Short Film Face Off

Karim Ayari is a young Canadian filmmaker born in Ottawa, Canada. He has degrees in both Communications (University of Ottawa) and radio-broadcasting (La Cité collégiale). In recent years, he travelled around the globe to pursue his passion for filmmaking. His documentary “Lost Rails: Into the Kingdom”, in which he follows three Canadian travelers in search for Cambodia’s legendary Bamboo Express, was his latest project acquired by CBC Television. In another recent documentary, Karim traveled to the slums of India to expose the serious problem of forced prostitution and human trafficking. In 2012, Karim wrote and directed his first feature film, “Thirteen Downs”, which opened the Ottawa International Film Festival to a standing ovation. He then took on the role of cinematographer for the short film “Algebra”, which won the “Best Technical Quality” award at Ottawa’s Digi60 Short Film Festival. Karim plans on directing his second feature film at this end of this year.

Born in Victoria, BC, Jeremy has spent the past eight years working in production and visual effects on such productions as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and The Forbidden Kingdom. His skills as an illustrator, graphic designer, and compositor enable a distinctive, creative vision. Jeremy holds a MA in Film Studies from the Beijing Film Academy and a BA in Pacific and Asian Studies from University of Victoria. He is a graduate of the CFC’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program’s Directors’ Lab (’11).

Guillaume is a French director who left his homeland to settle down in Montréal, Canada in 2003. Along the past decade he has spent working in advertising as a copywriter, he came up with his own projects, without any client, any deadline and often any budget. He has developed a passion for stop motion animations and short films, using his writing skills to enhance his images. Through his work, Guillaume tries to bring emotions through images that people can relate to, for they understand how it's made.

Born and raised in the UK, Siobhan moved to Canada with her family. She has both undergraduate and graduate degrees in theatre and began her working life as a researcher in the biggest theatre of all, the House of Commons. Siobhan then went on to work for a number of non-profits including, Children’s Aid and Covenant House. Alongside her day jobs, Siobhan made short films including: festival favourite, Breakfast with Gus; award winning Rape; and the CBC documentary, My Tango With Porn.

After moving to Vancouver, Siobhan attended into the WIDC (Women in the Director’s Chair) and then landed a dream job working as a camera coordinator on the YTV multi camera sitcom Mr. Young. This led to her actually moving into the director’s chair and last season she directed several episodes of Mr. Young.

Stephen Dunn is an award-winning filmmaker from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and graduate of Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre and Ryerson University’s Film Program. His thesis film, LIFE DOESN’T FRIGHTEN ME (2012), starring Gordon Pinsent, recently won BEST LIVE ACTION FILM at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival's (TIFF) Student Showcase, the ARTE FILM AWARD at the Munich Film Festival, and has been celebrated at TIFF, Tribeca and the American Film Institute Film Festival and more. In 2009 Dunn attended the Cannes Film Festival - Short Film Corner with his film, THE HALL (2009), where film critic Roger Ebert highlighted Dunn as an upcoming filmmaker to watch.

Glen Matthews has been making no-budget films with his friends for the past ten years. Focusing instead on his career as a professional actor (he has appeared in HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, THE CORRIDOR and HAVEN to name a few), Matthews’ ambitions as a filmmaker fell to the back-burner. Over the past seven years, collaborating with some of this region’s brightest filmmakers served as a catalyst for his desire to pursue his original passion: writing and directing his very own films. ROOM SERVICE is Glen’s professional writing and directorial debut.

Being drawn to the medium of film at a very young age, Yaz began his career as a filmmaker by honing his craft as a writer and director while studying at Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts in Toronto. Graduating with honors and several shorts films under his belt, Yaz was later selected amongst various other Canadian filmmakers to take part in The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s National Apprenticeship Training Program, where he apprenticed and worked alongside Canadian filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan and John Greyson. Shortly thereafter, Yaz wrote and directed several other short films including Inside, X+Y, Pellicle & The Beard, all of which delved in to his exploration and study of the human condition.

Born in Victoria, BC, Jeremy has spent the past eight years working in production and visual effects on such productions as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and The Forbidden Kingdom. His skills as an illustrator, graphic designer, and compositor enable a distinctive, creative vision. Jeremy holds a MA in Film Studies from the Beijing Film Academy and a BA in Pacific and Asian Studies from University of Victoria. He is a graduate of the CFC’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program’s Directors’ Lab (’11).