We're thrilled to welcome five Canadian filmmakers and actors to Sydney for the Festival. Some are visiting Australia for the very first time, and they're all eager to meet you, the audience! Each will be taking part in a Q&A following the screening of their film.
STEPHEN MCHATTIE
Stephen McHattie was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he has been acting since 1970. His scene-stealing, sometimes scenery-chewing Hollywood credits include Beverly Hills Cop III, 300, The Fountain, Secretary, Shoot 'Em Up, Watchmen and 2012. He will next be seen in Tarsem Singh's Immortals. He's done great work in Canadian films too, including David Cronenberg's A History of Violence.
On television, you might remember him as Dr. Reston, Elaine's manipulative psychiatrist / boyfriend in Seinfeld. He's also been cast in numerous shows, including television shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, Highlander: The Series, and The X-Files.
Stephen McHattie is in three films screening at the Possible Worlds festival this year:
LISA HOULE
Talented Canadian actress Lisa Houle has an illustrious career in television, with roles in Seinfeld, Due South and Emily of New Moon.
She stars in Bruce McDonald's horror film PONTYPOOL as radio show producer Sydney Briar.
JAY CHEEL
Jay Cheel is the founder of one of our favourite blogs, The Documentary Blog, and accompanying podcast: an amazing resource for documentary filmmakers and fans alike. Jay loves the films of Werner Herzog, Errol Morris and The Maysles, and share his passion for documentaries online with eloquence and enthusiasm. He is also the co-host of the wildly popular podcast Filmjunk, which we can't recommend highly enough.
You can watch Jay Cheel's short documentary about time travel, Obsessed & Scientific here. Jay's first feature documentary BEAUTY DAY had its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and recently screened at Toronto's prestigious Hot Docs Film Festival.
JEFF TOPHAM
Vancouver-based writer, photographer and documentary filmmaker Jeff Topham has fought bugs in the Amazon, ridden camels in Timbuktu, talked African politics with George Clooney, fished with David Suzuki, and tailed William Shatner around a Star Trek convention. TV credits he’s proud of include the CTV Olympics documentary series The Difference Makers and the award-winning CBC teen activism series Make Some Noise. A frequent contributor to Westworld magazine, he once spent six months producing TV news in Accra, Ghana with Journalists for Human Rights.
He brings his feature documentary LIBERIA '77 to Sydney, a fascinating, personal journey to West Africa exploring the relationship between photography, memory and identity.
ANNETTE MANGAARD
Born in Lille Vaerlose, Denmark, Mangaard emigrated to Canada as a child with her family. Mangaard’s richly imaged film style is anchored in her studies between 1976-80 at the Ontario College of Art where she earned an honours degree in painting and printmaking. In 1981 she bought a super 8 camera and moved to Baker Lake, a small community in the Canadian Arctic. After a year of hunting, fishing and eating caribou with the Inuit, she returned with her first short film and a deep-seated interest in Indigenous culture.
Annette Mangaard has written and directed fifteen films in more than a decade as an independent filmmaker. She has recently been nominated for a Gemini for Best Director of a Documentary for her one hour documentary, General Idea: Art, AIDS and the Fin de Siecle. She comes to Sydney with a new feature documentary about the Inuit artists of Cape Dorset, KINNGAIT: RIDING LIGHT INTO THE WORLD.