Director Ingrid Veninger will chair the jury for Discovery AwardJennifer Roberts
In its bid to honour Canada's best emerging filmmakers, the Directors Guild of Canada has turned to, well, the country's best emerging filmmakers.
On Thursday, the DGC announced the membership and chair of its "Discovery Award" jury for this year. The honour is designed to recognize "outstanding achievement by an emerging Canadian director, or an established director working in a new genre."
In 2016, the inaugural award went to Québécois filmmaker Chloé Leriche, for her film Avant les rues. This year, Leriche will be a member of the award's jury, alongside other on-the-rise filmmakers such as Stephen Dunn (Closet Monster), Kevan Funk (Hello Destroyer), Johnny Ma (Old Stone) and Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf). The jury will be chaired by veteran indie director Ingrid Veninger (The Animal Project).
"These directors are all part of the new wave in Canadian cinema," Warren Sonoda, chair of the DGC's National Directors Division, said in a statement. "These are filmmakers at the leading edge of the craft, telling us who to watch out for next."
The longlist for the Discovery Award will be announced Sept. 5 in Toronto, two days before the kickoff of the Toronto International Film Festival.
"The long list will include up to 15 new directors to watch for this festival season," Veninger said in a statement. "These are going to be the exciting new voices you don't want to miss."
Barry Hertz