LIFT and imagineNATIVE 2025 Mentorship Announcement
2025 LIFT and imagineNATIVE Mentorship Winner Katia Ferderber
Photo by Renata Mohamed
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THE LIAISON OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS OF TORONTO (LIFT)
AND THE IMAGINENATIVE FILM + MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL
2025 MENTORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
Toronto, December 12, 2025—This past summer, the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) selected Toronto-based Anishinaabekwe artist Katia Ferderber as the recipient of the 20th 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. Having recently completed principal photography, her film “Written in the Stars” follows a young woman who is very much single after a situationship, comes to meet a guy hidden in plain sight.
Katia has been enrolled in LIFT’s seasonal workshops this fall season and was provided with access to and mentorship around LIFT’s production and post-production equipment. She received additional financial and resource support from imagineNATIVE and mentorship partners to complete a film for premiere at the 2026 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (June 2-7, 2026 in Toronto and June 8-14, 2026 for the online festival).
Through the generous support of lead industry partner Netflix, imagineNATIVE has been able to expand their financial contribution to the LIFT/imagineNATIVE Mentorship Program to help Indigenous artists bring their short films to life.
“The imagineNATIVE Institute is proud to support Katia on the creation of her first short! We strive to uplift our emerging Indigenous artists, and we are proud to see her excel and do so with her community in a good way! We are looking forward to the premiere at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in June,” says imagineNATIVE Institute Manager Bliss Bondy.
“We’re very excited to be supporting Katia’s film. Her transition from actor to writer/director provides a great sense of presence to the script. She brought the same energy to the set and, judging by early reports, this will be a really strong film marked by great performances. We feel honoured to be part of Katia’s growth as a filmmaker,” adds Chris Kennedy, LIFT’s Executive Director.
“As a recipient of the ImagineNATIVE and LIFT mentorship I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity as a first time filmmaker. I’m still in amazement for this opportunity. I’m thankful for everyone that has been apart of it, and it has been wonderful to have previous imagineNATIVE and LIFT recipients on this project and walking along side me through this whole process. When I say this short film is community made, it truly is. From the venue, the indie band ‘Frank’, the crew and actors, to long time friends. The film is a manifestation of love itself and I’m excited to showcase it in June 2026. I’m happy with everything I’ve learned from being a first time director and I look forward to continuing down this path of writing, directing and acting. I will forever express my gratitude for everyone involved and for the resources imagineNATIVE and LIFT provided. So with that being said, Chi Miigwech, imagineNATIVE and LIFT!”
Katia Ferderber is a proud Anishinaabekwe originally from Treaty 3. However, Katia grew up in Chapleau Cree First Nation from early childhood to her mid teenage years. Katia has played around with video cameras from a young age. Making mini films on the rez, capturing the natural beauty of Chapleau Cree to acting and playing dress up. Katia has since been following her creative impulses such as Acting, Visual Arts and Film. She attended George Brown College for Introduction to Theatre Arts for a year to attend Humber College Acting for Film and Television. Since then Katia acted in numerous short films, theatre performances with Native Earth Performing Arts, to painting commissions for Native Earth Performing Arts as well, and will be completing her first mural at the end of May 2025. Katia has also recently become an ACTRA member resulting in getting into more audition rooms. With Katia’s love for film, she stepped outside her comfort zone and has written her first short film “Written in the Stars.” https://www.instagram.com/katiaferderber
Previous year’s mentees include actor and choreographer Michael Greyeyes (Seven Seconds); Dora and Juno Award nominee Jani Lauzon (eu•tha•na•sia); Michelle Latimer (Tomorrow); Tyler Hagan (Estuary), Adrienne Marcus Raja (Soli), Jaene Castrillon (Celebration of Darkness), Jamie Whitecrow (Heidi Lost), Samay Arcentales Cajas (In Moment), Natasha Naveau (Menaptwi (Smoked)), Cole Forrest (Into Water), Tim Miles (Little Bird), Jordan Wanakamik (Burned) and Kira Doxtator (The Fourth World Problems Collective).
Katia will premiere her new short in-person at the 26th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in June 2026.
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 imagineNATIVE Institute Manager Bliss Bondy at bliss@imaginenative.org
Follow this program on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: #LIFTiNMentorship
This mentorship program is funded by Netflix Canada.
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Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 148 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. https://www.netflix.com
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content. The organization is recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for excellence and innovation in programming and as the global centre for Indigenous media arts. imagineNATIVE (legal entity: The Centre for Aboriginal Media) is a registered charity committed to creating a greater understanding of Indigenous peoples and cultures through the presentation of contemporary Indigenous-made media art including film, video, audio and digital media. https://imaginenative.org
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is Canada’s foremost artist-run production and education organization dedicated to celebrating excellence in the moving image. LIFT exists to provide support and encouragement for independent filmmakers and artists through affordable access to production, post-production and exhibition equipment; professional and creative development; workshops and courses; commissioning and exhibitions; artist residencies; and a variety of other services. http://lift.ca
LIFT is supported by self-generated revenue as well as the following year-round funders: the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), Ontario Arts Foundation, the Government of Ontario and the Toronto Arts Council (TAC).
As a charitable organization, LIFT graciously accepts donations via our CanadaHelps page. If you would like to support our filmmaking community, please visit https://lift.ca/donate
Monday 25 August 2025 – Saturday 6 June 2026
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