Best Impact
Rock the Cradle
Directed by Asis Sethi
Former Playback’s 10 to Watch, an alumna of Women in Director’s Chair and the TIFF Talent Lab, Asis Sethi’s work has been supported by Netflix, CFC, CBC, Citytv, OMNI Television, WIFT Toronto, and CineFAM. Featured in the Playback Magazine, CTV, The Globe & Mail, and OMNI Television, Asis focuses on telling stories of those whose voices have been suppressed. Asis is the Founder and CEO of Fly Away Films Inc., a production company which has a diverse slate of features, television series and children’s content. Asis is also a mentor at WIFT Toronto, OYA Black Arts Coalition, and the M Film Lab.
Best Short Film
Meteor
Directed by Atefeh Khademolreza
Atefeh Khademolreza is an award-winning filmmaker whose work delves into themes of women, immigration, and identity, exploring the experiences of cultural and social disorientation and reorientation. She is an alumna of esteemed programs, including the Berlinale Talent Campus, the Asian Film Academy, and Reelworld E20. Her films have been showcased at prestigious festivals, including TIFF. Atefeh was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival’s Micki Moore Writer’s Residency (2021-2022) and the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices (2023). Her latest work, ‘METEOR,’ made its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Atefeh is a founding member of the Association of Iranian Film and Theatre Artists Abroad (AIFTAA). She holds a Master’s Degree in Film Production from York University (2019) and is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada and the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA).
Best Long Short
Motherland
Directed by Jasmin Mozaffari
Dubbed by Variety as a “major talent”, Jasmin Mozaffari is an award-winning Toronto-based film & television writer/director. Her debut feature FIRECRACKERS put her on the map, premiering at TIFF in 2018, and was named “one of the best Canadian films in years” by the Toronto Star. The film went onto win Best Film at the Stockholm International Film Festival and two Canadian Screen Awards in 2019 including the award for Achievement in Direction. The Globe and Mail proclaimed Jasmin as a “vital new voice for Canadian cinema” and FIRECRACKERS was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick in 2019.
Best Director & Best Overall Film
Esther & Sai
Directed by Rosie Choo Pidcock & Anaïsa Visser
Rosie Choo Pidcock is a biracial Chinese Canadian writer and director based in Vancouver, BC. Her award-winning debut short film Esther & Sai, a portrait of the friendship between two immigrant nursing students in the 1970s, received distribution on Air Canada and is currently in series development with the support of the Canada Media Fund, Reelworld and the TIFF Series Accelerator. Her sophomore film Sorry For Your Cost which explores the predatory nature of the funeral industry through the eyes of a working class Chinese family will hit the festival circuit in 2024.
Best Short Documentary
Listed
Directed by Leila Almawy
Leila Almawy is a Muslim- and Arab-Canadian filmmaker and activist whose work centers marginalized voices and underrepresented communities. Her films serve as emotional and visual records that bridge the gap between personal and collective memory, where individual stories contribute to a larger narrative and truth. Leila sees film as a means of educating and empowering communities, with the aim of reclaiming agency and finding a path to collective freedom and understanding.
Best Cinematography
Still Waters
Directed by Katia Café-Fébrissy
Katia Café-Fébrissy is a Toronto-based bilingual Writer, Director, Playwright and Podcast Host telling stories in English and French, on screen, on stage, on air. She is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and the Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the DGC Ontario Executive Board. Besides, she facilitates DEI workshops for the DGC. Katia is also a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada and SARTEC, the French-language Guild of Canada. She holds a Masters in Documentary Cinema from the Varan Doc Film Centre, France and a Masters in Literature and Languages from Université Paris VIII. In her body of work, she explores the themes of identity, memory and legacy.