Women in Film and Television Vancouver (WIFT-V) is excited to announce two upcoming Indigenous Storytelling and Screenwriting Seminars to take place in Kamloops on October 27th and Enderby on October 28th.
In an effort to increase the participation of Indigenous women in the film industry, WIFT-V launched, in August 2017, a Vancouver program called Tricksters and Writers. The successful program offered master classes to 13 women, and further developed the screenplays of six writers through story editing sessions and actor table read workshops. The program was developed with Doreen Manuel and the actor table read workshops have been a collaboration with Full Circle: First Nations Performance Society. It has been supported by Matrix Production Services, CMPA-BC, TELUS STORYHIVE, Creative BC, the Vancity Credit Union, and the BC Arts Council.
WIFT-V is now seeking to design and implement a similar program for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. In order to develop a program that meets the needs of Indigenous women in this community, WIFT-V is inviting Indigenous women with an interest in screenwriting to one of two seminars: October 27th at Thompson River University in Kamloops and October 28th at the Splatisn Community Centre in Enderby. The seminars will be led by Doreen Manual and Petie Chalifoux and will include conversations around storytelling and cultural authenticity as well as a film screening.
Doreen Manuel (Secwepemc/Kootenai) is the sixth child of Grand Chief George Manuel and Spiritual Leader Marceline Manuel. She is an award-winning filmmaker and has been the Program Coordinator of the Capilano University Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Program for the past 11 years.
Petie Chalifoux is a Cree filmmaker from Northern Alberta. She graduated with her Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts in January 2017 and was the very first Indigenous Valedictorian for Capilano University’s convocation in June 2017. Her last feature film River of Silence screened at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival on International Women’s Day 2018.
WIFT-V is excited to expand the program into the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and is grateful for the support of TELUS STORYHIVE, who have made this possible.