LIFT Welcomes New Staff – November 2016
November 23, 2016
Rolla Tahir and Terra Jean Long
Farewell to Special Projects Coordinator Terra Jean Long and
Welcome to New Education and Outreach Administrator Rolla Tahir
November 23, 2016
Rolla Tahir and Terra Jean Long
Farewell to Special Projects Coordinator Terra Jean Long and
Welcome to New Education and Outreach Administrator Rolla Tahir
The staff and board at LIFT would like to announce the December departure of Special Projects Coordinator Terra Jean Long and to thank her for her incredible contribution to the organization. After three years working at LIFT, Terra is pursuing her freelance career in film editing full-time, as well as concentrating on her personal filmmaking on the side. During her tenure at LIFT, Terra designed and implemented the Filmmentor program that mentored eight women filmmakers through the filmmaking process; the Film Access program that mentored six artists with disabilities; and the Ontario Touring Program for select LIFT workshops to travel to different Ontario media arts communities. We look forward to seeing her on the other side of the counter as an active filmmaker in LIFT’s amazing community.
Terra had this to say about her time at LIFT:
“What a privilege to work in a space that fosters every iteration of moving image making and the artists that do it. I have been exposed to ideas, people and ways of working that have transformed how I understand the form and its expansiveness.
I am grateful to have worked alongside generous and brilliant colleagues who are tireless in their efforts to support artists in their practice and to facilitate access to digital and analogue filmmaking. I have learned so much from them and from the filmmakers, students and artists who bring their stories and visions to this space.
LIFT is a dynamic and vital organization responsive to the needs, dreams and challenges brought forth by the communities it serves. I am excited to continue to contribute to this ecology as a member. It is a pleasure to welcome filmmaker and educator Rolla Tahir to the team.”
LIFT would also like to welcome our new Education and Outreach Administrator Rolla Tahir, who will start full time in January 2017. Rolla was a participant in 2014’s Filmmentor program and ran the Syrian Youth Mentorship program this Fall. Her passion for community outreach and mentorship will be an asset to LIFT’s commitment to making filmmaking accessible through our workshops and outreach programs.
Rolla Tahir is an independent filmmaker, dedicated to film education, mentorship and outreach. Concurrently consumed by all things pertaining to lighting, Rolla has lensed many short films, both in digital and analog formats. Since 2007, Rolla has accumulated a wealth of knowledge of the city’s film festival-scape through working in an audio-visual capacity with festivals such as TIFF, Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, and the Jewish Film Festival.
“When I registered for my first workshop at LIFT in 2014, I never imagined my relationship to grow to the extent it has over the past few years,” Rolla says. “LIFT has been instrumental to my development as a filmmaker and through this position I hope to continue their work of supporting and nurturing filmmakers. To be working amongst artists, while further developing as a filmmaker myself, is an opportune position that not many artists are fortunate to find themselves in.”
December 2, 2016—Cake time with LIFT Staff!