HOST: Shruthi Budnar
STAGE MANAGER: Amelia Brooker
HEAD ELECTRICIAN: Carlie Yeung
HEAD AUDIO: Neal Miskin
VENUE TECHNICIAN: Max Sample

FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHER (MEDIA COORDINATOR): Rashi Sethi
FESTIVAL VIDEOGRAPHERS: Amé Simard, Ronnie Cheng
FESTIVAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mann Chalermwat
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: Valentina Acevedo Montilla

IGNITE! YOUTH PANEL: Valentina Acevedo Montilla, Trevor Stewart, Rashi Sethi, Percy Tran, Nat Chew, Mann Chalermwat, Shruthi Budnar, Ysadora Dias, Amelia Brooker, Amé Simard, Ronnie Cheng, Celia Minh, Stacey Kok

DESYNC (2024) by Minerva Navasca
Ana, a young Filipina filmmaker, shoots a re-enactment of a fight she once had with her mother. Embodying cultural pressure from her mother to work beyond her limits for the sake of perfection, Ana rewrites every painful exchange into a perfect one.

Minerva Navasca is a Filipina-Canadian filmmaker exploring narratives of cultural dysphoria and girlhood with intimate specificity. Stating, “I want to make films about subjects that make me uncomfortable,” Minerva delves into perspectives steeped in anxiety and internalized shame, using the medium to interrogate the socio-political roots of these beliefs.  She is a 2022 & 2024 TIFF Next Wave Alumni, and the winner of the 2024 BFI Future Film Festival Best Documentary Award. She collaborated with NBC Universal and Canada Walk of Fame as part of the Future Storytellers Program.

CREW
Director, Writer: Minerva Navasca
Producer: Asa Kazerani
Writer, Editor: Chen Sing Yap
Director of Photography: Laura King
Composer: Wilfred Moeschter
Sound Designer: Sarah Saunders
Lead Actor: Jadyn Nasato
Lead Actor: Jennifer Villaverde
Actor: Angelica Alejandro
Actor: Tatiana Ashton

TOXIC (2024) A girl befriends a plastic bag, but begins to realize their relationship might be… toxic.

Content forecast: cartoonish violence

CREW
Bryony Prior

Mia Hellendoorn

Nina Hadjuk

Nuli Newington

Jessica Mills

PEGGY IN MY DREAMS (2024) by Evelina Groll

Living far away from her ailing mother Berenice is frustrated and grieving. Despite the support of her boyfriend, Toby, she feels hollow. Seeking solace, she turns to the memory of a ghost that she met years before, the ghost of Peggy Guggenheim. Even as she researches Peggy she feels that their connection is getting weaker. Her home life begins to spiral with a small fire in the kitchen, and an ensuing argument with Toby. Fleeing from the intense emotions Berenice finds herself in a forest populated by spirits, and is visited once again by the ghost of Peggy.

Content forecast: deals with grief, the supernatural, and conflict with a parental figure

Evelina Groll is a multidisciplinary artist based between the Coast Salish territory known as Vancouver, BC, and Mohkinstis/Calgary, AB. Her mediums include filmmaking, photography, textiles, poetry and prose. Her short films have won recognition internationally, and her photos and poetry have been featured in the literary magazine “The Lyre”. Having completed SFU’s film program, Evelina is working towards graduating in 2025 with a BFA in Film Production and Spanish certificate.

CREW 

Evelina Groll

Patricio Cartas

Dag Davidge

Taya Seaton

Liam Mollan

Pablo García García

Marcela Echevarria

Ximena Baeza

Natalie Turnbull

Sebastian Hurtado

Sebastian Cartas

Adrian Hoz

Adolfo Bermudez

VELVET SECRETS (2024) by Shanthini Balasubramanian

Asha’s life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers a revealing red velvet dress in her daughter’s room. Her curiosity leads her to try it on, sparking a journey of self-exploration and empathy.

Shanthini Balasubramanian is an emerging Writer/Director based in Surrey. Having graduated from InFocus Film School, she honed her filmmaking skills and earned a diploma in Film Production. She recently received the Best First-Time Director Award at MAMM19. Her journey began with theatre acting and evolved into filmmaking, now extending into visual effects and animation. Shanthini is deeply passionate about telling the stories she longed for growing up, focusing on voices and narratives often left untold.

LEAD PRODUCER: Prakrit Kamra

PRODUCER: Sharon Alexander

ASHA: Chandni Appadurai

DEEPTHI: Anjali Appadurai

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Rohith Sudhar

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Athena Rajah Balaji

EDITOR: Yash Ahuja

ON SET SOUND MIXER & BOOM OPERATOR: Jose Ruben Hernandez

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Siddharth Sanjay

SECOND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Adam Madsen

SCRIPT EDITOR: Sarah Graefe

MAMM MENTOR: Shubham Chhabra

EXTRA: Mariammal Vanumamalai

FEMALE & FURIOUS (2024) by Siddharth Sanjay and Logan Ferino
After escaping from Winnipeg, Rager Rip struggles to overcome her anger issues in order to join Storm’s skate gang (NOT associated with the Fast & Furious franchise).
Content forecast: a lot of badass awesomeness

CAST AND CREW
Written by: Tiegan Monaghan
Directed by: Siddharth Sanjay and Logan Ferino
Producers: Ritisha Jhamb, Tiegan Monaghan, Chenneth Weeraratne
Co-producers: Awo Mohamed, Mars Moreira

Cast (in order of appearance):
Mash Just Mash – Ritisha Jhamb
Gunner Hogan – Tiegan Monaghan
Rager Rip – Awo Mohamed
Storm – Mars Moreira
Therapist – Danny So-Chea
Pretty Boy – Ryan Kwan

Stunt Doubles / Skateboarders:
Claire Soubry
Izzie Jacobsen
Ryan Kwan

Crew:
1st Assistant Director – Chase Skelton
2nd Assistant Director – Paranut “Ing” Paosuwan
Script Supervisors – Wren McNab, Elyjah Kian White
Production Manager – Arvi Cagol

Camera Team:
Director of Photography – Felix Song
1st Assistant Camera – Jeremy Ragan
2nd Assistant Camera – Kudzai Munopo
Key Grip – Ryan Kwan
Grip – Aiden Andruchow

Lighting & Sound:
Gaffer – Kudzai Munopo
Sound Mixers – Kit Trasler, Andres Valero
Boom Operator – Enrique Lopez

Art Department:
Production Designer – Jocelyn Mayadoun
Art Director / Props – Jenna Lee, Sierra Quinton
Hair & Makeup – Kitty Yin, Sophie Tran, Sam Guevara, Isabel Abadiano
Costumes – Donna Cheuk Lam Leung
PA / Crafty – Lyndall Huber, Jasmine Nolasco

Post-Production:
Editor – Elyjah Kian White
Sound Design – Andres Valero
Colorist – Felix Song
Graphics / Animation – Jilian Tolzmann

Music:
“Dawn Wall” – Def Lev
“WYWD” – Baha Bank$
“Fight to Win” – Sven Karlsson
“Morning Mood” – Edvard Grieg
“Cheat Code” – Heyson
“Above It All” – August Wilhelmsson

Noctis is a 5-piece band blending City-pop, funk, and J-rock influences. Their sound is dreamy, nostalgic, and high-energy, with lyrics that explore love, self-discovery, and queerness.
Content forecast: some loud music and intense visual elements.

Noctis is made up of:
Vocals: Samantha Mo
Guitar: Tom Au
Keys: Brittany Or
Drums: King Kwai
Bass: Ching Lee

Kaya and Thelo are multi-instrumental artists with a passion for freestyle rap and live looping. Having performed as solo artists and in ensembles and bands throughout the city, this duo recently came together to perform for Rhythm Ensemble and Open Mic Grooves. The two had crossed paths as MCs at events such as the Stew Jams in 2018. Many seeds have since been planted and this one is in bloom! Their freestyle content circles around consciousness, political justice and a growth mindset around systemic issues faced by marginalized peoples. They look forward to co-creating this experience with you!

Kaya Ko Kaya Ko is a queer Philippinx vocalist & multi-media artist born on Turtle Island. Their musical style blends between alt-folk, neo-RnB/Soul to HipHop with elements of West-coast Bass and EDM. A mix of classical training, 10+ years of street performance, 20+ years of stage performances and self-teaching gives Kaya’s music an undeniable sense of fluency and experience.