CineFAM Film Festival celebrates its 5th year from October 23rd-24th, 2021. According to the organisers, the number 5 represents curiosity, freedom, and change. The festival theme, ”5 Years of Limitless Imagination”, they say, embodies this. CineFAM, which was established in 2016 by award winning filmmaker and Academy member, Frances Anne Solomon.
“CineFam Film Festival introduces audiences around the globe to bold and original stories by women and non-binary creators of colour. This year’s list of events and films are both innovative and timely. Leading up to this years’ festival, attendees can enjoy CineFAM ShopTalk/Behind The Lens panel series, happening every Wednesday at 7 pm EST, starting September 15 until October 13. This year’s panel topics are, Cinematography, Innovation/ Setting New Standards, Asian Representation, Story Telling/Writing, and Love Through Our Lens. CineFAM film festival and ShopTalk/Behind The Lens panels are Free to attend and air on CaribbeanTales-TV and Facebook. Register at CineFAM.ca for an all-access festival pass and to find out more details,” said the statement by the organisers.
CineFam 2021 has an exciting lineup for festival attendees. This year’s opening night, Saturday, October 23rd, themed “The Beauty Of Film” was hosted by model and actress, Tenika Davies, followed by a mixer hosted by Talk Show host, Karen Carrington. The dynamic comedy duo Coko & Daphney will provide the entertainment for the the evening. CineFAM’s Award Ceremony, themed “Understand History, Innovate Future” will take place October 24.
CineFAM Film Festival 2021 exceeds all expectations with original, thought-provoking films you won’t want to miss. Some of the Film highlights for this year’s festival are:
Subjects of Desire (Jennifer Holness, Canada, 2021); 1hr 43m She brings a fresh, authentic perspective to telling powerful, thought-provoking stories having worked as a documentary filmmaker for nearly twenty (20) years. She has co-produced the feature documentary, Stateless, with director, Michele Stephenson (American Promise) for PBS’s The America Series and the National Film Board. Stateless premiered digitally at Tribeca and at Hot Docs in 2020 where it won the festival’s Special Jury Prize, followed by a Best Feature documentary award at Black Star. She is the Executive Producer of Maya Annik Bedward’s feature documentary, Black Zombie, currently in production with CBC’s Documentary Channel.
Stateless (Michèle Stephenson, Canada); 95m
Michèle Stephenson: As co-founding member of the Rada Film Group, this filmmaker, artist, and author draws from her Panamanian and Haitian roots and international experience as a human-rights attorney. She tells provocative stories in a variety of media that speak to personal and systemic liberation. Her work has appeared on numerous broadcast and web platforms, including PBS, Showtime, and MTV. She was recently awarded the Creative Capital Fellowship and the Anonymous Was a Woman Award, as well as the inaugural Chicken & Egg Pictures Breakthrough Filmmaker Award. She is also a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow.
A.I.: Artifical Immortality (Ann Shin, Canada, 2021); 74m
Ann is a multiple award-winning Director/ Producer known for compelling documentaries and series. Her films and series have aired on CBC, TVO, HBO, ABC, CBC, YouTube Premium, CBC The Documentary Channel, PBS, ITVS, Discovery Channel, HGTV, History Channel among others. Directorial credits include: The Superfood Chain, Smart Drugs, The Four Seasons Mosaic (CBC), The Roswell Incident, Western Eyes, and Almost Real: Connecting in a Wired World. As a Series Producer she helmed: the forthcoming K-pop Evolution for YouTube Premium, Save us From This House, The Heat, Rags to Red Carpet, and Canada and American Empire.
Farewell Regent Park (Christene Browne, Canada, 2019); 90m Christene Browne: She is a Canadian director and writer — the first Black woman to write, produce and direct a feature film in Canada. Born in St. Kitts in the Caribbean, Browne moved with her family to Canada in 1970 and grew up in Regents Park, Toronto Canada’s oldest and largest low-income community.
Zahara the Return (Katarzyna Kochany, Canada, 2020); 8m 3 Katarzyna Kochany: She is a member of the Directors’ Caucus of the Directors Guild of Canada and a voting member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Katarzyna’s directing work has played on CBC Television, AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video, Super Channel, Sofy TV and The BeBop Channel. She has earned over fifty (50) awards and two hundred and forty (240) official selections at festivals, including two projects at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts presented by Heartland Film.
Only light will touch us (Alicia K. Harris, Canada, 2021); 2m 35s
A director from Scarborough (Toronto, Canada) who is dedicated to celebrating the Black experience with a focus on beauty, spirituality and vulnerability. Her latest film, Pick, won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Drama 2020. She loves Black feminism, live music, Mariah Carey, and cats.
“Women and non-binary filmmakers of colour continue to be woefully under-represented and underpaid in the North American film industry, including Canada. Our mandate is to create a pipeline of programs that will ensure representation in the media industries, facilitating a paradigm shift.”
Frances Anne Solomon
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