[su_heading size=”21″]Lights. Digital camera. Action.[/su_heading]
With the Toronto International Film Festival casting a shadow as stars, masters, and George Clooney leave us behind, budding filmmakers from York’s Department of Cinema and Media Arts are filling in that gap at CineSiege 2015. CineSiege, in its 13th year, is an annual showcase of York student films that are selected and presented by a jury of industry heavyweights.
CineSiege presented 32 student films shortlisted by the jury from 137 projects at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema on October 20.
Ranging from fictional creations, documentarian investigations, and experimental projections, CineSiege gives York film students exposure to the media industry and allows them to present and celebrate their work. The awards are just icing on the cake. Aside from the selection of student submission, the juries are just as deserving of some attention.
Leading jury duty is director, producer, and cinematographer Nicholas de Pencier. Having been a producer and director of photography on the TIFF and Berlin certified documentary Watermark, and the adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Payback, de Pencier has earned himself a slew of awards.
Gisèle Gordon has carved herself a unique place in the industry, in her collaborations with famous Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman and experimental video installations presented around the world ranging from Nuit Blanche to Moscow Biennale. Charlotte Mickie is president of Mongrel International, one of Canada’s best film distributors. Having worked as a managing director in the sales department for several years, Mickie knows how to sell a good film.
Jason Ryle is an executive director and programmer at imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, which promotes and celebrates Canadian and international Indigenous media artists.
Rounding out the jury is York alumnus and MFA graduate from the film department, Keith Lock. Toronto-born Lock worked as an assistant with Claude Jutra, acclaimed director of the Canadian masterpiece Mon Oncle Antoine, and as a cinematographer for experimental icon Michael Snow.
Lock is an artist and director in his own right, with films like Small Pleasures and A Brighter Moon lighting up the screen. Having had films in the Toronto International Film Festival, Taipei International Film Festival, and having presented works at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the BFI Southbank in London, Lock knows competition and success.
Excalibur had an exclusive interview with Lock, along with Kristina Mileska, Nancy Asiamah-Yeboah, Adam Singer, Megan Berg, and Sarah Amin-Uddin, where we discussed York, jury duty, and words of wisdom.
Click below for the full interviews.
Keith Lock
Kristina Mileska
Nancy Asiamah-Yeboah
Adam Singer
Megan Berg
Sarah Amin-Uddin
Nirris Nagendrarajah, Contributor
Featured image courtesy of AMPD, compiled by Victoria Goldberg
