The MEAP Project 2022-23
Mentorship for Emerging Artists in Programming
Hurray! Sudbury Indie Cinema was successful in securing a Canada Council grant whose aim is to train local emerging independent filmmakers in film festival programming skills. The Goal of MEAP is: to train and mentor 4 local, emerging Northern Ontario-based filmmakers in film programming and curatorial skills over the course of 9 months.
Why are we doing this?
Sudbury Indie Cinema is committed to advancing the careers and supporting the growth of homegrown indie filmmakers, who tell stories from unique northern perspectives.
Film curation is an artistic field which lends itself well to the life of an aspiring or established media artist- whether programming genre films, or for a movie theatre or for festivals. It's a key decision-making role which has great influence in the exchange between filmmakers and audiences. Yet, it's an artistic practice that gets little focussed attention.
Who will be training the participants?
We have secured a top notch team of industry experts to mentor our local indie filmmakers in programming skills.
Ravi Srinivasan
Born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario, Ravi Srinivasan is deeply proud of his Indian and Filipino cultural roots. Since 2013, Ravi has contributed to the TIFF Programming team and is currently the Senior Manager of Festival Programming, with a focus on programming feature films from South Asia, the Philippines, and Canada.
Ravi studied film and English literature at Wilfrid Laurier University and film production at Sheridan College. Previously he was an International Programmer at Hot Docs, the founder and Executive Director of the South Western International Film Festival, and Senior Programmer of National Canadian Film Day. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Regent Park Film Festival and the Future of Film Showcase.
Aisha Jamal
Aisha Jamal is a filmmaker, programmer and college professor. She is a Canadian Spectrum film programmer at Hot Docs Documentary Festival and previously worked for TIFF and Syria Film Festival Toronto. Her feature documentary "A Kandahar Away" is now screening on CBC Gem and she is currently working on a documentary web series on emerging alternative death industries entitled "How We Die.” Her previous short films have played at venues and festivals worldwide. Aisha teaches film theory and criticism at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. Aisha has represented Hot Docs at Sudbury Indie Cinema’s documentary film festival: Junction North and has worked as a trainer with local emerging filmmakers through this Sudbury-based festival.
Darlene Naponse
Darlene Naponse is the owner of the award-winning Pine Needle Productions / Baswewe Films- an Anishinaabe Film Company. She’s taught Indigenous Oral History at Laurentian and Canadian Native Literature at University of Sudbury. While known best for her feature films EVERY EMOTION COSTS, FALLS AROUND HER and upcoming STELLAR and AKI, she also has a variety of programming experiences, including: 2020 and 2021 editions of Hot Docs, International Films - Associate Programmer; Birrarangga Film Festival (Australia), Guest Programmer; 2020 imagineNATIVE (Toronto), and Programmer 2016 Mminwaatesjigeng, The 3rd Annual Indigenous Film Festival.
Beth Mairs
Originally from Toronto, Beth Mairs made Sudbury region her home after launching an outdoor adventure company in 1991. Selling that business in 2010, she shifted into, first, filmmaking and then into attempting to create a not-for-profit independent cinema which has been realized in Sudbury Indie Cinema. Beth launched headfirst into film programming - first by bringing showcases of larger festivals to town and then creating unique by-Sudbury/For-Sudbury festivals such as Junction North International Documentary Film Festival, Queer North Film Festival, Sudbury Outdoor Adventure Reels (SOAR), and Sudbury’s Tiny Underground Film Festival (STUFF.) She has also spearheaded monthly film series such as #WomenInFilmWednesdays, Age Up Seniors, Enquiring Minds, to name a few. She served as the Indie’s Lead Programmer from 2019- 2023 curating the cinema’s monthly arthouse programming.
We are proud to introduce MEAP’s local participants
Andreanne Germain
Andreanne Germain's interests are shared between the creative, technical and business facets of filmmaking. Her work has been shown on Radio-Canada, TFO, TV5, Canal D, TVO, at the Montreal International Documentary Festival, the Berlin Sci-fi Film Festival, the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie and through the National Film Board of Canada's website.
Emilce Quevedo
Colombian audiovisual producer and director, currently based in Canada, who for the last ten years has focused on projects with an emphasis on social issues, including the sexual abuse of Colombian women in the midst of the armed conflict, the crisis of thousands of personas subject to forced displacement in her country, and the implementation of strategies of distance education in Colombian regions where with limited access to face-to-face options. Emilce graduated in Social Communication with a specialization in Educational Television / Audiovisual Communication from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. The feature-length documentary “Nosotras” (We, the Women) is her debut film.
Isak Vaillancourt
Isak Vaillancourt is a multidisciplinary artist and community organizer whose practice includes filmmaking, photography and arts-based programming. Currently, he is completing his master's of arts in media production where his research explores Black and Indigenous relations and solidarity on Turtle Island. During his graduate studies, Isak has been mentoring a group of undergraduate students with the support of faculty to facilitate meaningful discussions about anti-racism practices within higher education. He is a recipient of two program awards including the OUTtv Award and Aditya Jha Graduate Award in Media Production. Isak is also a co-founder of Black Lives Matter - Sudbury, a non-profit organization committed to dismantling systemic racism and supporting cultural creation in Northern Ontario
Staci Duhaime
Staci Duhaime is an early childhood educator exploring the arts through the lens of storytelling. Staci’s first short WIFEY won Local Local Film at Queer North Film Festival 2019.
Updates
November 2022
The MEAP Project has been off to a strong start with mentees introducing films at the 2nd edition of SOAR Film Fest Nov. 9-11th and running a Q & A via remote.
December 2022
The MEAP project has now 2 learning modules under its belt with Ravi and Aisha. Looking forward to 2023!
January 2023
It is with heavy hearts that we join the film community acrossed Canada mourning the sudden passing of Ravi Srinivasan.
February 2023
The MEAP project has had another session with trainer Aisha Jamal , and is applying skills to reviewing and writing notes on film submissions for Junction North International Film Festival.
March 2023
The MEAP Team has been joined by Pierre Bohomme as a local filmmaker and mentee. The team has curated its first shorts programme and is playing a variety of programmer roles at Junction North.
April 2023
The MEAP prject had its first session with local legend Darlene Naponse on festival programming. Late April, the Team headed off to Toronto for 3 days at Hot Docs.
June 2023
A delegation to Inside Out followed by Queer North Film Festival.
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