• Minutes before Karen Lam’s horror flick Evangeline opened the 9th Annual Women in Film Festival, representatives from Superchannel and Women in Film and Television Vancouver launched the National Genre Film Lab, a development program for female filmmakers in Canada.
The Lab will assist jury-selected teams of female filmmakers to secure financing for “genre” films (sci-fi, horror, fantasy and thriller) that have a strong representation of female roles both on and off the screen. It’s the inaugural phase of WIFTV’s National Accelerator Project, designed to address the gender imbalance in leadership in Canadian feature films.
• The UBCP/ACTRA Women’s Committee celebrated International Women’s Day by honouring Nicole Oliver for “outstanding contributions to the Union, the industry, and causes of social justice.”
The veteran Vancouver-based actress, producer and director (best known for voicing Princess Celestia on the wildly popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cartoon) has been nominated for several Leo Awards for work on screens big and small. “[Oliver] is such a great example of a woman balancing a career and family while still finding the time to contribute so much to the Union,” UBCP/ACTRA’s Women’s Committee Chair Jo Bates said in a press release.
• Stage and screen converge this week when Helen Lawrence opens at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage. Set in 1948 Vancouver, the Noir-style mixed media spectacle is the brainchild of visual artist Stan Douglas and award-winning screenwriter Chris Haddock (Boardwalk Empire, Intelligence, Da Vinci’s Inquest). Until April 13.
• The Canadian International Film Festival is March 28-29 at Edgewater Casino. This year’s fest will screen independent features and shorts from Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, Belgium, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Albania, and the United States, and conclude with an awards ceremony. CanadianFilmFestival.com.
