FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Vancouver, BC — For anyone who’s ever wondered where they can find more films directed by women, First Weekend Club’s Canada Screens will launch a new VOD channel dedicated exclusively to female directors, curated by Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC). In addition, each feature film will be paired with a complimentary woman-directed short film, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.
The channel, which will grow from Canada Screens’ existing line up, will include film titles such as Louise Archambault’s “Gabrielle,” Chloé Robichaud’s “Sarah Prefers to Run,” Kari Skogland’s “The Stone Angel,” Larysa Kondracki’s “The Whistleblower,” Sara St. Onge’s “Molly Maxwell,” Sook-Yin Lee’s “Year of the Carnivore,” Mary Harron’s “The Moth Diaries,” Gia Milani’s “All the Wrong Reasons,” and WIDC alumnae Anita Doran’s “The Lesser Blessed,” Shandi Mitchell’s “The Disappeared,” and “H&G,” by Danishka Esterhazy.
The new initiative will be announced at a special Union Night at the M♀vies screening of Siobhan Devine’s award-winning, WIDC-supported debut feature “The Birdwatcher” on October 27, 6:30PM at Vancity Theatre. The BC Federation of Labour Women’s Rights Standing Committee and UBCP/ACTRA present the evening in association with First Weekend Club.
“There are some truly great films and powerful stories created by women, and we believe this channel will showcase some of the incredible talent that we have across Canada,” says First Weekend Club’s Executive Director, Anita Adams. “Women directors already face so many challenges just to get their films made. It’s our hope that through this new channel we can help these films find a bigger audience and create more of an appreciation for films made by women.”
“It just made sense to collaborate with Canada Screens on the launch of this new channel,” says Carol Whiteman, President and CEO of Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC). “Building a more easily accessible collection of films by some of Canada’s most gifted women screen directors is a strategic part of WIDC’s 20th Anniversary celebrations, and we’re thrilled that Siobhan Devine will be our first WIDC director curator.“
ABOUT CANADA SCREENS
Our Stories, told to the World. Anywhere. Anytime. Launched in 2015, First Weekend Club’s Canada Screens is a unique Video-on-Demand service dedicated to the best of Canadian cinema, curated by top Canadian filmmakers & stars such as Tatiana Maslany, Jason Priestley, Sarah Polley, Atom Egoyan, Sarah Gadon, Paul Gross, and others. www.canadascreens.ca | @canadascreens
ABOUT WOMEN IN THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR (WIDC)
Mentorship-Development-Production Support: WIDC is an internationally respected initiative specifically designed to advance the careers and fiction screen projects of Canadian women directors. Since its inception in 1997, over 200 women directors from across Canada have benefited from WIDC initiatives, production awards, and development programs. These talented women-to-watch have gone on to direct hundreds of hours of award-winning feature-lengths, short films, and digital media content.
WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, Harold Greenberg Fund, William F. White Intl., and appreciates the participation of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada, ACTRA National, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, TELUS Optik Local, Creative BC, UBCP/ACTRA, Independent Production Fund, BC Arts Council, ACTRA Alberta, IATSE 669; in kind support from Panavision Canada, SIM Digital, Clairmont Camera Film and Digital, Encore Vancouver, Technicolor Toronto, Skylab Vancouver, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Clearance House, Front Row Insurance, MELS; and community collaborations with 1st Weekend Club, Canada Screens, WIFT Vancouver’s International Women In Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, WIFT Toronto, TIFF, and the Whistler Film Festival.
Contact: enquiries@widc.ca | www.widc.ca | facebook.com/widc.ca | @WIDC_ca | #WIDC
ABOUT SIOBHAN DEVINE
Siobhan Devine is a Vancouver-based award winning filmmaker and an alumnus of CWC’s Women in the Director’s Chair. Siobhan also works in television as a director on shows including the Netflix Original Series ‘Some Assembly Required’, ‘Mr. Young’ for YTV & Disney XD as well as the Rogers, Hulu adult primetime sitcom ‘Package Deal’ for which she won a 2015 Leo Award for Best Direction. Siobhan has directed several award winning short films including ‘OMG’, starring award-winning actress Gabrielle Rose, which opened the 2013 Palm Springs Shortfest. ‘Breakfast with Gus’ screened around the world including premiering at TIFF and the controversial documentary ‘My Tango with Porn’.
In 2013, Siobhan was awarded WIFTV’s Spotlight Image Award as ‘Best Emerging Filmmaker’ as well as receiving the honour of winning the WIDC Feature Film Award for her debut feature film, ‘The Birdwatcher’ for which Siobhan received a 2016 Leo Award for ‘Best Director of a Motion Picture’, and ‘Best Director’ at the Indie Gathering Independent Film Festival.
THE BIR
DWATCHER has earned multiple awards and nominations during its international festival run. The film begins a theatrical run at the Carlton Theatre in Toronto November 18, 2016, and it enjoyed a VIP screening as the showcase film for the UBCP/ACTRA and BC Federation of Labour sponsored Union Night at the Movies, October 27, 2016, celebrating women-led films made in British Columbia, and where the announcement of the new women-directed VOD Channel was made.
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