The 13th Annual WIFT Toronto Showcase Returns In-Person with Seven Exceptional New Projects

 

This year’s screening and awards celebration takes place at TIFF Bell Lightbox on May 18,2022, starting at 7:00 PM EDT

Advance Tickets on sale to Members starting today

Numerous Prizes to be awarded including $7,000 in cash

Post Show Reception to be hosted in the TIFF Founders’ Lounge

Our popular Showcase SnackChats  returns April 6 on Instagram Live

 

(April 4, 2022– Toronto, Ontario) WIFT Toronto is thrilled to announce our first in-person event since the beginning of the pandemic. The WIFT community will gather at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Wednesday, May 18 to celebrate our lucky 13th annual Showcase featuring short works by WIFT Toronto members in film, television, and web series (documentary, fiction, animation, experimental). The seven selected projects were chosen from over 55 submissions and create a compelling program which will have attendees on the edge of their seats.

Awards will be given out for Best Directing, Best Writing, Best of Showcase, and a Viewer’s Choice Award with prizes totaling $7,000 in cash courtesy of the Foundation for WIFT Toronto, plus incredible in-kind prizes with a value of over $5,000.

Following the screening guests are invited to attend a post-show reception in the TIFF Founders’ Lounge.

Thank you to our 2022 Sponsors: Presenting Sponsor, TIFF; Supporting Sponsors, DGC Ontario and SIM; Event Partner, Company 3; and Event Supporters, CBC, Final Draft, Foundation for WIFT Toronto, Grande Camera, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto, and Jamie Gaetz

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The 2022 Showcase Lineup Includes:

A Hundred Joys
Documentary
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Amanda Ann-Min Wong, Director

A nostalgic look at the rich tenacity of Toronto’s East Chinatown community, through the exploration of its people, sidewalks, and businesses.

Band Ladies: Blitzkrieg Bop!
Web Series Episode
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Kate Fenton, Writer / Producer / Actor

A group of women, fed up and on the cusp of middle age, turn their book club into a punk band 20 years too late!

Black River
Documentary
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Morgana McKenzie, Cinematographer

A portrait of a small Appalachian town in its twilight after a century of economic and environmental exploitation by the coal industry, and the lost generation of kids growing up in what remains.

Hogtown -Episode 2: Stronger Together (original title: Ainsi va Manu)
Web Series Episode
Submitted by WIFT Toronto members Josiane Blanc, Writer/ Director / Coproducer and Ania Jamila, Coproducer

When 16-year-old Manuela and her family are threatened with eviction by growing urban and modern real estate developments, she decides to fight back, determined to protect her home and neighborhood.

Miikshi -Splash Landing
Web Series Episode
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Lindsay Lee, Writer

A fault in Dr. Crumpet’s cosmic silo thwarts his plan to bring Miikshi, a shy sheep inventor, back to Earth. Time is running out, and his computer isn’t working. Can he overcome his pride and ask Miikshi for help to ensure a soft landing?

St Clair W
Experimental
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Emily Ryder, Director / Writer / Producer

A meditation on love, loss, and the relationship we have with our own memories. Through a romantic, gauzy lens the film explores the fractured, mundane, and non-linear ways we ‘try to remember’ and ‘start to forget’.

The Bubble
Fiction/Narrative
Submitted by WIFT Toronto member Beth Evans, Director / Producer / Editor

When strict pandemic restrictions are relaxed to allow for the formation of 10-person social bubbles, Charlie’s prayers are answered. But squeezing into a bubble proves more challenging than she expected.‍

All Submissions were screened and selected by a volunteer jury of WIFT Toronto Members, including: Asis Sethi, Emilia Copeland, Emily Schooley, Jo Proulx, Kai Little-White, Luisa Alvarez Restrepo, Maude DeMarco, Raj Dhillon, Rebecca Gibson, Shagun Kanwar, and Visaree Bradshaw-Coore. Thank you to all our Jury Members.

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Our popular Showcase SnackChats return this year on Instagram Live to help build excitement for Showcase and highlight our members. Beginning on April 5, the lunchtime casual chats between a Showcase juror and filmmaker pulls back the curtain on how each of the selected projects were made and provides insight into the people behind them.

‍Showcase SnackChats Schedule (schedule subject to change):
12-12:30 PM (ET)

Tuesday April 5: Morgana McKenzie, Black River chatting with Maude DeMarco

Tuesday April 12: Amanda Ann-Min Wong, A Hundred Joys chatting with Shagun Kanwar

Tuesday April 19: Beth Evans, The Bubble chatting with Emily Schooley

Tuesday April 26: Josiane Blanc, Hogtown – Ep 2: Stronger Together chatting with Jo Proulx (12:30-1 PM interview in French)

Tuesday May 3: Lindsay Lee, Miikshi – Splash Landing chatting with Kai Little-White

Tuesday May 10: Kate Fenton, Band Ladies: Blitzkrieg Bop! chatting with Luisa Alvarez Restrepo

Tuesday May 17: Emily Ryder, St Clair W chatting with Emilia Copeland

Limited discounted early-bird tickets go on sale exclusively for WIFT Toronto members today, Monday April 4. Regular ticket sales will follow on Monday April 11. No tickets will be available at the door.

 

Watch the Trailer here. Created by WIFT members; video edited by Kimberly Miller-Pryce with music composed by Sarah Basciano.