VIFF 2026 Juries

Based in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory, Rhia Aden is a filmmaker, programmer, and screen sector leader committed to amplifying underrepresented voices in film. As Executive Director of the Mosquers Film Festival, she is committed to platforming Muslim/BIPOC storytelling, cultivating meaningful spaces for Muslim creatives, and driving narrative change. Before joining Mosquers, Rhia managed talent development programs at the British Film Institute (BFI) in London, where she helped create pathways for emerging filmmakers to build sustainable careers in the screen industry. Her work spans film programming, talent development, strategic partnerships, and building more equitable pathways for underrepresented creatives.

Nach Dudsdeemaytha is an award-winning producer and a co-founder of Musubi Arts, based in Vancouver. His recent credits include Mongrels (2024, dir. Jerome Yoo), which won the Horizon Award at VIFF 2024 and the FIPRESCI Prize at PÖFF 2024; and Akashi (2025, dir. Mayumi Yoshida), which won the Audience Choice award at VIFF 2025 as well as the Borsos for Best Canadian Feature Film at Whistler Film festival 2025. Nach is an alumnus of the NSI/EAVE Access Producers Program, and was named one of Playback’s 10 to Watch in 2025.

Award-winning Canadian filmmaker Caitlyn Sponheimer is a writer, director, actor, and producer. Her directorial debut feature, Wild Goat Surf (2023), won multiple awards and was theatrically released across North America. She is a Directors Guild of Canada nominee, an ACTRA nominee, a 2026 DGC Cannes Delegation member, and alumna of the Reykjavik Talent Lab and VIFF Composer Filmmaker Accelerator. Through her production company, CouKuma Productions, she champions emerging Canadian voices and filmmakers.

During 23 years at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Selwyn Jacob produced a wide range of documentaries including Charles Officer’s Leo- and Emmy-award-winning Mighty Jerome (2010) and Mina Shum’s feature documentary Ninth Floor (2015), which was selected to TIFF’s 2015 annual Top Ten list of Best Canadian Films. Jacob retired from the NFB in 2019, and his last production was Now Is the Time (2020), directed by Haida filmmaker, Christopher Auchter. Jacob directed two award-winning films for the NFB, Carol’s Mirror (1991) and The Road Taken (1996). He currently works as an executive producer and story consultant.

Lyana Patrick is a director, writer, and researcher based in Vancouver, BC. She is a member of the Stellat’en First Nation and Acadian/Scottish. Lyana brings a collaborative approach to her community-based work that centers Indigenous experiences and honours the principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity. She studied film at the University of Washington’s Native Voices Indigenous Documentary Film Program. Her first feature-length documentary Nechako: It Will be a Big River Again premiered at DOXA Documentary Film Festival in 2025. Her film and research work focus on the intersection of Indigenous community health, Indigenous ecological stewardship, and justice.

Jeff Lee Petry is a Canadian-born producer, director, and cinematographer. He is a co-founder of Salazar Film, a documentary production company focusing on the unique stories of individuals whose lives create change within their communities. Over the past 15 years, Salazar has filmed on five continents, earned Grammy and Juno nominations, been honoured in the UK Parliament, and has had multiple films included in the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Archives. Salazar’s work has been screened in over 35 international film festivals and across multiple platforms.

Joaquin Cardoner is an independent producer working across Canada and Europe. Born in Buenos Aires and raised in Brazil, he developed his filmmaking career in Canada. His work has received prestigious accolades, including the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2025 for One Day This Kid and an Honourable Mention for Best Canadian Discovery at TIFF 2025 for his Tibetan feature film 100 Sunset. His short films have screened at festivals including the Berlinale, Locarno, Tokyo, Busan, and New Directors/New Films at MoMA, and he has received four Canada’s Top Ten selections at TIFF.

Caroline Monnet is an acclaimed filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist of Algonquin Anishinaabe and French ancestry from Outaouais, Québec. Her films have been presented at major international festivals including TIFF, Sundance, the Berlinale, Göteborg, and Rotterdam, and she has previously won the Emerging Canadian Director Award at VIFF and Best Narrative Feature at Imagine Native Festival. Monnet was selected for the Cannes Cinéfondation Residency in Paris and received the Merata Mita Fellowship from the Sundance Institute. In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she was named Companion of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec.

Sarah Shamash is a practicing media artist, scholar, educator, and curator who currently holds a position as an Assistant Professor of Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr University. Her research centers on film and media from the Global South, with a focus on Brazilian cinema and feminist media histories. Her writing on film and media has been published in peer-reviewed journals and her films and media works have been awarded funding from Canada and BC Arts Council. Shamash has curated film programs and media art exhibitions, with a critical media praxis that encompasses academic, curatorial, practice-based, and collaborative methods.