Director

Sophie Deraspe

Deraspe has made several feature films, including Les loups (The Wolves), the critically acclaimed Les signes vitaux (Vital Signs), and Antigone,which won six Canadian Screen Awards. Her documentary work includes A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile, and the series La Vie nous arrive (Life Happens to Us). She has also directed episodes of Bête noire (Black Beast), and Motel Paradis. Bergers (Shepherds), premiered and won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF 2024.

Director

Cody Lightning (Cree)

Lightning is an actor and filmmaker who has been working in films since he was a child. Early roles include his performances in The Brave and Smoke Signals, and he went on to appear in films such as Manic and Run Woman Run. His performance in 2007’s Four Sheets to the Wind earned him the American Indian Film Festival award for Best Actor, and in 2023 he wrote, directed and starred in Hey,Viktor! which earned three Canadian Screen Awards nominations. He has also appeared on the Marvel TV series Echo.

Director

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson is a writer, actor, and director who co-created the cult web series Nirvanna the Band the Show, which he adapted for television in 2016. His first two features, The Dirties and Operation Avalanche were featured at the Slamdance and Sundance film festivals respectively. His third feature, BlackBerry, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2023, and earned 28 awards, including 14 Canadian Screen Awards, and another 31 nominations internationally.

Directors

Bruce Nyznik, F.R. Crawley

Director

Charles Officer

Actor, writer and filmmaker Officer’s first feature, Nurse.Fighter.Boy, was nominated for 10 Genies, winning one. Officer also directed the docs Mighty Jerome, The Skin We're In, Unarmed Verses, and Invisible Essence: The Little Prince, as well as the feature Akilla's Escape, which won five CSAs. He directed episodes of Coroner, and executive produced and co-directed The Porter, which was nominated for an Emmy. Officer passed away in 2023. He changed the Canadian film and television landscape with his fierce dedication to portraying Black perspectives and experiences, and is greatly missed.  

Director

Daniel Roby

Roby’s feature film debut, La peau blanche, premiered at TIFF and went on to win the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature. His other films include Funkytown, Dans la brume, Target Number One, Chien & chat, and Louis Cyr, which swept the awards season with nine Jutras and two Canadian Screen Awards. He has also directed episodes of Versailles and La Faille.

Director

Charles Binamé

Binamé has directed numerous films, including Eldorado (which screened at the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes), Séraphin: Heart of Stone, Maurice Richard (The Rocket), which won nine Genies, including Best Direction, and Elephant Song, which won three awards, including a CSA for Adapted Screenplay. Has also directed episodes of hit TV shows such as Flashpoint, Rookie Blue, Republic of Doyle and Reign, among others.

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

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.