FILM SCREENING & RECEPTION

* FREE ADMISSION

In 2008, in collaboration with MAWA: Mentoring Artists for Women's Art, the Winnipeg Film Group launched the Mosaic Women's Film Project, a new production mentorship and funding program to support the development of woment of Aboriginal or diverse cultural backgrounds to create new independent work.

As the third edition of the Mosaic Women's Film Project comes to an end, we are thrilled to premiere new short works by artists Miriam Sainnawap and Rhayne Vermette. The artists will be in attendance and will introduce their works and discuss their development and creation process.

Director Miriam Sainnawap

Miriam grew up in Northwestern Ontario in the Oji-Cree community of Kingfisher Lake. She found that growing on a remote reserve presented few opportunities and she decided that she would need to leave the community to pursue her dreams and goals. She traveled to Winnipeg and took up studies in English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Winnipeg. Her family was very supportive of her decision but personally she felt a longing for her community, language and culture.

Currently Miriam is taking a year off from her studies to concentrate on producing and writing scripts for film and television. Her goal is to write stories that inspire people to think and rethink how they view the world.

Director Rhayne Vermette

For the past two years Rhayne has been obsessively making stop motion films in her apartment. These films, miniature explorations in developing a unique animation style, were all exclusively made alone, without any exterior aid. Many of her films were completed in just one day. Her largest film undertaking was a WFG 48hr film festival submission which recently premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal.

A masters student in Architecture, Rhayne left her studies in her final year to make film. With little means and no instruction she has proved that her voice as a filmmaker has importance and she has a commitment to being heard.

The Winnipeg Film Group acknowledges the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts for the Mosaic Women's Film Project.