Director Bio

Kang Yu Qi

Yuqi Kang is a Chinese Mongol filmmaker. Her feature debut documentary, A Little Wisdom, premiered at Busan International Film Festival and SXSW. It was awarded the Best Canadian Feature Documentary at Hot Docs, Grand Jury Award at DOC NYC, and was named one of the five breakthrough directors by the Directors Guild of Canada. Yuqi is an alumna of Tribeca Institute, Hot Docs, Chicken & Egg Pictures, FIRST Doc Lab as well as RIDM Talent Lab for her documentary projects. She is also a part of the TIFF Talent Lab as well as the Canadian Academy Directors Program for Women for her narrative projects. In 2019, Yuqi was named in DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40. Yuqi is currently in development of her first narrative feature Matricide as a Resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Program Director’s Lab.

Producer Bio’s

Lee Marshall

Lee Marshall produces stories that celebrate outsiders, interlopers, and misfits on the screen. Her first feature Bleed With Me (2021) was called “a tautly constructed work of psychological horror” by The Guardian, and her most recent short Face (2022) was selected by SODEC for Clermont-Ferrand. She is developing a comedy-horror with support from Telefilm while also writing a dark comedy series for the IPF-CMF Development Packaging Program. Lee just wrapped filming a short thriller in Nova Scotia with frequent collaborator writer-director Amelia Moses. Lee is currently in development of her first slate as a Resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Program Producer’s Lab.

Isoken Ogiemwonyi

Isoken is a Nigerian-Canadian writer, producer and entrepreneur. She produced two seasons of the acclaimed book to series adaptation of the best-selling The Smart Money Woman, which was nominated for Best TV Series by the AMVCA . She was named a Top 25 African Woman Achiever by the Guardian UK, and is a recipient of the MTN Young Creative Entrepreneur Award. She was inaugurated as part of the 2021 cohort of Canada’s Reelworld Screen Institute’s Emerging 20 writers and producers accelerator program. She studied in England and Switzerland and her work is informed by the intersection of her identity, experiences and living across multiple continents. Isoken is currently in development of her first slate as a Resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Program Producer’s Lab.

In a co-dependent mother-and-daughter relationship, one’s identity has to be erased in order for the other to survive. When an extremely controlling and narcissistic mother continues to suffocate her obedient daughter, a sinister desire for freedom starts to brew in the daughter’s mind.

STORY are 10-14 minute short films from directors and producers within the CFC’s Norman Jewison Film Program. These professionally produced and packaged shorts are submitted to and play on the international festival circuit as a remarkable showcase for all talent involved both on/off the screen. These films have previously garnered critical acclaim and are recognized industry-wide as calling cards for the filmmaker’s next projects.