Vancouver International Film Festival: Catalyst Mentorship Program

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In this episode of CLR, join Tasha Simms and Marc Caron as they speak with Catalyst Programmer & Mentorship Coordinator, Rylan Friday and Catalyst member, Carter Kirilenko, two upcoming film makers who are part of the VIFF Catalyst Program. The 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival (September 24 – October 7, 2020) will welcome up to 15 emerging and aspiring filmmakers to participate in Catalyst, an immersive film festival experience.

Learn More about the VIFF Catalyst Program – Click Here

This cohort-based facilitated mentorship program, presented by TELUS Storyhive and supported by the RBC Emerging Artists Project, will provide its participants with the tools and experiences they need to embolden their cinematic voices and bring their projects to the next level. This program is a catalyst to elevate Vancouver’s independent film community to the world stage.

Catalyst will select participants based on their demonstrated pursuit in creating boundary-pushing and ambitious moving image work. We especially encourage applicants from those we may be under- or mis-represented in the film industry, including filmmakers who are racialized, 2SLGBTQ, women, low-income, newcomers, and/or differently abled.

Breaking down barriers and hierarchies, Catalyst is centered around participants meeting mentor artists and film professionals with a level of equality in a facilitated and intimate setting. The selected cohort will be comprised of a diversity of filmmaking experience and perspective in order to foster a rich peer mentorship environment.

Our Guests

Carter Kirilenko:  Catalyst member 

Carter Kirilenko is an emerging Director who focuses on story-driven documentary films that explore environmental issues. He attended UWaterloo for Environment & Business. His first two short documentary films, In Your Palm & Leuser: The Last Place on Earth draw connections between Indonesia’s annual haze crisis and the expansion of palm oil plantations. He found his passion for cinema while taking on the role of director, producer, editor, and scriptwriter for his second film, “Leuser: The Last Place on Earth.”

 

For more information and updates for when and where you can watch these two very impactful documentary’s vist:

https://www.inyourpalmdoc.com/

 

Rylan Friday:  Catalyst Programmer & Mentorship Coordinator 

Rylan Friday (Saulteaux / Cree) is an multi-media storyteller, curator, writer and producer from Cote First Nation, Rylan’s goal is to bring LGBTQ2 and First Nations stories to the big screen and encourage younger generations to express themselves openly and artistically. His short film This Bright Flash has screened at FTQFF, The Lift-Off Sessions LA, FNFVF & VIFF. Recently, he produced the feature film  Portraits From a Fire and helped implement its peer-to-peer mentorship program for Indigenous youth. Currently, he’s the Vancouver International Film Festival Catalyst Programmer.

 

Watch the interview Here:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2458564981111395&extid=cgPqSChDXufhUx8a

  Carter Kirilenko, Catalyst, Flowers of the Field, In Your Palm, Leuser, Rylan Friday, VIFF