Vancouver (June 6, 2014) – WIDC Feature Film Award winner, Ana Valine took home one of the Leo Award’s top prizes, Best Direction of a Motion Picture, for her feature film directorial debut, Sitting on the Edge of Marlene. An alumna of the WIDC program, Ana was the recipient of the 2011 WIDC Feature Film Award (FFA), which contributed $120,000 in-kind services and rentals towards the film’s production and post production from some of Canada’s most important screen industry companies.
Ana Valine has a track record of award-winning short films including How Eunice Got Her Baby, produced through the Canadian Film Centre. Sitting on the Edge of Marlene received seven Leo Award Nominations including Best Motion Picture, Direction, Screenwriting, Picture Editing, Sound Editing, Production Design, and Lead Performance by a Female, winning Best Production Design.
“We have been in Ana’s corner for some time. She has a strong auteur voice and we are extremely proud of her accomplishments,” enthuses Carol Whiteman, Creative Women Workshops Association President & CEO, and WIDC Producer. “Not only are we increasing the number of women-directed feature films in Canada, this important Leo win for Ana also demonstrates the critical value of the WIDC Feature Film Award.”
About the WIDC Feature Film Award (FFA)
With the intention of supporting more Canadian women to direct features, the WIDC Feature Film Award isopen to all independent feature film projects with a Canadian woman attached as director, set to shoot and post in BC. Since the Feature Film Award’s inception in 2008, four award-winning women-directed feature films have been completed including Amazon Falls (dir, Katrin Bowen), Lucille’s Ball (dir, Lulu Keating), Sitting on the Edge of Marlene (dir, Ana Valine), and The Birdwatcher (dir, Siobhan Devine), currently in post production. The FFA is supported by William F White Intl., North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, Panavision Canada, Clairmont Camera Film and Digital, SIM Digital, Encore / Deluxe Entertainment Group, Post Modern Sound, Front Row Insurance, Wendy D Photography, and is administered by Creative Women Workshops Association which provides executive producing services. The next FFA deadline is January 31, 2015.
About the Leo Awards
The Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of British Columbia is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate and promote the achievements of the British Columbia film and television industry through the presentation of an annual awards program – the Leo Awards.
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