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Toronto, ON January 31, 2005 — Planet in Focus, Canada's only annual international environmental film and video festival, announces its new Festival Director, Candida Tamar Paltiel. Candida, a filmmaker and producer who has collaborated on a number of award-winning television documentaries and independent feature documentaries, taught in the film program at Ryerson University and has filmed in a variety of international settings. She has worked with veteran producers Michael MacLear, Jack McGaw and the late CBC Executive Jim Burt as a writer, story-editor, senior researcher and field producer.
Regarded a catalyst for the many initiatives she has led in non-profit organizations in Canada, Candida brings a wealth of international grant and fundraising experience and international film community knowledge to her position at Planet in Focus. In her new position as Festival Director, she comments, "I would like to promote Planet in Focus as the 'go to' international environmental film and video festival for cineastes, filmmakers, broadcasters, distributors and diverse audience members interested in the creation and exhibition of a broad spectrum of films and videos exploring environmental and ecological themes that celebrate, question and establish varied ways of viewing the state of our world. Also, I want to encourage stronger media investigation of environmental themes and issues, taking them out of the margins and into the mainstream."
Candida received her BA in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her MFA in Film from Columbia University, NYC. She was invited to launch the first screenwriting workshop in Honduras and co-wrote the feature film Manati with Honduran producer Marisela Bustillo. She sits on a number of boards related to her interest in public affairs.
Since its debut in September, 2000, Planet in Focus has produced an annual festival that screens and promotes outstanding films and videos (all genres and styles) covering a broad range of environmental themes by Canadian and international filmmakers. Planet in Focus' mission is to promote the use of film and video as a catalyst for public awareness, discussion, and appropriate action on the environmental, ecological, and social health of the planet, including diverse perspectives. Planet in Focus also produces educational outreach programs such as Youth, Camera, Action, individual school programs, and Best-of-PiF national screenings. Planet in Focus: International Environmental Film & Video Festival 2005 takes place September 28 to October 2.
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For more information, contact:
For information contact:
Dara Rowland, Dara Rowland & Associates
416 916 7377
www.dararowlandassociates.com
Anne Mark
Planet in Focus
416 531 1769
www.planetinfocus.org
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