DGC VISIONARY AWARD PRESENTED TO DEBORAH CHOW AT THE ST. JOHN’S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL

Recipient of ‘pay-it-forward’ prize is Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

Each year at the St. John’s International Film Festival (SJIWFF), the Directors Guild of Canada and SJIWFF presents a DGC Director with the DGC Visionary Award. This year, the honour goes to DGC Ontario Director Deborah Chow. This award-winning director’s career thus far is nothing short of spectacular and includes work on critically acclaimed series The Mandalorian, American Gods, The Man in the High Castle, Better Call Saul and Reign — just to name a few. She directed all six episodes of the highly anticipated Disney+ mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is set to premiere in 2022.

As the recipient of this award, Deborah was tasked with choosing an emerging director to receive the ‘pay-it-forward’ prize, which gives the filmmaker a $2000 cash prize to go towards their next project. Deborah has nominated DGC BC Director and actor Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, whose 2021 documentary Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, won awards at Hot Docs and DOXA. Elle-Máijá also recently starred in DGC Director Danis Goulet’s film Night Raiders, which is now playing in theatres.

The presentation of the DGC Visionary Award is hosted by Johanna Schneller of the CBC Arts’ The Filmmakers and is now available to watch for Industry Pass holders in the SJIWFF Film Industry Forum, which runs until this Sunday, October 17^th. It will be available to all on the SJIWFF website on November 1^st, as well as on The DGC Podcast in coming weeks.