TFMS: Niche Film Festivals

Talks begin at 4:00pm. Social at 5:30pm.

Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival - Caius Tenche, Founder and Director TMFF

Caius Tenche is the Founder and Director of the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival, Principle at Gearbox Experiential, a brand experience consultancy, Partner, and Creative Director at Project Team Building, the Movember/DGR-funded initiative aimed at improving the mental health. and wellbeing of motorcyclists, Editor of the Spring Motorcycle Show Magazine, and Media & PR Chair at the Toronto Attractions Council.

The 8Fest Small Gauge Film Festival - Robin Riad

Robin Riad is an Egyptian-Canadian Toronto-based experimental filmmaker, animator, and artist. Robin works primarily with analog mediums, specifically 16mm, Super8, and Regular 8mm film. She experiments with different modes of processing and direct animation for her films. An avid filmmaker, she devotes her time to organizations such as the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC), as well as film festivals such as the8fest Small-Gauge Film Festival and Toronto Arab Film Festival. As one of the technicians at the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), she supports many artists and independent filmmakers with their arts practice.

Toronto Arab Film Festival – Rolla Tahir, Co-Founder Toronto Arab Film Festival

Rolla Tahir is an independent filmmaker and director of photography based in Toronto. She’s lensed short, narrative, and experimental films, which screened in Canada and internationally and is currently in pre-production on her first feature film through Talent to Watch. Rolla co-founded the Toronto Arab Film in 2017 and has been with the organization as it grew from a collective into a non-for-profit organization platforming and championing pan-Arab films and filmmakers.

Respondent – Claudia Sicondolfo – Film Festival Scholar

Claudia Sicondolfo is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Scarborough campus and a PhD Candidate in Cinema and Media Studies at York University and a film festival scholar.

Register here.

Toronto Film and Media Seminar

Steering Committee for 2022-2023

Co-chairs: Em Barton (York) and Kate J. Russell (UofT) • Faculty members: Kathleen Cummins (Sheridan); Desirée de Jesus (York); Malini Guha (Carleton); Mark Lipton (Guelph); Gabriel Menotti (Queens); Paul Moore (TMU); Taien Ng-Chan (York); Katherine Spring (WLU); Elizabeth Wijaya (UofT) • Grad student members: Roxanne Hearn (WLU); Mary Hegedus (York); Patrick Marshall (UofT); Cleo Sallis-Parchet (York) • Postdoctoral members: Jon Petrychyn (TMU); Jessica Whitehead (Cape Breton University) • TIFF: Keith Bennie. 

The goals of the Seminar are:

• Encouraging intellectual and collegial discussion among the Cinema and Media Studies scholars in the region.
• Encouraging in-depth scholarly discussion and critical debate.
• Showcasing diverse research methodologies and research fields that address a wide range of cinematic technologies (film, television, video, new media, and other forms of moving image and sound screens).
• Aiming to model collegial and professional academic discourse for graduate students entering the field.