The VIFF Co-Production Forum is a new industry initiative launching in 2026, designed to foster international collaboration and support the development of feature-length film projects. Bringing together Canadian and international producers, financiers, and decision-makers, the Forum aims to strengthen global co-production partnerships and create meaningful opportunities for financing, creative exchange, and distribution.
Taking place over two days during the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Forum will provide selected teams with a curated program of panels, case studies, one-on-one meetings, and networking opportunities with industry professionals actively seeking international projects.
Meet the 2026 Projects & Participants
Jason Lapeyre (Director – Producer)
The Auschwitz Volunteer (Canada)
In 1940, Polish soldier Witold Pilecki volunteers to go to Auschwitz prison camp to gather information. He remains for 2½ years helping his fellow prisoners before escaping. While there, he witnesses the evolution of the Holocaust.
Jason Lapeyre is a director, producer, and screenwriter working across features and television. His first feature, Cold Blooded, won Best Canadian Film at Fantasia. His second feature, I Declare War, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, won the Audience Award at Fantastic Fest, and was released theatrically by Drafthouse Films. His latest film, Monkey on a Stick, is a documentary exposé of the Hare Krishna movement.
José Luis Isoard Arrubarrena (Director – Producer)
Los vivos y los patos (Mexico)
By ritually burning duck manure from a nearby farm, Señora Bruna brings the dead from her community back to life. The people of Catepopan will have to face old wounds… because their loved ones return with the whims and issues they took to the grave.
José Luis Isoard Arrubarrena studied political science. His first feature film, Father Pablo, premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2021 and was released in Mexican theaters in 2024. His short films have screened at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique, Morelia International Film Festival, where he won the Jury Prize in 2022, and San Diego Latino Film Festival, among others. His latest feature, Oswaldo the Human, was awarded FOCINE post-production support and participated in EICTV’s Editing Lab, SAPCINE, and Bolivia Lab.
Gursimran Datla (Producer)
Galeo of the Seawalkers (Canada/Indonesia/Singapore)
A fearful Seawalker boy fails his village trials and is forced into the Wild Seas after his missing father, learning that being a Mighty Seawalker is not about conquering the ocean, but mastering himself.
Gursimran Datla is a producer and founder of BetterHalf Films, developing film, television, and cross-cultural stories with international potential. His producing work has been supported through programs and initiatives including BANFF-Netflix Diversity of Voices, Whistler Producer Lab, Asia Film & TV Market Singapore, and Reykjavik Talent Lab. He has developed projects across Canada and internationally, with a focus on original content, fresh voices, and creator-led intellectual property. With expertise in project development, Datla is building sustainable pathways for independent screen stories for audiences around the world.
Orwi Manny Ameh (Executive Producer)
Restful Harbour (Ghana/Nigeria/UK)
When British-Ghanaian executive Danielle Lamptey returns to Accra to say goodbye to her dying grandfather, she is pulled back into a childhood summer and a secret she has spent a decade outrunning.
Orwi Manny Ameh is a Nigerian producer and executive producer with credits across film and television. His producing credits include Tainted Canvas, which screened at the Sedona International Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize at AFRIFF in 2020. He produced the short Hello Rain, which screened at the BFI London Film Festival and won a Jury Prize at Fantasia. His recent short, Aje and Bruja, screened at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, Durban International Film Festival, and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in Switzerland. Other credits include Payday, A Romantic Comedy Featuring Lara and Tobi, and The Rise of Orisha.
Ali Naqi (Director – Producer)
Hiding in my Cells (Canada)
At an orphanage in Belgaum, India, children abandoned because of HIV have built a chosen family. As Kasturi fights to secure permanent land, she must protect their home and ensure they are never abandoned again.
Ali Naqi is a multidisciplinary artist and creative director working across film, design, performance, and marketing. After immigrating to Canada in 2015 and spending a decade in the corporate world, he transitioned to a full-time creative practice. His work brings together storytelling, visual direction, and campaign strategy, with a focus on identity, advocacy, and community.
Sara Blake (Producer)
To The North (Canada)
Francine is a homesteader trapped in a dead marriage. When her partner goes missing, she finds a strange man in the woods. His sudden presence unleashes repressed desires and a growing fear that her new lover might be her husband’s killer.
Sara Blake produces director-driven works that are fresh and unexpected. She is the co-founder of Ceroma, a boutique film and television company based in Vancouver, Canada. Her credits include the feature films Seagrass, recipient of the FIPRESCI Award at TIFF in 2023; Until Branches Bend, which screened at TIFF, PÖFF, SXSW, and Locarno; and Raf, which screened at TIFF in 2019. In 2022, Blake won the Indiescreen Emerging Producer Award. She also co-founded the nonprofit organization Filmable and sits on the CMPA BC Branch Council.
Sami Hawka (Writer, Director, Producer)
Afuera Todo Arde (Peru/Spain/Chile)
Under dictatorship, loving outside the norm becomes an act of revolution.
Sami Hawka is a co-writer of Sheep and Wolves (2024), which screened in Clermont-Ferrand’s International Competition, AFI Fest, Palm Springs, Raindance, and DokuFest, Hawka has also received awards at Zaragoza and Shorts México, and the film was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick. Hawka wrote, directed, and produced Anarquía Relacional de los amores libres (2024), selected for Rio WebFest International Circuit in 2024 and 2025 and the Panama Series Festival. The series received a Jury Prize at Webseries and Film Festival and won Best National Microseries, Best Actor, and Best Actress at Cusco WebFest. Hawka hold’s a master’s degree in Distribution and Audiovisual Business from ECAM.
Alaa Amer (Producer)
Al-Madeeneh 2008 (Yemen/USA/France)
A seven-day chronicle of the last practitioner of an obsolete construction craft who loses his only work, finds love, and spirals into all kinds of hope through the daily life, the myths, and the politics of an old Yemeni town on the brink.
Ala’a Amer is a Yemeni producer and filmmaker whose work spans commercial, documentary, and narrative film across the United States and the SWANA region. Her work bridges cultures and brings underrepresented stories to international audiences. She is currently developing Al-Madeeneh 2008, a Yemeni feature directed by longtime collaborator Yousef Assabahi, producing the documentary The Land Keepers, supported by the New Museum and Doha Film Institute, and working on multiple short films from Yemen. Amer holds a UCLA Extension Producing certificate and an MBA from Jordan University.
