective Canada screenings at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. She was later nominated for Best Director at the DGC 2010 Awards. Writer-director Angelina Cantada, whose film "Let's Play Boccia!" screened last year, went on to win the $10,000 Omni Television Diversity in Cultures Award at the 2010 Leo Awards in Vancouver.

The Festival is presented by Women in Film and Television Vancouver and is one of our key annual celebration events. In addition to offering independent filmmakers a professional screening opportunity, the festival also serves to build audiences and appreciation for relevant cinema by women. The festival supports filmmakers with cash awards and artists' fees. Last year, three filmmakers were the recipients of the Legacy Awards, representing $1500 in cash awards. Award-winning filmmaker Lulu Keating was the 2010 recipient of the Women In the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award, presented by Creative Women Workshops Association, represents industry leadership and support from some of the most significant companies in western Canada and is valued at nearly $100,000.


The final submission deadline is November 1, 2010.

For more information about eligibility criteria and how to submit, click here!
To volunteer for our festival, click here!
For more information or for media inquiries, contact: