Supporting Diversity and Inclusivity in the Film Industry
The internationally acclaimed Vancouver Film School will be in step at the Cannes Film Festival and Market participating in a pioneering industry program, impACT, and it’s not just an act!
CANNES, France – Grace Dove and Omari Newton, representing Vancouver Film School (VFS), are participating at Cannes Marche du Film 2021 to help drive the pioneering new impACT programme.
The impACT event “Film Meets Global Visions” on 12 July 2021 is something new, vastly different, and not previously witnessed at the film festival and market.
Grace Dove (Canadian actress and Vancouver Film School Alumna) will deliver a keynote address at the event on “Indigenous Portrayal in Hollywood and Reclaiming Identity.” Grace is a passionate advocate for Indigenous communities and her address will play a key role in promoting a diverse and inclusive sector.
Primarily known for roles in The Revenant and How It Ends, Grace has also worked alongside Hollywood greats such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Forest Whitaker.
French speaking Senior Instructor, Acting for Film & Television Vancouver Film School, Omari Newton, joins the event as co-host. He will be facilitating one of the fully virtual breakout debates, which are bringing an eclectic mix of research, lived experience and philosophy into the filmmaking fold.
Newton, who has toured Canada as a speaker for Black History Month and slated to be a speaker at TEDx Whistler, brings a perspective and knowledge to equality issues that inspires his work and his students at Vancouver Film School.
“I am honored to be part of a select group to kick-off dialogue on this ground-breaking sector plan. To be among the industry’s top-notch thought leaders, revered filmmakers, experts, and intellectuals is incredible. I look forward to facilitating the breakout discussion and being at the forefront of this much-needed change. This marks a notable turning point on the social impact for a more diverse and inclusive industry,” said Newton.
The event on July 12, 2021 is part of UK organization OKRE’s (Opening Knowledge across Research and Entertainment) Development Room event series exploring new ideas and perspectives on diversity, aligned with impACT. It is presented by OKRE at Cannes in partnership with Brown Girls Doc Mafia and Think-Film Impact Production.
“When we are in control of our own representation, when we tell our own stories, and when we, Indigenous People portray ourselves we are not only challenging stereotypes but also empowering ourselves in a form of truth-telling that is liberating us from the harms of colonialism,” said Grace Dove.
“impACT’s intention is to place the spotlight on inclusion, representation, sustainability, and the responsible and ethical use of data in the film industry. The programme aims to equip the global movie industry with insights and tools to achieve equality and inclusivity at all levels of filmmaking,” said Danielle Turkov Wilson, Think-Film Impact Production Founder and Executive Director, and Cannes Impact Specialist.
The well-curated Cannes impACT program will include keynotes, roundtable discussions and masterclasses aimed at promoting more meaningful and varied storytelling.
The apt overall theme for the fully virtual event is “Global Visions”, with impACT we are about to witness a remarkable evolution in the conventional film industry.
“We are at an exciting tipping point in the filmmaking sector with a new reality taking hold not only within the context of film production but also amongst film educators. It is about parity and inclusivity. Vancouver Film School enrolls students from 150 countries and while we like to think of ourselves as leading the way, it is the consciousness of our students that is pointing the way. The good news is they are very conscious. It is a true honor to participate in the impACT forum, which is an important effort to articulate and codify the diversity of human experience in a way that progresses the human condition,” adds Vancouver Film School President, James Griffin.
More information about the film festival is available here.
About Vancouver Film School
Vancouver Film School offers 15 signature post-secondary programs spanning every aspect of the entertainment arts that are developed and taught by award-winning industry professionals. Each program’s intensive curriculum evolves along with demands of the industry, and the best, current industry practices. The institution was founded on the philosophy that one year of concentrated work, that balances industry-led theory and hands-on production, gives students the necessary skills to craft a professional-level portfolio or reel. VFS functions like a major studio, with multiple production facilities that are essential for creating content for film, TV, games, animation, design, digital applications, and more. The curriculum is regularly updated to be in lockstep with current industry standards. This is all to help students originate, produce, and exhibit their best possible creative and technical work. From an education perspective, we are unassailable.
About impACT
impACT is an extension of the Festival de Cannes’ and Marché du Film’s investment in corporate social responsibility that will dictate how the market and companies operate today and tomorrow. impACT is designed to reflect on the film industry’s new reality. It is designed to improve diversity, inclusion, representation, sustainability, responsible and ethical data use in the international film industry. impACT will examine every stage of the filmmaking process to explore how to incorporate diversity, inclusion, representation, and sustainability not only on the screen, but behind the camera in all stages of production.
Think-Film Impact Production is a unique European and global social impact company that harnesses the power of visual storytelling to drive forward political and social change. Winner of the ‘World in 2050 Innovation Olympics, Artistic Visions Category’, Think-Film has a proven track record in bringing compelling stories to people in positions of power, connecting with national, regional and international policy agendas in dynamic new ways and driving forward concrete decisions, commitments and outcomes that bring measurable, lasting change to global situations.
Think-Film impact campaigns have, among other achievements, advocated for Syria peace-building through platforming heroic medical leader Dr. Amani with international human rights prizes (Oscar-nominated “The Cave” National Geographic 2019), accelerated European chemicals protection to a full PFAS ban (“Dark Waters” Participant Media 2020), changed the European conversation on artificial intelligence to a human-centred approach (“iHUMAN” 2019) and removed toxic solvents from Apple’s smartphone production (“Complicit” 2015).
SOURCE Vancouver Film School
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Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He is also the editor, producer and administrator of STM Daily News, a part of the TNC Network.
