Janeece Niles

By Tayler Montague, IDA “After I did years of work around my own healing, I began to see my mother’s leaving me was perhaps the first wound. The greatest subsequent wombs were the people who told me all the things that happened to you because your mother left… you should not speak them.”  So begins Laurie … Read more

by Pat Mullen, POV Magazine The USA’s biggest documentary festival kicks off today as DOC NYC gets ready to screen over 200 documentaries alongside a slate of industry events. That roster is significant, and one that the documentary scene in Canada should notice: in another year, it may be time to officially call DOC NYC North America’s biggest … Read more

By Elisabetta Bianchini, Yahoo News In a profoundly impactful and emotional journey, Jamaican-American poet and activist Staceyann Chin reimagines the meaning mothering in the film A Mother Apart. Travelling from U.S. to Montreal, Jamaica and Germany, following the mother who abandoned Chin, director Laurie Townshend has brilliantly constructed an exploration of Chin’s intentional parenting, and the … Read more

By Sarah Toce, The Seattle Lesbian The Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) has announced the esteemed group of 2024 Award recipients. $57,500 CAD in cash and in-kind prizes will be distributed to 2SLGBTQIA+ filmmakers, with the highest accolades bestowed upon the RBC Narrative Change Award winner director Jules Rosskam (USA) for DESIRE LINES, who will receive a cash … Read more

By Jonathan Obi Desire Lines directed by Jules Rosskam is the winner of the RBC Narrative Change Award at the 2024 Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF). The Gerry Brunet Memorial Award: Best British Columbia Short prize went to directors David Ng and Jen Sungshine for Drag Is For Everyone. Jules Rosskam’s “Desire Lines” is a … Read more

By Out On Screen The Vancouver Queer Film Festival (VQFF) is pleased to announce the esteemed group of 2024 Award recipients. $57,500 CAD in cash and in-kind prizes will be distributed to 2SLGBTQIA+ filmmakers, with the highest accolades bestowed upon the RBC Narrative Change Award winner director Jules Rosskam (USA) for DESIRE LINES, who will receive a cash prize … Read more

By Vicki Duong, The Georgia Straight The Vancouver Queer Film Festival has announced the recipients of its 2024 awards, with $57,500 in cash and in-kind prizes being distributed to 2SLGBTQIA+ filmmakers.  Topping the list is Jules Rosskam, who received the RBC Narrative Change Award for Desire Lines. The film, a creative blend of documentary and narrative elements … Read more

By Domi Eka, VIMooZ Celebrating its 15th edition, the 2024 DOC NYC will screen over 110 feature-length documentaries from November 13-21, 2024 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika in New York City, continuing online until December 1, 2024. Opening the festival is the U.S. premiere of Sinead O’Shea’s inspiring portrait Blue … Read more

By Pat Mullen, povmagazine Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story will open this year’s edition of DOC NYC. The festival announced its main line-up today with Sinéad O’Shea’s opener putting the spotlight on the Irish author who passed away this summer at age 93 following a career writing acclaimed and controversial novels that emphasized women’s sexuality and … Read more

By Janet Smith, createastir Why would a woman abandon her child? Can a daughter still love her after being abandoned? And can she hope to turn things around with her own child in the next generation? The new documentary A Mother Apart explores these hard and semi-taboo questions in brutally honest and vivid detail, thanks to … Read more

by Curtis Seufert, The Source Staceyann Chin was a ‘barrel child,’ one of the many Caribbean-born children who, in the 20th century, were left behind by parents who pursued opportunities abroad to better support their children. But these children were restricted from entering Canada alongside their parents due to baked-in immigration restrictions.   Laurie Townshend’s … Read more

By Ann Marie Collymore, ByBlacks Motherhood is a life-altering mishmash of feelings—an overabundance of love and utter frustration.  It can be purposeful yet extremely draining. Whatever it is to any woman on any given day, it’s an everlasting and remarkable experience—but not for all.   The award-winning A Mother Apart is a phenomenal documentary directed by filmmaker Laurie … Read more