Toronto’s FeFF to Unspool 75 Films Directed by Women in November

Curated by Screenmancer Staff

TORONTO, ONT. (Canada):  The Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) returns for its 17th edition from Nov. 7 to 10, 2019 at Scotiabank Theatre, 259 Richmond St. West. Industry Initiatives take place at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, 370 King Street West, Toronto Ontario Canada.

FeFF is thrilled to showcase so many talented women, most of whom are writers, directors and producers by featuring films from around the globe –Iran, Greece, Armenia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Italy, Ireland and the UK – and films from all across North America. Some directors return to FeFF with their new features, documentaries and shorts while Feff also discovers the work of independent female filmmakers and screenwriters during this important shift for gender parity in our industry.

The Female Eye Film Festival was voted one of the World’s Top Fifty Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee by MovieMaker Magazine for the seventh consecutive year in 2019. FeFF is a not-for-profit annual competitive international film festival for women directors that bridges the gap between the written, visual, and media arts.

This year the Best in the Biz Tribute, a signature series of the Female Eye, celebrates Canadian writer, director and producer Mina Shum as FeFF Honorary Director 2019. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Mina Shum is a multiple award-winning independent Canadian filmmaker. She has written and directed numerous shorts and five feature films that have successfully touched international and domestic audiences. Her artistic background is eclectic: she has created site-specific installations, made theatre and was also a member of an alternative rock band called Playdoh Republic. She was director resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. Her award-winning films Meditation Park (2017), which Shum also starred in; Ninth Floor (2015, documentary); Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity (2002); Drive, She Said (1997); and Double Happiness (1994) have premiered at Sundance, Toronto and Berlin. Double Happiness won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at Torino in 1994. The New York Times calls her work “wry and winning.” Her recent directing work for television includes Frankie Drake Mysteries, Murdoch Mysteries and October Faction, an upcoming series for Netflix.

The Opening Night film is Murmur, written and directed by Heather Young, winner of the 2019 FIPRESCI Discovery Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Closing Night film is Mad? in which elderly iconoclastic artist Mir-iam Kohen is admitted to a geriatric mental-health facility against her will. She immediately understands that this is no ordinary hospital. Over the course of 28 bizarre days, Miriam experiences myriad strange occurrences as she battles against doctors, patients and the system in an effort to retain her civil rights. Is she crazy or are they?

Starting in 2020, the FeFF will move to March to intersect with International Women’s Day (IDW), as part of its move their new home at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Tickets are $10 at the door or advance purchases on online, Opening and Closing galas are $20, an all-access film pass is $150.

For more information, visit www.FemaleEyeFilmFestival.com

FULL SCHEDULE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7
8PM

OPENING NIGHT GALA
The Riveters, directed by Kate Felix. Fed up with her “lame duck” status, The Upstart decides to face The Patriarch in a 1940s feminist throw-down. (WP, Comedy, 2018, 2:40, Toronto)

FEATURE PRESENTATION
Murmur, written and directed by Heather Young. In this bold debut feature, an aging, isolated woman ordered to perform community service after a DUI charge discovers that adopting ailing pets to fill the void in her life can be its own obsession. (Docufiction, 2019, 84:00, Dartmouth) Winner of the 2019 FIPRESCI Discovery Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Thursday, November 7

HONORARY DIRECTOR, MINA SHUM

A Female Eye Best In The Biz Tribute.

4PM – 6PM at the Scotiabank Theatre, Cinema #10

Join us for a special tribute to Canadian writer, director, MINA SHUM.

“In the past 17 years, the Female Eye Best in the Biz tribute and Honorary Director Award has celebrated many directors who inspire me to do what I do.  I’m truly thrilled to be honoured amongst them.” Mina Shum

Total running time: 87 minutes. Audience Q & A with filmmakers.

DAY TWO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8
10AM NORTH AMERICAN DOCUMENTARIES

Going to Beyond, directed by Kalli Paakspuu (5:00)
Great! Lakes, directed by Tess Wagman (18:00)
El Toro, directed by Danielle Sturk (44:00)

Total run time: 67 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

12PM FOREIGN SHORT AND CANADIAN FEATURE
Deep Storage, directed by Susan Earl (14:23)

FEATURE PRESENTATION
Hopeless Romantic, directed by Latonia Hartery, Martine Blue, Deanne Foley, Megan Wennberg, Ruth Lawrence and Stephanie Clattenburg (85:00)
Total run time: 99 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

2:45PM FOREIGN SHORT AND AMERICAN FEATURE
Pack It Up, directed by Kitjan Lau (4:05)
Lilac Ocean Pumpkin Pine, directed by Sarah Phillips (13:40)
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
The In-Between, directed by Mindy Bledsoe (77:26)
Total run time: 95 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

5:15PM INTERNATIONAL SEXY SHORTS
The Vanishing Princess, directed by Makenzie Leigh (14:57)
Body Untitled, directed by Luciana Baseggio (9:18)
Coco Dreams of Blue, directed by Caoimhe Clancy (16:04)
The Love Letter, directed by Atara Frish (19:35)
Skip Girl, directed by Annabel Vine (17:48)
G[r]o[w]ing Up, directed by Annabelle K. Frost (9:55)
Micro Love, directed by Annaliese Eisenstadt (18:59)
Sexo y Tortillas, directed by Priscilla Alvarez (11:57)
Total run time: 119 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

8PM FOREIGN SHORT AND FEATURE
Paparazza, directed by Aurora Fearnley (17:52)
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Julia Blue, directed by Roxy Toporowych (89:00)
Total run time: 107 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

11PM INTERNATIONAL LATE-NIGHT THRILLS & CHILLS
Jack The Ripper: Then and Now, directed by Haemin Ko (2:23)
The Devil’s Touch, directed by Tirath Kaur Sandhu (3:49)
Flicker, directed by Julia Barnett (6:02)
The Hoaxing, directed by Bevin McNamara (25:00)
Maggie May, directed by Mia Kate Russell (14:00)
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, directed by Lyn Chick (7.11)
You’ll Only Have Each Other, directed by Alison-Eve Hammersley (17:10)
Nine Letters, directed by Linda Kash (12:00)
La Ciega, directed by Susannah Greenblatt and Raphael Linden (15:19)
The Whistler, directed by Jennifer Nicole Stang (11:11)
Woman in Stall, directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli (10:00)
Total run time: 117 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

DAY THREE, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9
9AM FOREIGN SHORT AND FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES
El Río de los Kukamas (The River of the Kukamas), directed by Nika Belianina (7:15)
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Sea Change, directed by Dana Schwartz (75:00)
Total run time: 82 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

11:15AM INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
Svet, directed by Kartika Pratiwi (9:00)
Exile and Belonging: Stories of Migrants from Around the World, directed by Christina MacGillivray (15:07)
Uncanny: The Dolls of Mariana Monteagudo, directed by Elaine Minionis (28:32)
Gloria’s Call, directed by Cheri Gaulke (16:47)
Total run time: 69 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

1PM CANADIAN SHORT AND FEATURE
You, Me & Gasoline, directed by Jenna Rice (18:54)
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Catch and Release, directed by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert (80:00)
Total run time: 99 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers and talent.

3:30PM INTERNATIONAL SHORTS
Advent Calendar, directed by Taylor Bakken (4:24)
Romeo and Juliette16, directed by Eva Ziemsen (17:39)
Happy People Anonymous, directed by Gabrielle Adkins (4:21)
Space Flower, directed by Pam Covington (12:51)
Everything’s Great!, directed by Linnea Ritland (14:44)
The Intern, directed by Precious Chong (10:00)
Friendly Neighborhood Coven, directed by Michelle Bossy (12:55)
Lost Cat, directed by Laura Bergeron (15:00)
Total run time: 92 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

6PM FOREIGN FEATURE
All I Never Wanted, directed by Annika Blendl (85:00)

8PM INTERNATIONAL SHORTS
Double, directed by Ronak Jafari (26:18)
The Visit, directed by Roxy Shih (15:00)
Skin, directed by Inaam Attar (16:51)
St. Bernie, directed by Elise Tyson (14:30)
Strangers’ Reunion, directed by Liz Sargent (13:49)
The Winds, directed by Rae Farrer (9:50)
Turning Ten, directed by Jaylan Auf (12:38)
Total run time: 109 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

10:45PM LATE-NIGHT THRILLS & CHILLS
Kalopsia, directed by Sierra Parr (10:48)
I Killed Alex, directed by Galiya Fatkhutdinova (19:29)

FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Frances, directed by Nida Vohra (61:00)
Total run time: 90 minutes. Q & A with directors.

DAY FOUR, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10
11AM–12:30PM FOREIGN SHORT DOCUMENTARIES
I’m Victor, directed by Inna Tsgoeva (10:53)
Woman of Steppe, directed by Zhannet Abish (13:55)
Motherland, directed by Emily Mkrtichian and Jesse Soursourian (19:00)
Maxima: This Land of Mine, directed by Mariel Sosa (15:50)
a land shaped by women, directed by Anne-Flore Marxer (25:00)
Total run time: 84 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

1PM FOREIGN FEATURE
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Cadavre Exquis – Fly in Fly out, directed by Viola von Scarpatetti (65:00)

3:15PM CANADIAN SHORT AND FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES
Decay Nation, Part 1, directed by Vanessa Shah (12:03)

FEATURE PRESENTATION:
selfless, directed by Kim Laureen (90:54)
Total run time: 102 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

5:15PM INTERNATIONAL SHORTS
What Do You Know About the Water and the Moon, directed by Layla Jian Luo (16:20)
Aji, directed by Anastasia Berezovsky (10:00)
Angel & Alien (Ange & Ovni), directed by Sandrine Béchade (19:45)
Her No. 2: Hush Little Baby, directed by Camille Hollett-French (14:47)
Lifelines, directed by Catharine Parke (8:30)
Lily ’N’ Rose, directed by Sheryl Glubok (12:30)
Total run time: 82 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

8PM CLOSING GALA
Wunderkammer, directed by Jennifer Linton (5:36)
FEATURE PRESENTATION:
Mad?, directed by Saskia Rifkin (74:00)
Total run time: 80 minutes. Q & A with filmmakers.

Additional Bios & Event Info

Mina Shum has written and directed five feature films that have successfully touched international and domestic audiences. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Shum is a multiple award winning independent Canadian filmmaker. She is the writer and director of several features and numerous shorts. Her artistic background is eclectic. She has created site specific installations, made theatre and she was also a member of an alternative rock band called Playdoh Republic. Her features, “Double Happiness” and “Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity” both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and “Double Happiness” won the Wolfgang Staudte Prize for Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at Torino in 1994. She was director resident at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. Her award-winning films include Mediation Park (2017) which Shum also starred in; Ninth Floor (2015, Documentary), Long Life Happiness & Prosperity (2002), Drive , She Said (1997) and Double Happiness (1994) have premiered at Sundance, Toronto and Berlin. The New York Times calls her work “wry and winning”. Her recent television directing work includes Frankie Drake, Murdoch Mysteries and October Faction, an upcoming series for Netflix.

Moderated by, Carol Whiteman, President & CEO, CWWA Producer, WIDC

Dr. Carol Whiteman

Best known as co-creator and producer of Canada’s internationally respected Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program, Carol Whiteman is a two-time Governor General’s award nominee and multiple award-winner for promoting gender equality in Canada’s screen industry. Since 1997, Whiteman has worked tirelessly to advance the careers, fiction feature films, network television and web series of a generation of female screen writers and directors across Canada and internationally. She produced over 150 short films through WIDC and is executive producer on eight award-winning feature films including Never Steady, Never Still and the soon to be released Red Snow, Rustic Oracle, and Queen of the Morning Calm. Whiteman recently completed her doctoral degree in education at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. Her dissertation shares an inspiring chronicle of the tenacious and transformative leadership behind WIDC’s decades-long history. 

Sponsored by the DIRECTORS GUILD OF CANADA (DGC) 

CLOSING AWARDS CEREMONY in the LOUNGE at SCOTIABANK THEATRE.
ALWAYS HONEST, NOT ALWAYS PRETTY

# # #