Staff And Board
ÉMERAUDE MBUKU
Operations Manager
M. Émeraude Domingos-Mbuku is an award-winning producer, filmmaker, and film programmer whose practice threads together her identity as the daughter of Congolese refugees and a first generation Canadian. Émeraude is a CineFam Feature Film Incubator fellow and an OYA Media Group Emerging Filmmakers fellow. She has worked as the Operations Manager for DocNow Festival, Assistant Programmer for CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, Festival Screener at Austin Film Festival, and currently as a Public Programmer at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and Operations Manager at the8fest. Her work has been presented at CBC Gem, Breakthrough Film Festival, the Regent Park Film Festival, CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, and St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival.
ROBIN RIAD
Board Chair
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, as well as film festivals such as Toronto Arab Film and the8fest Small-Gauge 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.
GHISLAN TIMM
Treasurer
Ghislan Timm (they/she) (Jiz-lan/Jes-lin) is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Tkaronto. They are currently completing their studies in Integrated Media at OCAD University and are a board member of the8fest Small-Gauge Film Festival. In their artistic practice they are influenced by their Afro-Caribbean heritage, Afro-futurism, sound, and cinema. Frequently they appropriate archival film & imagery to create collages and shape non-linear narratives that often reflect the intersections of their multicultural queer identity in unraveling the mythologies and romanticization of home and home-coming.
ANGUS O. MACDONALD
Secretary
Angus O Macdonald is a film archivist and preservationist with a long history of supporting local art events. He is a member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists and a researcher for the Archive/Counter-Archive project, advocating for the re-emergence of under-recognized and unorthodox films by way of artist interventions and curated screenings. He is currently a board member of the8fest small gauge film festival and has aided with film screenings and installations in Peterborough, Ottawa, and Toronto.
HELEN LEE
Board Member
Helen Lee is a film archivist and programmer currently based in Toronto. She is passionate about experimental analogue film practices. Helen received a BA from the University of King’s College, Halifax, in 2018 and has since worked at various arts organizations such as C Magazine, Vtape and the Toronto International Film Festival. She completed her MA at Toronto Metropolitan University in Film Preservation and Collections Management in 2022.
JUSTINE McCLOSKEY
Board Member
Justine McCloskey is a filmmaker, photographer, artist, and writer. She graduated with honours from Toronto Metropolitan University’s BFA Film Studies program in 2013, specializing in directing and production design. In 2012 she won the prestigious Norman Jewison Award for Innovation in Filmmaking. She was also nominated for the 2013 Dean’s Essay Award for her essay “Grete Suffraunce: Dysentery and The Crusades.” After working as a Photographer and Video Producer at THP Agency, Justine went on to attend the University of Toronto where she received her MA in Art History while TA-ing media and photography courses with both UofT and OCADu.
AARON RACHEL BROWN
Board Member
Aaron Rachel Brown is a Toronto-based arts administrator and film curator. She holds a Master’s degree in Cinema and Media Studies from York University, and did her bachelor’s in Media Production at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). Aaron has a passion for all things film (especially the quirky, the indie, and the avant-garde), although she also enjoys a good book. She has worked with many non-profit arts organizations including aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival, Inside Out, Toronto Fringe, the Toronto School of Art, TIFF, Hot Docs, and now the8fest!
NOLA
Board Member
Who am I? I started stand-up comedy at the age of 19 in Calgary, Alberta where I immediately discovered I’m hilarious and should audition for Humber College’s Comedy Writing and Performance program.(You know, to escape from Alberta to Toronto.) I was accepted, therefore, proving that I am, in fact, hilarious. I even won the Eugene Levy Comedy writing award for my 10 minute short play “All For Nothing”. After spending several years at late night open mics in Toronto, I decided to challenge myself to take my unique writing talents in order to turn them into reality using the art of film.
While attending film school, I (re)discovered the beauty in analog film and photography. Okay, that’s just the resume. I suppose now that I’m “such an enlightened being”, I would say I’m a non-binary Southern Sudanese American mother whose current hobby is attempting to get their sailing license in preparation for the end of the world. So I guess I would say I’m a humorist, lens based multidisciplinary artist, and a social media activist with pretty “hot fire” memes? Currently working on my directorial debut CATMAN.
EMA WALTERS
Board Member
Ema is a visual artist, filmmaker, producer and documentarian. Exploring the intersection between art and social commentary, they have a BA in Media Studies specializing in Journalism, a diploma in Mass Communications and further studies in Sociology and Political Science. With a commitment to social justice Ema’s work has been noticed for its authenticity and empathy. They run their own creative outlet by the name of Eachother, focused on harmonizing the “We” and the “I”.
Ema believes that art and storytelling have the power to create a better world and is committed to making a difference. They currently live with their grandmother as they believe intergenerational housing is a way of the future. You’ll find her observing nature, with camcorder in hand.
ANNITA ADAMI
Board Member
Annita Adami trained as a film archivist in Toronto. Currently, she is based between Toronto and Athens where she works as a freelance researcher and translator writing about film, history and memory. In her free time Annita shoots Super8 film and experiments with different manipulation techniques that foreground the medium’s materiality. She is also an avid reader of anarchist theory.
Annita holds an MA in Film Preservation and Collections Management from TMU.
AIMÉE MITCHELL
Print Check Technician / Projection Assistant
Dr. Aimée Mitchell (she/her) is currently the Research Officer for the School of Art, Media, Performance & Design at York University. She holds a PhD in Communication and Culture from York-X University. Mitchell is an independent media art programmer, a current board member of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers Toronto and the8fest small-gauge film festival, and was a founding member for the Toronto Queer Film Festival. She is an advocate for audiovisual media makers across formats and gauges big and small.
ESTEBAN POWELL
Technical Coordinator
Esteban (he/him) is a Mexican-Canadian artist & filmmaker exploring both analog and digital mediums. He is a recent graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Film Studies program, with his directorial thesis film ‘Vela’ in its international festival run. It has been nominated and awarded for various categories, and he is excited for the ongoing festival run and the future of its story. Having an avid passion for writing as well, he published his first book ‘The Search for The Unicorn’ as an ongoing fundraiser for CAMH (The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). He aspires to continue telling genre stories conveying mental health & spirituality, through themes of faith in relationships. Esteban supports and champions like minded artists who want to express themselves and add to these important conversations, all while enjoying the ever expanding and evolving film mediums. Even having found his element and niche, he always looks for opportunities to try new technologies and techniques to bring dreams to life. His intuition guides him through his creative practice, and welcomes the growing film community found in Toronto. In his time outside of set, he enjoys editing, painting and collaging.
KARL REINSALU
Festival Projectionist
Based in Toronto, Karl is a “do-it-yourselfer” with expertise in analog film techniques and an honours diploma from the Film and Television Program at Humber College. Since 2006, Karl has honed his craft through experimentation with various camera techniques including camera modifications and innovating creative solutions to accomplish cinematic feats blending both analog and digital workflows. In his role as Technical Coordinator for the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT), Karl supports hundreds of productions and fellow film artists realize their vision. In his personal time Karl is found caring for the life in his garden, actively working on projects in his workshop, cooking up a storm for his loved ones, or simply enjoying time in natural environments.
LESLIE SUPNET
Social Media Manager
change. Using animation, live-action, found footage and material exploration, Supnet’s process
is guided by lyricism and personal affect, often bending analog and digital techniques. Leslie
completed her MFA in Film at York University in 2016. She is currently the Executive Director of the Winnipeg Film Group.
HENNING FREDERIK MALZ
Social Media Manager
Henning Frederik Malz (he/him) is a German born artist, filmmaker and cultural worker based in
Winnipeg, MB. on Treaty 1 territory the traditional lands of the Anishnabe (Ojibway), Ininew
(Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene and the Dakota, the birthplace of the Métis Nation and the Heart of the
Métis Nation Homeland.
His media works have been shown in a variety of film festivals, micro-cinemas and exhibitions
including the Images Festival, Pleasure Dome, Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Kassel Dokfest, MMK
Frankfurt, Spectacle NY and Craig Baldwin’s Other Cinema in San Francisco amongst many
others. His video series “99ers” is currently streaming online on eternal.tv.