Happy 45th Anniversary to LIFT – April 8, 2026

Filmmaker and Projectionist Alexi Manis at the 2025 Canadian Media Skills Exchange (CMSE)
Photograph by Justine McCloskey

April 8, 2026

Dear Members and Community,

Today, April 8, 2026 is LIFT’s 45th Anniversary. It’s exciting and humbling to reflect on the impact we have made over the years on the lives of independent filmmakers, whether it’s through our workshop program, our mentorships, our affordable rental rates for members, our community outreach programs, or our commissioning and production support projects. Seeing the list of names of filmmakers who have been a part of LIFT’s history continues to be inspiring.

It hasn’t been easy to accomplish this and we continue to need your support towards helping us stabilize our organization.

We’re extending our “$45 for LIFT45” campaign until the end of the summer! We’re currently one quarter of the way to our goal of $45,000, with the hope to raise the rest in the next four months.

It’s an obtainable goal and one that will go a long way towards supporting us through a tight financial crunch. We need about $45,000 more on a yearly basis than we’re able to generate through rentals and workshops and arts funding and, as a result, we have had a deficit for three years running. We’ve been able to stop the bleeding through careful planning, but now we have to work our way back to a surplus position!

Please consider giving at least $45 over the next few months, if you haven’t already, and encourage others to do the same. Your support is a positive reflection of the support LIFT has been able to give you over the years.

Funding and fundraising willing, we hope to be able to announce more activities and projects this year to help celebrate our 45th Anniversary with you. We trust it will be an exciting year and look forward to greeting you at LIFT and supporting your next creative project!

Best,
Chris Kennedy
Executive Director