Catalyst 2024

Alger Ji-Liang 梁家傑 is an emerging interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, curator, and arts worker based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tseil-Waututh) peoples, known as “Vancouver”. His lens-based practice explores the interrelations of grief, love, and kinship through self-documentation, archival investigation, and image-making. He believes in the healing qualities of art-making and collaborative approaches, aiming to create work that is personal in nature and communal through experience. Liang’s directorial debut, motherland 母懷之地 (2021), received the Artistic Committee Award at the Festival of Recorded Movement and screened at Images Festival and the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival. Liang’s ultra-short, Peking Duck 片皮鴨 (2023), won the best screenplay award at the 18th Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon, an annual competition presented by the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Alger has previously worked at the Queer Arts Festival as a programs coordinator and is currently the curator of the Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen, a responsive community-generated urban screen platforming local and commissioned public art.

Brandon Wint is an Ontario-born poet, spoken word artist, educator and multi-disciplinary storyteller based in western Canada. For more than a decade, Brandon has been a sought-after touring performance poet, having shared his work all over Canada, and internationally at festivals and showcases in the United States, Australia, Jamaica, Latvia and Lithuania. Brandon is ever-grateful for the power of poetry as a spiritual technology and social force. He is devoted to using poetry as a tool for refining his sense of justice, love, and intimacy. Brandon Wint’s poems and essays have been published in The Ex Puritan, Event Magazine, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Black Writers Matter, among other places. Divine Animal (Write Bloody North, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry. His debut film, My Body Is A Poem/The World Makes With Me screened at DOXA documentary film festival and Reelworld Film Festival in 2023.

Auntie Bree Island is a member of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, from Treaty 8 territory. She is a visual artist, storyteller, and emerging Indigenous filmmaker.

Much of her creative practice is focused on reclaiming ancestral knowledge, weaving stories old and new, decolonizing spaces, and imagining Indigenous futurisms. Her art is also an intimate sharing of nêhiyaw / Cree worldviews and teachings and honors connections to land and spirit.

Bree has a background in art and animation, but she has recently stepped into writing and directing as well. Her animated short film “ahcahkopiyêsis”, a story about language reclamation set in a vibrant and surreal Woodland art world, will be in production next year. She is also in the early stages of writing a horror comedy short form web series and co-writing an animated Indigenous futurism / sci-fi limited series.

Bree is the owner of Mixed Creatives, a visual arts studio. They specialize in CGI and VFX. She currently resides on the traditional lands of the Kwantlen First Nations.

Cameron Mackenzie is an LGBTQ+ editor and filmmaker. He studied Visual Arts at The University of British Columbia and holds a BFA in Film Production from Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts. His work has shown in several festivals and galleries including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Telefilm ‘Not Short on Talent’, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. His short films explore how personal identity is shaped by psychological, social, and environmental factors. In 2017, he was a recipient of the Early Career Development Grant through BC Arts Council, and has since worked as a filmmaker and educator with The Cinematheque’s Learning and Outreach Department, and Capilano University’s Film Program. He is currently a film/video editor in the commercial advertising realm, and fosters his independent filmmaking/editing practice.

Cathy Huynh is a Vietnamese Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. She received her BFA in Film Production from Simon Fraser University in 2022. Her films often explore themes of memory, nostalgia and connection; she aims to tell humanistic stories that also have personal resonance to her as a young Asian Canadian woman. Her work has screened at festivals such as Whistler Film Festival, Vancouver Short Film Festival and Local Sightings Film Festival. Outside of writing & directing, she currently works as a Casting Assistant for Kris Woz & Kara Eide Casting.

David is a first-generation Canadian queer media artist living and working in the unceded xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlílw̓ ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories of Vancouver. While David’s main practice is as a filmmaker, photographer, and curator, he works in film exhibition as a Theatre Manager at The Pacific Cinematheque, as well as being involved with the Vancouver Asian Film Festival as a Programmer. David’s interests also expand to cooking, video games, and most recently playing guitar. As a strong advocate of physical media and analog filmmaking, David has worked in promoting media literacy and cultural communities since his graduation from Simon Fraser University’s Film Program in 2018.

Eloane Venkatapen (She/Her) was born and raised in Lyon, France and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to Film Production at UBC. Upon graduating, she has worked on content ranging from feature films and TV-series to commercials and documentary films. After two years at Cedar Island Films as an Associate Producer, she is now working as a Writer and Director in Vancouver. Eloane values telling stories from underrepresented communities. As a mixed-race woman and French speaker in a BC, Eloane strives to foster a supportive community focused on telling important stories.

Gabriel is an award-winning gender-queer Brazilian-Canadian Writer & Director based in the so-called “Vancouver”, BC. Their work is frequently inspired by Latin American folklore, Magical Realism and queer & gender expressions, exploring themes like nostalgia, acceptance and diasporic relationships. In 2022 their mixed-media short I Remember Everything won the Best Latin Canadian Short Award at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival, and in 2023 they were selected as one of the top6 directors for the Crazy8s Film Society program with the tropical magical realism short Passiflora. Gabriel is currently in pre-production with the dance short CICADA set to go to camera in late 2024, as well as their proof of concept short Creature of the Night.

Born and raised in Richmond, BC, Jamie Lam is an emerging director, writer, and filmmaker. Her latest short film, The Mess We’re In, has screened at over 20 festivals including TIFF Next Wave, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, and will be premiering on CBC Gem in September 2024 as part of CBC Short Film Face Off. A second generation immigrant of Cantonese descent, Jamie’s work aims to explore the nuances in how human connection is pursued, built, or undone. She strives to tell stories that foster empathy and understanding with a focus on mental health. Jamie is privileged to live, work, and play on the unceded traditional territories of thexʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Joshua Settee-Brown is an indigenous filmmaker originally coming from Winnipeg, MB moving to Vancouver in 2021 and attending Capilano University’s Indigenous Digital Film program and graduating from it. Josh loves making films in the genres of fantasy and sci-fi and is working on trying to find a way to merge the worlds of indigenous storytelling with fantasy and sci-fi. A lot of Josh’s writing is inspired by his grandpa who would always make up stories in different worlds full of magic.

Kat is a Vancouver-based actor, writer, director and producer. She started out in musical theatre performing on Broadway, at The Stratford Festival, The Shaw Festival and on many other stages across Canada and the USA but has since shifted her focus to Film and Television.

Her short film called A Day in the (After)Life of Diane Staples which she produced, wrote and directed in February 2024 won Best Igniter Film at The Canadian Film Festival Igniter Showcase and has been selected to screen its US premiere at the Broad Humour Film Festival in LA.

Most recently, Kat wrote, directed and starred in a proof of concept trailer for her web series called Get It Together with support from the IPF and CMF development funding. She is so excited to take the next steps with her series and her career as a filmmaker!

Nushi is a filmmaker and visual artist based in Vancouver, BC. She is an aspiring director, producer and visual artist with skills in screenwriting, editing, project management, graphic design, painting, drawing and screen-printing.

Nushi is passionate about bringing her heritage to the west. She grew up in the Philippines and moved to Canada when she was 19. Here, she wrote and directed Apoy, a Filipino short thriller that premiered in the 2023 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. She continues to direct, produce, write and market films in Vancouver with P.O.C / Asian filmmakers, and those passionate about bringing a unique perspective to this land.

Nushi wants to acknowledge that she is situated and making art on the unceded traditional territories of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Rame Ibrahim is a Palestinian Canadian film director born in Syria. His work explores his diverse background, touching on themes like refuge, politics, freedom of speech, and the Palestinian diaspora. He earned his B.A. at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul, where he directed his first short film, Eid, about his grandmother. His latest work, Ahmed, examining refugee expectations from governing bodies, was selected for the New York Shorts and Toronto Arab Film Festivals. He’s working on his third short film, Prisoner, focused on intergenerational trauma, which was part of his M.F.A. thesis in Film Production & Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. This project is supported by the full CGS-M SSHRC grant, awarded for his research and production. Rame’s storytelling resonates with global audiences, and he continues to explore compelling narratives in his future projects.

Roger is a multidisciplinary Salvadoran-Canadian director and artist. His debut short film Lavanderia screened internationally and was nominated for multiple awards including Best Writer, Best Director, and Best Short. He is a recipient of the TIFF Irving Avrich Film Fund Award which recognizes rising Canadian talent. His work is informed by his experience as a second-generation immigrant and the challenges of forming an identity while stuck between two borders.

김새로미, Romi Kim or SKIM in drag is a nonbinary, trans masc, second-generation Korean interdisciplinary artist, drag king, filmmaker, and founder of King Sized, Vancouver’s only Drag King-focused show.

Romi’s artistic approach is characterized by a playful, DIY-inspired methodology that invites audiences to ponder the intricacies of identities and their construction. With a keen focus on complicating the notion of a singular queer racialized identity, Romi challenges mainstream narratives giving space and visibility to trans and racialized identities.

Kim holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia (2022). They have screened their video work at Seoul Indie-Ani Festival (2019), Vancouver’s Queer Film Festival (2023) Polygon Art Gallery, SUM gallery and Vines Festival.

Their work aims to think through affective belonging and placemaking as potent avenues for creating meaningful connections.