The writers I work with are having so many success stories it’s hard to keep up with the all the accolades. I’m so proud of all their hard work and it’s wonderful to see it paying off. Here are some highlights:
TIFF 2025 is home to three world premieres! From Mumbai, Bikas Mishra’s Bayaan, Jordanian filmmaker, Zain Duraie’s, Sink and Seamus Altun’s, As We Breathe from Turkey. All three first features were supported by Film Independent’s Global Media Makers. Next up, Bayann heads to Busan and Sink to BFi. I’m beyond thrilled for them to be sharing their stories with the world.
Meanwhile in Venice Algerian filmmaker Yanis Koussim just premiered his first feature Roqia and Sudanese filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani premiered, Cotton Queen at the Venice International Film Festival.
Toronto based writer-director Sibel Guvenc is heading into production in Turkey on her first feature Loya. As is Gloria Kim on her Telefilm supported second feature, The Banquet, produced by Sonya di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures. Talent to Watch recipients, Rolla Tahir and Mahsa Razavi, are both in post on their first features Jude and the Jinn and The River Will Carry Us respectively. Can’t wait to see these stories come to life.
Writer-director Winter Dunn’s most recent short, Play Hard, part of Lena Waithe’s Rising Voices, played at Tribeca and is now on Hulu and Vimeo Staff Pick.
TIFF 2024 was the world premiere of Maksud Hossain’s, Saba, which has since won awards in festivals around the world, and Karen Chapman’s, The Village Keeper.
Writer-director, Fawzia Mizra’s, feature debut, The Queen of My Dreams, had its world premiere at TIFF 2023 along with Film Independent Screenwriting Lab fellow, Billy Luther’s Canadian premiere of Frybread Face and Me. Anna Fahr’s, Valley of Exile, had its Canadian premiere at Vancouver International Film Festival 2023.
Writer-director, Andrew Currie, second feature, The Invisibles is on Amazon and Writer-director, Tarique Qayumi’s feature, Conceiving Clara is on the festival circuit having just played Dances with Films in LA and was nominated for several Leo Awards. Writer-director. Sara Galea-Davis, wrapped production on The Players, now playing festivals, which was also produced by Sonya di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures.
The 2025 Film Independent Project Involve filmmakers completed their shorts and will be hitting the festival circuit. Keep an eye out!
Previous Project Involve fellows’ shorts continue to win awards on the festival circuit including Winter Dunn’s, Dear Mama, which won the prestigious NAACP Image Award 2023 and Yoo Lee’s stop motion animation, 7lbs 8oz which were both featured in the New Yorker Magazine’s online screening room.
Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab alumni have been having huge success with their lab projects. Justin Neal is heading into production on his Telefilm supported feature, Skins Game, and Amir Kahnamouee’s feature, Please, After You premiered at Whistler in 2024. Jen Walden’s dystopian sci-fi, Mother, and Aisha Evelyna’s, drama Seahorse are both in post and will be on the festival circuit soon. Agam Darshi’s feature debut Donkeyhead was picked up by Ava DuVernay’s Array Now and is on Netflix. Jules Koostachin’s Broken Angel premiered at Whistler, and Julia Lederer’s With Love and a Major Organ premiered at SXSW and screened in Whistler 2023.
Film Independent Screenwriting Lab alum, writer-director Felicia Pride and director Angel Williams’ first feature Really Love is on Netflix and Felicia’s proof of concept short film, Look Back at It, is winning accolades at festivals.
Filmmaker Labs & Fellowships
Film Independent (Fi) Global Media Makers (GMM), a joint partnership with Fi and the U.S. Department of State, welcomed filmmakers from South Asia, the Arab World, Turkey and Africa to Los Angeles for a year-long mentorship and I was honored to be the advisor for the six week residency Screenwriting Track. I’ve been working with GMM since it’s inception in 2016 and there have been sixteen produced features including Egypt’s Oscar submission, Amr Salama’s Sheikh Jackson, Ali Vatansever’s, Saf, Darin Salam’s, Farha, both at TIFF, as well as Aytem Amin’s Souad, and Mohammed Kordofani’s, Goodbye Julia, both of which screened in Cannes.
Fi and GMM also hold screenwriting mentorship programs in partner regions and I’ve had the good fortune to work with gifted filmmakers in Turkey with m2 and in Jeddah, Trieste, India and Abu Dhabi as well as participate in virtual workshops in Algeria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
Film Independent also launched a Screenwriter Mentorship partnership with LMU Film School and I worked with emerging television and feature writers to develop their scripts.
Film Independent and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association partnered for a residency program for international filmmakers in 2020 and I have led a weekend retreat for the screenwriters since its inception.
I have led or participated as a mentor in screenwriting workshops at the Morelia Film Festival in Mexico, in Athens for the LA Greek Film Festival Discovery Days, Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan with Post Space Script Lab and Film Camp.
The Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab, is an annual, six or eight month creative and industry fellowship, which culminates at the festival. This year we welcomed twelve writers to Squamish, BC for mentorship, master classes and networking. As a facilitator and lead mentor it’s my absolute joy to see their work evolve and launch at the festival.
Workshops & Seminars
Recently I’ve lead pitching workshops for MFA Screenwriting students at David Lynch’s Maharishi International University, Screen Nova Scotia and the University of British Columbia Film Department’s Career Accelerator. I’ve also led screenwriting workshops for SFFILM, the Jewish Writers‘ Initiative and a month long virtual screenwriting workshop in a joint partnership between the North West Territories Film Commission and the Yellowknife Film Festival. I can’t wait for the writers to bring their stories to life!
