Citizen Minutes

Directors: Kimberley Ann Surin & Aïcha Morin-Baldé
Cinematographers: Thomas Soto
Editor: Myriam Magassouba
Sound Recordist: René Portillo Ruiz
Composer: Alexis Elina

Runtime: 6 MIN
Country: Canada

KIMBERLEY ANN SURIN

Based in Montreal, Kimberley Ann is a Haitian-Canadian filmmaker. She graduated in 2016 from Pennsylvania State University in Communications - Film and TV. Over the years, she had the chance to work on a variety of interesting and different projects, from fiction to documentary, advertising and promotional commercials to publicity, as well as animation. In 2020, she directed and wrote her first documentary Against All Odds, a short film about the lack of diversity in professional and junior hockey with retired NHL player Georges Laraque as main protagonist. Her focus in all her creative work is to uplift the voices of Black, marginalized, and under-represented talent in front of and behind the camera. Kimberley Ann is currently in development of a feature-length documentary and feature-length drama film.

AÏCHA MORIN-BALDÉ

Aïcha was born and raised in Montreal of French-Canadian and Guinean descent. After graduating in Film & Communications, she completed two consecutive internships at established production companies. She has since accumulated extensive experience as a director, producer, editor and production coordinator, and has worked on various types of web productions including web series, fiction, music videos and documentaries. Using the camera to elevate black voices and stories has always been the driving force behind Aïcha's work. She is passionate about creating films that help grow Black representation in media and consistently aims to shine the spotlight on the unique individuals in her community. Her first short film Knots explores Black women's relationships with their natural hair and the stigmas surrounding it. It premiered at the Toronto Black Film Festival and will also be available at FIFBM in September 2021. She is currently writing her first short drama, a feminist piece on the subject of abortions. 

Working on this film, we had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with the rich community of St-Michel. Although none of us were from the neighbourhood, they made us and our team feel right at home. 

We would like to thank Nathan Zoh Bi, Kendra Coulibaly, Pau Evra and his dedicated team, and all the other participants who took the time to speak with us. We would also like to thank Hot Docs for making this film possible and for supporting the Black French-Canadian community of Montreal. 

Director: Aisha Fairclough
Writer: Aisha Fairclough
Editor: Pauline Decroix

Runtime: 8 MIN
Country: Canada

AISHA FAIRCLOUGH

Aisha Fairclough is a filmmaker and television producer. She has developed, researched and produced unscripted content for several networks including Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) Canada, Slice, HGTV, Showtime, Global TV, Food Network Canada, TVO, CBC and Crave. She is an alumni of Reelworld Film Festival’s E20 Emerging program.

Also the co-founder of Body Confidence Canada, Aisha sits on the board of Inside Out LGBTQ+ Film Festival serving as Strategic Planning Committee Chair and on the advisory council for the Ryerson University School of Fashion. Aisha’s cheeky quotes on fashion and body positivity can be found in Toronto Star, Metro, Etalk, Refinery 29, Huffington Post, BBC, CTV News and Essence Magazine. She once brought her fashion chops to the small screen as Lead Stylist on the primetime series Sex with Sunny Megatron on Showtime.

In 2019 she graced the cover of Chatelaine Magazine's June/July Issue celebrating her body-positivity and in 2020 she was a featured artist in Buddies in Bad Times Queer Pride Analogue Project celebrating Pride in Place. Aisha currently lives in Toronto with her partner and their two cats Josephine Baker and Dorothy Dandridge.  

Many people say politicians do not work hard. Well, they haven’t met Jill. To me she’s just Jill—the tireless workaholic who wears her heart on her sleeve and passionately champions humanity at every turn. I want to share a small piece of who I get to see every day with the world. As a filmmaker I want to tell the stories not often told from perspectives that are routinely overlooked. As a Black queer woman, mine is a lens not often seen or heard. We are here and our stories matter.

Directors: Simon Madore, Gabriel Tougas
Producer: David Beata
Writer: Chaz Beaudette
Cinematographers: Robert Mentov, Shauna Townley
Editor: Chelsea Bennett
Sound Recordist: Igal Petel
Composer: Mario Lepage

Runtime: 3 MIN
Country: Canada

SIMON MADORE

Simon Madore is a French-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto with almost two decades of experience in the television industry. Throughout that time he has worked on multiple documentary series addressing issues of public concern in Canadian society; subjects like globalism, plastic pollution and language rights in Canada.

GABRIEL TOUGAS
Gabriel Tougas is a filmmaker and television director based in Winnipeg. Over the past decade, he has written and directed more than fifty hours of French-language lifestyle and documentary programming, broadcast nationally on TVA, TFO, SRC, AMI-télé and APTN. Frequent themes in Gabriel's work include environmentalism, cultural identity and youth engagement. 

Director: Rachel Garrick
Cinematographers: Rachel Garrick
Editor: Nadine Arpin
Illustration: Don Ningewance
Narration: Rachel Garrick
Sound Recordist: Rachel Garrick 

Runtime: 3 MIN
Country: Canada

RACHEL GARRICK

Rachel Garrick is a band member of Lac Seul First Nation and resides in Hudson, a small community in Northwestern Ontario. The last film she worked on, as Producer, was titled, "Jane and the Wolf". It was screened at local, national and international film festivals and broadcasted nationally on APTN. She participated in the Docs North Film Bootcamp in Thunder Bay and is also an NSI Aboriginal Documentary 2015 alumni.

Director: Teresa Alfeld
Cinematographer: Vince Arvidson
Editor: Lawrence Le Lam
Sound Recordist: Caisha Thompson

Runtime: 7 MIN
Country: Canada

TERESA ALFELD

Teresa Alfeld is a director from Vancouver and the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, and the Documentary Organization of Canada. Teresa is drawn to complex characters navigating complicated worlds, and her films embrace both the humour and pathos of the human experience.

Teresa’s feature documentary The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical (produced with Opus 59 Films) was the opening night gala film at DOXA Documentary Film Festival in 2018, and had its broadcast premiere on The Knowledge Network in 2019.
Teresa has written and directed several award-winning short comedy-dramas including Closet Carnivore (2004), Charlie Gauvin (2012) and Roadkill (2013), which have screened at film festivals across Canada.  

Teresa will be directing her second feature documentary Doug and the Slugs and Me for CBC documentary Channel (with Opus 59 Films) in 2021. 

I first met Jean Swanson over ten years ago at the Poverty Olympics, an event protesting excessive spending on the 2010 Vancouver Olympics while the homelessness crisis raged on. I was taken aback by Jean - this soft-spoken older woman commanding the attention of the packed Carnegie Centre as she spoke clearly and emphatically about the need to end legislated poverty. We later reconnected when I made my first documentary about Harry Rankin and the progressive movement he helped build in Vancouver, and which Jean was a large part of. Since then I’ve had the privilege of getting to know her as a colleague and friend.

Often called the “Canadian Bernie Sanders,” Jean has the credibility and integrity forged through a decades-long career fighting the systems that keep people entrenched in poverty. Now that she is in her first elected role as a city councillor, it’s been fascinating to watch Jean navigate creating change from inside government, while also working alongside the next generation of activists.

Jean Swanson: We Need A New Map features Jean candidly reflecting on the highs and lows of her forty-year career of activism, and what it means to dedicate your life to effecting change. My hope is for this documentary to inspire folks young and old through witnessing Jean’s incredible journey and the tenacity that has defined her career. I hope audiences will also be galvanized by the energy and dedication of Jean’s young colleagues Sara and Ishmam, and that viewers will consider their own paths towards becoming civically engaged.  

Directors: Roble Issa & Zach Jama
Cinematographers: Alex Tse
Editor: Lawrence Jackman
Sound Recordist: Jason Milligan 

Runtime: 8 MIN
Country: Canada

ROBLE ISSA

Roble Issa is a Somali-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. After graduating with a degree in Psychology from York University, he pursued a career in film, starting as a screenwriter before making the transition to directing. His work explores themes such as identity, coming of age, and mental health.

ZACH JAMA

Zach Jama is a documentary filmmaker and engineer. He studied his BASc in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada and his MFA in Cinematic Arts in Jordan. In 2019, Zach graduated with a Master of Science (MSc) in Art, Culture and Technology from MIT. 

Director: Carmen Pollard
Writer: Carmen Pollard
Cinematographers: Claire Sanford, Grant Baldwin
Editor: Carmen Pollard
Composer: Brent Belke
Sound Design & Mix: Chris McLaren

Runtime:  8 MIN
Country: Canada

CARMEN POLLARD

Carmen Pollard is a Canadian filmmaker focused on stories that centre underrepresented voices and perspectives within the arts, social and climate justice. She has worked throughout her professional career as a director, editor, producer and digital compositing artist. Her award-winning work has been broadcast throughout North America, has screened theatrically, on Netflix, and at festivals worldwide.

Director: Javier Lovera
Cinematographer: Javier Lovera
Additional Cinematography: Juan Angel
Editor: Lawrence Jackman, Maria Todorov-Topouzov
Sound Recordist: David Dunlap, Elias Fuentes

Runtime:  7 MIN
Country: Canada

JAVIER LOVERA

Javier is a filmmaker and photographer exploring the intersection between technology and society. With a M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, he is an alumni of DOC Breakthrough Program, RIDM Talent Lab, and Hot Docs Deal Maker. Select clients include The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, FASHION Magazine, BMW, NIKE, and ROOTS.