Interviews
Chandler Levack grew up in Burlington, Ontario, and lives in Toronto where she studied cinema at the University of Toronto and screenwriting at the Canadian Film Centre. She has directed numerous...
Rima Das is a filmmaker from India known for making indigenous and realistic stories that explore complicated relationships, finding purpose, coming of age and life amidst nature. Her films...
Luis De Filippis is a Canadian-Italian filmmaker whose work has played at festivals such as TIFF, Rotterdam, and Sundance, where her most recent work, “For Nonna Anna,” received a Special...
Gabriela Cowperthwaite has been directing both documentaries and narrative films for over 20 years. She directed the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which amassed over 100 million viewers...
Lindsay MacKay is a writer and director. MacKay is a graduate of the York University Film program and went on to get her Masters in Directing from the AFI Conservatory. Her debut feature, “Wet...
Joseph Amenta was born in Toronto and has an honors degree in film studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). They have directed the short films “Cherry...
Angela Wanjiku Wamai works as a film editor in Nairobi, Kenya. She was recently awarded best film editor by the Women in Film Awards – Kenya. In 2018 she wrote “I Had to Bury...
Swiss film director Carmen Jaquier graduated from the Cantonal School of Art in Lausanne (ECAL) in 2011. Her graduation film, “The Girls’ Gravere,” went on to receive the Pardino...
Marie Kreutzer has had a hand in many Austrian film productions. Her first feature film, “The Fatherless”(“Die Vaterlosen”) (2011), has been shown and awarded at numerous...
Jub Clerc is a Nyul Nyul/Yawuru woman from the Kimberley in Western Austrlia. Clerc spent many years in theatre before moving into film and television, working on multiple award-winning productions....
Lila Neugebauer is a theater, film, and television director from New York City. Her stage work includes the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery,” starring...
Frances O’Connor is an Australian-English actress living in London who is best known for her film roles in “Mansfield Park” and “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Her TV...
Born in Salvador, Brazil, Liliane Mutti is the founder of the Ciné Nova Bossa Association in Paris. She produces and directs films with strong political engagement, such as “Ecocide,”...
Sophie Kargman is a director, writer, producer, and actor based in Los Angeles. Her short film “Query,” which she also co-wrote and produced, had its world premiere at the 2020 Tribeca Film...
Tamana Ayazi is a filmmaker and journalist from Afghanistan. She has a background in business, sports, and activism. She is a NatGeo explorer who uses storytelling as a tool to advocate for equality...
Amy Redford’s career in the creative arts spans over three decades as a director, producer, and actor in film, television, music videos, and theater. “The Guitar” marked her directorial...
Bess Wohl is a writer, director, and playwright. In theater, her play “Grand Horizons” was nominated for a Tony Award. In film and television she has developed projects with Amazon, HBO,...
Aitch Alberto is a writer and director born and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, the recipient of a Skowhegan Artist Residency, a Yaddo fellowship, and a Latino...
Stephanie Johnes is a director, producer, and documentary filmmaker who gravitates toward stories of underdogs and dreamers. Her directorial debut, “Doubletime,” premiered at SXSW and Tribeca and...
Maggie Levin is a filmmaker with rock ‘n’ roll roots. She served as second unit director and credit designer for Universal’s “The Black Phone,” in theaters now....
Mary Nighy is a UK-based director who has directed episodes of “Industry,” a new series for HBO and Bad Wolf, and “Traces,” a new series for Red Productions. Nighy was the...
Lauren DeFilippo is a documentary filmmaker based in New York City. She most recently produced “Ailey” (Sundance 2021), an acclaimed feature documentary that was released in theaters...
Vera Drew (she/her) is an accomplished LGBTQ+ director and editor who has worked in TV and film for nearly a decade. She recently directed Season 12 of Tim Heidecker’s “On Cinema at...
Selcen Ergun is a director and screenwriter from Turkey. She began her career as an assistant director, working on many national and international productions. Her short films...
Malou Reymann is a director and screenwriter who graduated from the National Film and Television School in England. Her debut feature, “A Perfectly Normal Family,” which premiered at...
V.T. Nayani is a director, producer, and writer. She is a recipient of the UN Women Yvonne M. Hebert Award for filmmakers and photographers. Most recently, she completed her residency in the...
Sinéad O’Shea is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her first feature documentary, “A Mother Brings her Son to be Shot,” premiered at CPH:DOX 2018 where it was nominated for a...
Laura Baumeister was born and raised in Nicaragua and trained at Mexico’s Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. A sociologist as well as a filmmaker, Baumeister has directed the...
Alice Winocour directed her first feature film in 2011, “Augustine.” It was selected for Cannes’ Critics Week and nominated for a César Award for the Best First Film. Her second...
Festivals
Buffy Sainte-Marie is getting a TIFF Tribute Award at the 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. The Oscar-winning Indigenous Canadian-American musician will be honored with the...
Nisha Pahuja is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Toronto and Bombay. Her credits include the critically-acclaimed “Diamond Road,” “Bollywood Bound,” and “The World...
Carolina Markowicz is a screenwriter and director based in São Paulo, Brazil. Her short films have won many international awards and have played in more than 200 festivals worldwide including TIFF,...
Gail Maurice is a fluent Cree/Michif-speaking actor and an award-winning independent filmmaker and Arts Laureate. She is a recipient of the Hnatyshyn Foundation Indigenous Award for Excellence in the...
Sophie Jarvis studied at Simon Fraser University, where she made her short film “The Worst Day Ever,” which premiered at TIFF in 2012. Since then, she has gone on to direct primarily...
Trailers
Set to open this year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, “The Swimmers” depicts two refugees’ epic journey from war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics. A...
Awards
Michelle Yeoh is making history at the Toronto International Film Festival. The “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star has been named as the inaugural recipient of the TIFF Share Her...
Egyptian filmmaker and screenwriter Sally El Hosaini and Academy Award-winning Icelandic artist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir are set to be honored with TIFF Tribute Awards. The former will be...
The program for the 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival continues to grow. The fest has added new titles to its TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema sections. The former...
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s epic tale about the Agojie, an all-female unit of warriors, is heading to the Toronto International Film Festival. A press release announced that “The Woman...
Films
“Medusa,” writer-director Anita Rocha da Silveira’s satirical thriller exploring the pressure women put on themselves to be perfect, has found a home. According to Deadline, Music...
Features
The 46th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is nearly upon us. Set to take place September 9-18 and include a mix of in-person and digital events, the fest’s program this...
Dionne Warwick and Danis Goulet will join Jessica Chastain and Alanis Obomsawin at the 2021 TIFF Tribute Awards. The former two are the latest to be named as honorees by Toronto International Film...
Women directors cleaned up at the 45th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, sweeping the audience awards. All films in TIFF’s Official Selection were eligible for the...
Aisling Chin-Yee is an award-winning producer, writer, and director based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. She made her feature directorial debut with 2019’s “The Rest of...
Farnoosh Samadi is an Iranian award-winning director, writer, and member of the Academy. Samadi’s “The Silence” was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2016, and her short film “Gaze”...
Mayye Zayed is an Egyptian filmmaker, director, producer, director of photography, and editor, and the founder of Cléo Media. She is the recipient of Film Independent’s Global Media Makers...
Suzanne Lindon is a French director, writer, and actor. “Spring Blossom” is her first film. “Spring Blossom” will screen at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, which is taking place...
Emma Seligman’s feature debut has found a home. Utopia Media snagged worldwide rights to “Shiva Baby” ahead of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Variety broke...
Sonia Kennebeck is an independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist with 17 years of directing and producing experience. Her first feature-length film, “National Bird,”...
News
Attagirl, a film lab supporting women and non-binary writers, directors, and producers, has selected the projects for its inaugural edition. A press release announced that 13 films have been chosen,...
Stacey Lee’s work focuses on humanity, music, and movement. Her documentary short “Live Fast Draw Yung” premiered at Tribeca in 2015, winning awards in Atlanta and Tacoma. She was...
Join our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on women centric, directed, and written films and news. Newsletters are sent on Fridays at noon EST.