Alayna pulls from her own experiences to create heartfelt, personally driven stories. She began her career in the top 3 of Elle Canada’s Fashion Film competition, then took home a $10k Telus Storyhive grant for their Female Directors edition. Alayna competed in a live pitch contest and won the 2018 MPPIA short film award at the prestigious Whistler Film Festival. The award allowed her the support and sponsorship to create ‘B-Side’ the short film. Since it’s completion ‘B-Side’ was nominated for Best Short Drama and Best Musical Score Short Drama at the 2020 Leo Awards. The film also screened at Vancouver Short Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival and most recently the Vancouver Queer Film Festival 2020, where Alayna was the proud recipient of the Gerry Brunet award in recognition of a BC short filmmaker.
B-Side is the Coming of Age story of 17-year old Mal, who when invited into a group of female skateboarders, is challenged to face her longtime, repressed fear of getting back on the board. She ends up falling for Britt, a skater, who tries to help her overcome her affliction. Forced to confront the grief of the loss of her father, a once legendary Pro Skateboarder, Mal must decide if she is ready to move on from her mourning or remain stuck in her heartache.
B-Side will be showing as part of our PURPLE program exhibiting July 15-19th, 2021!
An all-access pass gets you on demand access to all three programs all weekend long!
While growing up in her native land of Iran, Farnaz sang at every available opportunity but longed to find her authentic artist’s voice. Upon her move to Canada, she studied Operatic vocal training, Persian folk singing, then Flamenco cante through the instruction of Oscar Nieto, Vicente Griego, Naike Ponce and Lucas Ortega among others. Farnaz’s love of music and performance art inspired her to create the collaborative project “Mashregh Ensemble” in 2012, which combine’s Persian poetry with Flamenco music.
Krista Davis is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Yukon, Canada. She has ties to Nova Scotia and Arizona as well, that keep her making work between these very different landscapes. Writer Donna Haraway’s call for strategies to “live and die better together on this damaged earth” has become the guiding principal of her work. Through video, animation, performance and multi-media installation, Davis seeks creative, sometimes fantastical strategies to shift perspectives on human and non-human relationships towards a more ecologically just world. Davis’ work has been presented in galleries and festivals across North America, and Europe. She received her BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and MFA from Arizona State University. 
Sammy Mohamed is a black writer/director from Ottawa, Ontario. He and his parents immigrated from Somalia in the early 90’s. His parents, who were also writers, cultivated his love for the arts at an early age. They watched all sorts of movies and read all sorts of books together and with their help he learned to love stories in all their forms. As he grew older, he fell even more in love with cinema and decided to attend Algonquin College in the Scriptwriting Program. Since then he has written two screenplays, directed a short film and written three short films.
Corby Martin is an accomplished cinematographer and camera operator as well as an inventor and innovator of optical and mechanical products for the film industry. He has lenses award winning short films, documentaries, commercials, music videos and feature films, as well as developed unique lenses and accessories for TV and feature films including the Effigy Lens system and Ethereal Lens for Sim International. Corby is also a well recognized and respected expert on cinema lenses and has been invited to speak in panel discussions and technical workshops at event such as NAB and Cinegear and for brands such as Fujifilm USA and Sim International. Corby lives in the mountains of British Columbia and is available for cinematography and optical/mechanical design consultation.
Cassandra is a filmmaker and artist based out of Alberta, Canada. She graduated from Red Deer College with a Theatre Diploma and Applied Degree in Film and has since won several grants to fund her passions. Her work in Experimental short films and music videos have been the focus as of lately, with her most recent being a micro short based around a spontaneously recorded phone call with her sister. She continues to make films and art that she hopes mean as much to others, as her favourite films mean to her.
Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe has been a professional actress for more than 18 years. She fast became one of Hollywood’s most in-demand ‘Scream Queens’ and sought-after Sci-fi heroines. While filming the second season of Signed Sealed Delivered, Yan-Kay Crystal recognized that she had a great desire to spend time behind the camera in the director’s chair. She has gone on to produce and direct award-winning short films, including The Curtain which screened in four languages in seven countries, winning a dozen awards.
Actress and film set technician, Valérie Leclair has been combining her skills to carry out humorous projects since 2008. Her desire to interpret new characters makes her portray her own ideas! She loves gender movies and she stands out as a screenwriter with a great comedic timing. Her movies Backstore and A Nightmare on Chocolate appear on festival programs; such as Fantasia International Film Festival and SPASM Film Festival at Montréal.
Sarah Gignac has made 5 short films: two live action (Curtains, Sleeping Beauty) and three animated (Borscht & Fresh Bread, Deep Blue, Rage Monster). Her films have played in festivals across North America and internationally. Her work blends more traditional narrative formats with elements of magic realism to create thoughtful, fantastical films that explore love, loss, grief and in her newest work, uncontrollable anger. Currently she is in development with her creative partner Becky Parsonson a feature horror film, The Apartment. Sarah is committed to telling stories that are often overlooked or misrepresented. She believes that stories have the power to connect people and change minds, and wants to spend her life finding and sharing tales people might not otherwise encounter. Sarah works at the public library and is currently trying to learn how to garden. She lives and creates in Dartmouth, NS.
Sheen Chan is a recent Communications grad from the University of Winnipeg and Red River College. She has written, directed, and produced multiple short films and visual media projects. She specializes in media production and seeks to accurately portray diversity in her projects and strives to create content that represents on and behind the screen. Sheen resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba and aside from make her own short films, she enjoys catching movies at Cinematheque or Landmark Theatres and writing short stories.
Travis Marx is a newcomer to the Winnipeg film industry. He enjoys creating stories that are focused on social justice and highlighting underrepresented voices. Travis got his first directing experience while making the short film “Reflected.” In his free time, he enjoys watching movies and anime, reading manga, learning Japanese, and growing many bonsai trees. Some trees he is growing include Chinese wisteria, Japanese red pine, Chinese white pine, cedar, and Japanese green maple.
