FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: National, June 2022 – The organizers of Canada’s acclaimed Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program are delighted to announce that recent Career Advancement Module alumna Luvia Petersen is the recipient of the inaugural WIDC Advantage Award for her debut feature film, Human Nature. The prize includes a one-year mentorship for Petersen, a spot at WIDC Story & Leadership and WIDC’s Industry partner nomination for the 2022 Telefilm Canada Talent to Watch program.

Under their Download Joy Productions company banner co-owned with producer,Amanda Konkin and writer Heulah Lander, director Luvia Petersen’s psychological cabin-in-the-woods thriller feature film Human Nature tells the story of two couples, one lesbian, the other straight who fight for sanity and survival when a fungus in the water unleashes their true natures. The film will co-star Aleks Paunovic, known for his roles in Marvel’s Hawkeye and Snowpiercer. The film is also supported by WIFT Vancouver’s Genre Lab which includes marketing support and space at the prestigious Frontières Market.

“I am incredibly grateful to be the inaugural recipient of the WIDC Advantage Award!”, says Award-winner, Luvia Petersen. “Working with Dr. Carol Whiteman through the WIDC Career Advancement Module has already helped me discover the kind of filmmaker I want to be, and I look forward to developing the feature film Human Nature alongside my team at Download Joy Productions and the entire cohort at Story and Leadership.”

“At WIDC, we’re always mindful of the need to champion directors whose voices represent diverse perspectives.” says WIDC producer, Carol Whiteman. “Luvia and her team will receive additional tailored mentoring from WIDC with this new award package.”

Over the last twenty-five years WIDC alumnae have gone on to direct hundreds of hours of quality screen entertainment including 100 feature-length films (over 60% of the women-directed feature films funded by Telefilm Canada).

WIDC’s 2018 Telefilm Canada Talent to Watch nominee Elizabeth Lazabnik’s debut feature Be Still recently earned Best Experimental Feature Film at the 2022 Female Eye Film Festival and multiple awards and nominations at the 2022 Leo Awards.

About the Director:
LUVIA PETERSEN is a multi-nominated actor and director, best known for her work as the scrappy, stern-gazed soldier Garza on SyFy’s Continuum. Her directing credits include the Leo-nominated short film Dog Bite and the Harold Greenberg Fund-supported short film H.appiness, which has secured distribution in Canada on CraveTV and internationally on the streaming service DUST. Most recently, Luvia directed the short film iDorothy, made entirely in eight days as part of the prestigious Vancouver filmmaking event Crazy8’s. She is currently developing a slate of projects alongside her team at Download Joy Productions, a women-led production company she started with writer Huealah Lander and producer Amanda Konkin. Luvia is the inaugural recipient of the WIDC Advantage Award for her debut feature film, Human Nature.

About WIDC:
Founded in 1996/97, Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is an internationally respected Canadian professional development offering, specially designed to advance the skills, careers and fiction screen projects of women directors. With 230 director alumnae across Canada, who earn hundreds of awards and nominations for their work annually. Co-created by representatives of ACTRA, Women In Film and Television Vancouver, and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity which was its home venue for eighteen years, WIDCis presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, and with the participation of Creative BC, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, Independent Production Fund.

WIDC appreciates community collaborations with the National Film Board, Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Reelworld Film Festival and Institute, WIFT Toronto, WIFT Atlantic, Film Fatales Toronto, Black Women Film-Canada, Women In View, New York WIF&T, Alliance of Women Directors, Tangerine Entertainment, Crazy 8’s, TIFF, VIFF, and the Whistler Film Festival.

The WIDC Feature Film Award is supported by SIM International, Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, William F. White International, Encore VFX, Kaslo Studios, Vancouver, Elemental Post, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., MELS Studios, Front Row Insurance, and Descriptive Video Works, Line 21, EP Canada, Portable Electric.

WIDC Contact: enquiries@widc.ca | www.widc.ca | facebook.com/widc.ca | @WIDC_ca | #WIDC