LIFT and imagineNATIVE 2015 Mentorship Announcement

2015 LIFT and imagineNATIVE Mentorship Winner Jaene Castrillon

2015 LIFT and imagineNATIVE Mentorship Winner Jaene Castrillon

Toronto, April 16, 2015—imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) are pleased to announce that Toronto-based Indigenous Colombian artist Jaene Castrillon is the recipient of the 11th annual LIFT/imagineNATIVE Mentorship. This annual mentorship was developed to offer an Indigenous artist living in the Greater Toronto Area the opportunity to expand their practice into the realm of film, and present their new work in a professional context. Jaene will be enrolled in LIFT’s seasonal workshops, be paired with a suitable mentor, be provided with access to LIFT’s production and post-production equipment, and receive additional financial and resource support from imagineNATIVE and other to-be-confirmed mentorship partners to complete a film for premiere at the 2015 imagineNATIVE festival (October 14–18).

“LIFT is delighted to be working with Jaene on a film for imagineNATIVE 2015,” says Chris Kennedy, LIFT’s Executive Director. “Jaene participated in our LIFT Filmmentor program in 2014 and aims to tell stories of resilience and triumph, and contribute to positive dialogues on these issues. We’re looking forward to our collaboration with her.”

“We were very impressed with the entries this year, in terms of both the quality and number of submissions, which continue to grow every year and it was very challenging to select only one recipient,” adds Jason Ryle, imagineNATIVE’s Executive Director. “We’re very excited to see Jaene’s final film on screen at our Festival this fall, which will add to the remarkable collection of films produced by Indigenous artists through our valuable partnership with LIFT.”

“I am delighted to be selected for the LIFT/imagineNATIVE Mentorship and look forward to receiving feedback and advice on the direction of my film and the best techniques to employ for it. It has been a dream of mine to be a part of imagineNATIVE and to make my film ‘A Celebration of Darkness.’ This mentorship will provide that opportunity, which will be a great honor and a perfect venue to debut it.”
—Jaene Castrillon

Previous year’s mentees include actor and choreographer Michael Greyeyes (Seven Seconds); Dora and Juno Award nominee Jani Lauzon (eu•tha•na•sia); actor, 2014 imagineNATIVE award-winner Michelle Latimer (Tomorrow); multi-disciplinary artist Tyler Hagan (Estuary) and filmmaker Adrienne Marcus Raja (Soli). Jaene will premiere her new short at the 16th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, October 14–18, 2015.

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On behalf of the Selection Committee, thank you to all of this year’s incredible applicants! To find out more about this annual mentorship, and other artistic opportunities available through imagineNATIVE, please contact programming(at)imagineNATIVE.org or visit www.imaginenative.org
 
For more details about the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto please visit www.LIFT.ca
  

Thursday 16 April 2015 –

Non-members:
Members:

Location:
Liaison of Independent Fimmakers of Toronto (LIFT) 
1137 Dupont Street 
Toronto ON Canada