Planet in Focus

Joining Forces: Non-Profits and Filmmakers

Thursday, October 11, 2012, 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4
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This session brings together documentarians and NGOs who produce film projects promoting environmentalism. Two pairs of producers and NGOs will describe their existing collaborations from a creative and business perspective. Two more NGOs will then join the panel to give feedback to four pre-selected producers who will present their eco film projects in development or production. Following the panel, lunch will be available to ticketholders only in The Green Room.

If you wish to apply to be one of the four producers to present their project to the NGOs at this workshop, please go to: http://www.docorg.ca

MODERATOR

Nadine Pequeneza, Independent Producer and Director (Inside Disaster Haiti)

Nadine Pequeneza has over 15 years experience in the independent production industry making award-winning documentaries and factual programming. Her work has won several awards, including: the Silver Hugo and Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Gold Medal at the New York International Film & Video Awards, and the Golden Sheaf Award at Yorkton Film Festival. She is a four-time Gemini Award nominee in both directing and writing categories.

 Pequeneza co-produced, directed and wrote 2011’s Inside Disaster Haiti, a three-part series that aired on TVO that followed the disaster relief teams of the Red Cross in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. For CBC she co-produced, directed and wrote Blowout: Is Canada Next which tracks the environmental fallout of the BP disaster, and transposes the oil spill to the North Atlantic.  

PANELISTS

Simon Brothers, Producer/Director, Powerline Films

Simon Brothers’ Powerline Films specializes in progressive grassroots video storytelling. Its Growing Good Food Ideas was produced in collaboration with Sustain Ontario and the Government of Ontario, and highlights some ofOntario’s most progressive ideas surrounding food and agriculture.

Robert Lang, Founder & President, Kensington Communications

Robert Lang is an internationally recognized, award-winning television producer and director with more than 25 years of production under his belt. From science and social documentaries to performing arts programs, children’s and music specials, his work has covered the entire spectrum of production.

Lang has been involved in every facet of film and television production for a wide variety of popular program genres.  Over the past fifteen years, Lang was responsible for production of over 150 television programs, among them: 72 Hours: True Crime, the acclaimed four-part television series The Sacred Balance with David Suzuki, and the ground-breaking, hit series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science. Other recent series work includes the 20-part City Sonic multiplatform film series which premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, the 3-part Gemini Award-winning series Diamond Road for TVOntario, Discovery Times, ZDF/ARTE in Europe and SBS Australia, accompanied by an innovative interactive documentary website Diamond Road Online (diamondroad.tv) which won a Canadian New Media Award and was invited to festivals and new media conferences worldwide.

He has also been responsible for many acclaimed one-offs and TV specials, including the Gemini award-winning Separate Lives and The Biggest Little Ticket, which won the Award of Excellence from the Alliance for Children and Television. Most recently, Robert was Producer and Co-writer of the feature documentary Raw Opium, and he is currently working as Executive Producer on the History Television series Museum Secrets, for which he directed the episode “Inside the Vatican Museums”.

Lang is one of the founders and a past chairman of the CIFC, now called DOC, Canada’s voice of documentary film, and a member of several other industry associations. He is the recipient of numerous awards for work in international development and the mental health fields, including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. He lives with his family on a farm north of Port Hope, Ontario.

Sheila Petzold, Director of Communications, USC Canada



USC Canada promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world. With engaged Canadians and partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, USC supports programs, training, and policies that strengthen biodiversity, food sovereignty, and the rights of those at the heart of resilient food systems – women, indigenous peoples, and small-scale farmers.  For 20 years, Kensington Communications Inc. has been creating public service announcements for USC Canada, most recently  “Think That’s Fair?” and “This Farmer”.

Carolyn Young, Program Coordinator, Sustain Ontario

Sustain Ontario is an alliance for healthy food and farming.  Sustain has collaborated with Powerline Films to make the video series, Growing Good Food Ideas.  Carolyn Young networks with groups throughout the province to help build their local food system and advocate for better food policies.  She has a background apprenticing on organic farms and working as an Independent Organic Inspector in Atlantic Canada. More recently, she has been coordinating urban agriculture projects in Toronto at Greenest City and The Stop Community Food Centre; conducting food policy research in Toronto and Hamilton; and supporting policy change through several networks and advocacy groups including the Greenbelt Farmers’ Market Network and the Toronto Community Garden Network.  She studied Environmental Science and Rural Extension in Guelph and has a Masters in Environmental Studies.

Co-sponsored by DOC National