Director

Michael McGowan

McGowan made his film debut as a writer, director and producer with My Dog Vincent, and directed Saint Ralph, One Week, Score: A Hockey Musical and Still Mine, which was named by TIFF as one of Canada’s Top 10 films in 2012. He recently directed TV shows Reign and Between and wrote the film The Etruscan Smile. His most recent film, All My Puny Sorrows, premiered at TIFF 2021.

Director

Ken Scott

Director

Clement Virgo

Virgo rose to prominence with his first feature, Rude, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and garnered two Genie nominations. He has also directed the films Poor Boy’s Game and Lie With Me, and hit TV shows such as The Wire, Regenesis and The Listener. He recently produced the show Greenleaf and directed episodes of Empire and Billions. His film, Brother, premiered at TIFF 2022 and won 12 CSAs, including Best Motion Picture, Best Direction, and Best Adapted Screenplay. 

Director

Chandler Levack

Levack got her start directing music videos, which earned her two Juno Award nominations for Video of the Year. She went on to debut her first narrative short, We Forgot to Break Up, at TIFF 2017. Her first feature film, I Like Movies, premiered at TIFF 2022 and was named to TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list. She also directed several episodes of the 2024 Crave series My Dead Mom. 

Director

Jonathan Keijser

Keijser is a film and theatre director, screenwriter and musician, who ran a not-for-profit theatre company for emerging artists before beginning his filmmaking career. His short film credits include Alive to Possibility, Still and the Spot, The Boomer Rebellion, and Salastina, among others. He directed the documentary feature What Would Beethoven Do? and the narrative feature Peace By Chocolate, which has won 13 awards at film festivals around the world. 

Director

Anthony Shim

Shim is an actor and award-winning filmmaker who has appeared in numerous shorts, feature films and television series. His features include Daughter and Riceboy Sleeps, both of which he directed, wrote, and produced. His second feature, Riceboy Sleeps, premiered at TIFF 2022 and won the festival’s Platform Prize. The film went on to win over 20 other awards, including the CSA for Original Screenplay.  

Director

Gail Maurice (Cree/Métis)

Maurice is a fluent Cree/Michif speaking actor and an award-winning filmmaker who founded her own company, Assini Productions, to tell stories that highlight strong Indigenous female leads. She has directed several shorts, including Smudge and Assini, as well as the feature film ROSIE, which she also wrote and produced. Her acting credits include Falls Around Her, Night Raiders, Bones of Crows, Aberdeen, and many other films and television series. 

Director

Nisha Pahuja

Pahuja is a documentary filmmaker who has directed, written and produced award-winning and internationally acclaimed films for over two decades. Her documentary The World Before Her won the prize for Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs in 2012. To Kill a Tiger won over 20 awards, including three CSAs, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Director

Hubert Davis

Davis’s first film Hardwood, a short documentary about his relationship with his famed father (Harlem Globetrotters player Mel "Trick" Davis), was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Documentary. He went on to receive the Don Haig award at the Hot Docs festival for Invisible City, and has also directed numerous award winning commercials, as well as the short film Aruba and the 2016 feature documentary Giants of Africa. His 2017 short Rivolta, won a Cannes Film Lion, and his feature documentary Black Ice premiered at TIFF 2022 where it won the People’s Choice Documentary Award.  

Director

Stéphane Lafleur