Stephanie Johnes is an American documentary filmmaker. [1] She is most noted for her 2024 film Maya and the Wave , which was the first runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentaries at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. [2]
The sister of film producer Alexandra Johnes, [3] she also directed the films Bouncing Bulldogs and Doubletime , [3] and was a cinematographer on the documentary film Venus and Serena . [1]
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, founded in 1976 and taking place each September. It is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.
Alexandra Johnes is an American documentary film producer and former actress. As a producer, Johnes is known for films including The Square, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and Doubletime. She has worked as a Producer with various directors, including Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki and Jehane Noujaim. In 2013, Johnes received a Primetime Emmy Award for producing Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. During her acting career, Johnes' film credits include starring roles as the Childlike Empress in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, and Phoebe in Zelly and Me, alongside Isabella Rossellini and David Lynch, as well as guest appearances on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
Nisha Pahuja is an Indian-born Canadian filmmaker, based in Toronto, Ontario.
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi is an American documentary filmmaker. She was the director, along with her husband, Jimmy Chin, for the film Free Solo, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film profiled Alex Honnold and his free solo climb of El Capitan in June 2017. Their first scripted film venture was Nyad, a biopic chronicling Diana Nyad's quest to be the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida.
The Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Short Film, formerly also known as the NFB John Spotton Award, is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian short film of the festival. As of 2017, the award is sponsored by International Watch Company and known as the "IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film".
The Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award for Documentaries is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to the film rated as the year's most popular documentary film with festival audiences. The award was first introduced in 2009; prior to its introduction, documentary films were eligible for the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award.
The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to the festival were members of underrepresented groups, such as women and people of color. The People's Choice Award was won by Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly.
The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision." Introduced in 2015, the award is presented to a film, selected by an international jury of three prominent filmmakers or actors, from among the films screened in the Platform program. The program normally screens between eight and twelve films; only one winner is selected each year, although as with TIFF's other juried awards the jurors have the discretion to give honorable mentions to other films besides the overall winner.
Inconvenient Indian is a 2020 Canadian documentary film, directed by Michelle Latimer. It is an adaptation of Thomas King's non-fiction book The Inconvenient Indian, focusing on narratives of indigenous peoples of Canada. King stars as the documentary's narrator, with Gail Maurice and other indigenous artists appearing.
The Rescue is a 2021 documentary film directed and produced by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. It follows the Tham Luang cave rescue, a 2018 mission that saved a junior association football team from an underwater cave.
The Amplify Voices Award is an annual film award presented by the Toronto International Film Festival. First presented at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the award was originally presented to three films annually, with one award open to all Canadian feature films and designated as the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Film, and two awards presented to films from anywhere in the world directed by filmmakers who are Black, Indigenous or People of Colour. The winners in both the Canadian and BIPOC categories are selected and presented by the same jury.
The Changemaker Award is an annual film award presented by the Toronto International Film Festival in conjunction with the Shawn Mendes Foundation. First presented at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the award is presented to honour films with a strong social message, with the winner selected by the organizing committee for the TIFF Next Wave youth film festival.
The 47th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 8 to 18, 2022.
Black Ice is a 2022 Canadian documentary film, directed by Hubert Davis and produced by Vinay Virmani. Based in part on Darril Fosty and George Fosty's 2004 non-fiction book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925, the film presents a history of the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes of the early 20th century, and the lingering history of anti-black racism in the sport of ice hockey.
Something You Said Last Night is a 2022 Canadian-Swiss drama film, written and directed by Luis De Filippis. The films stars Carmen Madonia as Ren, a young transgender woman in her mid 20s who accompanies her family on a vacation, during which she is torn between her desire to establish her independence and the comfort of retreating back into being taken care of by other people.
752 Is Not a Number is a 2022 Canadian documentary film, directed by Babak Payami. The film centres on Hamed Esmaeilion, an Iranian dentist who is seeking information and justice following the death of his wife and daughter in Iran's 2020 shootdown of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me is a 2022 American documentary film that follows singer and actress Selena Gomez during a six year period of her career. The film documents her struggles with physical and mental well-being in the wake of her diagnosis with lupus and bipolar disorder. It was directed by Alek Keshishian, produced by Lighthouse Management & Media and Interscope Films, and released to Apple TV+ and select theaters on November 4, 2022.
Carol Nguyen is a Vietnamese Canadian filmmaker. She is most noted for her films No Crying at the Dinner Table, which was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Short Documentary at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020, and Nanitic, which won the Share Her Journey award at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
Maya and the Wave is an American documentary film, directed by Stephanie Johnes and released in 2024. The film is a portrait of surfer Maya Gabeira and her struggles to be taken seriously as a woman in a male-dominated sport, focusing in part on the role that sexism played in the response to her injuries while trying to surf a giant wave at Praia do Norte in 2013.