Getting to Action
Presented by
Co-Presented by William F. White International Inc. and Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC)
In this cross-country panel, we gather a group of standout directors, each a recipient of the WIDC Feature Film Award, to check in! We’ll hear their stories and how the current changes in the world are impacting their projects and lives. We’ll discuss what it takes to get to ‘action’ and how the Feature Film Award contributed to this journey. Join us for this inspiring conversation with women directors of note, each from different places and phases of the life of their film.
MODERATOR:
Dr. Carol Whiteman | Co-creator & Producer, Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) Executive Producer, WIDC Feature Film Awards
Best known as co-creator and producer of Canada’s internationally respected Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program, Dr. Carol Whiteman is a two-time Governor General’s Award nominee; and multiple award-winner for promoting gender equality in Canada’s screen industry. Through WIDC, Whiteman has produced over 150 short films and is an executive producer on eight award-winning feature films including Red Snow, Rustic Oracle, Queen of the Morning Calm, and the upcoming Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor. In 2019, Whiteman completed her doctorate in education at SFU. Her dissertation chronicles the tenacity and transformative leadership behind WIDC’s decades-long efforts in advancing the careers and screen projects of a generation of women directors.
PANELISTS:
Gloria Ui Young Kim | Director, Writer, and Producer
Born in Seoul, Korea, writer/director Gloria Ui Young Kim is an alumni of the CFC’s Director’s Lab, TIFF Talent Lab and NSI. She recently directed, wrote and produced her first feature, Queen of the Morning Calm, (WIDC Feature Film Award, Greenberg Fund, Telefilm), which won the William F. White Reel Canadian Indie, the DGC Ontario Best Director Award, Special Jury Best Breakthrough Performance Award at the Canadian Film Festival; it premiered at the 2019 Whistler Film Festival and was nominated for the Borsos Award. She’s directed multiple episodes of television for Sinking Ship, Riverbanks and BGM, written for Breakthrough Entertainment’s Blood and Water (OMNI). She’s on the Board of WIFT-Toronto and has earned a CSA nomination for Best Direction for It’s My Party (TVO).
Marie Clements | Writer, Director, and Producer
As a writer/director and producer Marie has ignited her brand of artistry within a variety of mediums including film, TV, radio, and live performance. Marie’s debut feature drama Red Snow won Most Popular Canadian Feature Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature Film at the Edmonton International Film Festival and won Best Director at the 2019 American Indian Film Festival, Best Achievement at the LA Skins Festival, nominated for ten Leo Awards, a DGC nomination for Best Director, and a 2019 Telefilm Canada Birks Diamond Tribute to Women In Film. Her music documentary, The Road Forward produced by the NFB, screened at over 300 venues and garnered numerous awards including a WFF Women on Top Award, and a WIFTTV Spotlight Impact Award 2018. MCM is an independent media production company owned and operated by Clements specializing in the development, creation, and production of innovative works of media that explore an Indigenous and intercultural reality. She is also the founding artistic director of urban ink productions and red diva projects.
Sonia Bonspille Boileau | Director, Rustic Oracle
Sonia is a bilingual Kanienkeha:ka and Québécois filmmaker who has been working with Nish Media for the past decade at bringing Indigenous content to the screen for viewers of all cultural backgrounds. She first started making documentaries to explore her bicultural heritage and understand the impacts of colonialism. Some of her documentary credits include Last Call Indian, The Oka Legacy, Wapikoni, and Skindigenous. In 2015 Sonia wrote and directed her first feature film Le Dep, which made the official selection of several prestigious festivals around the world. Her second feature film Rustic Oracle, is set to be released later this year. She is currently working on her first drama series.
