Director Bio

Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller

Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller is an award-winning Queer mixed-race Palestinian Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her work explores themes of fragmented identity, isolation and connection through grounded "oh no, should I laugh?" comedy. Fateema’s background in improv and clown greatly influences all of her work as she strives to create with integrity, depth and a sense of humor. Fateema is particularly passionate about creating nuanced and humanizing representations of Arabs and Muslims for the screen and prioritizes making space for marginalized voices both in front of and behind the camera. Fateema has worked in partnership with organizations such as Toronto Arab Film, Cinephilia Productions, Trinity Square Video, Warner Access Media Canada and the National Screen Institute and has been grateful to receive funding from the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the CUE Fund for Marginalized Artists. Her short film Feeling Fine was awarded Best Actor in a Short Film at the Berlin Indie Film Festival and her short film Eitr was one of eight world-wide recipients of Inside Out’s RE:Focus Fund. Fateema is a Women in the Director’s Chair Career Advancement Module Spring/Summer 2023 alumni and CFC Norman Jewison Directors' Lab 2023 resident. Her work has screened at world class festivals such as OutFest LA LGBTQ+ Film Festival, GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival, Gimli Film Festival and Regina International Film Festival. Fateema is a tender-hearted friend, believes in resistance through laughter. She is currently developing her first feature film, a poetic coming-of-age dramedy, Waves/‘Amwaj.

Producer Bio’s

Kevin Dong

Kevin Dong is a producer based in Calgary, Treaty 7, Alberta. His producing practice aims to nurture distinct, creator-driven works from unique, underseen, and unexpected places. Through Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program, he produced the feature comedy Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game (dir. Ted Stenson). He also produced the hour long “Rat Patrol” documentary Living without Menace for CBC Gem. Kevin is an incoming Producers’ Lab resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Film Program.
Malachi Ellis

Malachi Ellis is a Black Toronto-based Producer. He focuses on telling diverse and authentic stories that challenge the status quo and amplify BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ voices. He was recently selected for the Reelworld Screen Institute's Producer Program and the Canadian Film Centre's Norman Jewison: Producer Lab. His producing skills have led him to work at some of Canada's largest film and television companies. He has worked with some of Canada's most talented emerging filmmakers, producing work that has screened at film festivals across Canada and internationally. In 2021 Malachi was also named one of 10 to Watch by Playback Canada.

Story Consultant

Theresa Cutknife (she/her) is a Nehiyaw/Puerto Rican actor and writer from Maskwacîs, Alberta located on Treaty 6 Territory and she is a member of the Samson Cree Nation. She is a graduate from The Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Her most recent credits: My Sister’s Rage (Tarragon Theatre/Studio 180 Theatre/TOLive), The House of Bernarda Alba (Aluna Theatre/Modern Times Theatre), Diggstown (CBC Gem).

Mawtini (My Homeland) follows the budding friendship of Nawal- a young Palestinian woman & Tanya- an older Indigenous woman as they start a guerilla garden on the lawn of their apartment building & battle middle management to make it to harvest. The story takes place through the POV of Nawal, who is grieving the loss of her grandmother & her last threads of connection to Palestine. She struggles to keep a fig tree alive, gifted to her by her grandmother, that is a descendant of her family's fig tree back home that was destroyed in the Nakba. As Nawal & Tanya's garden grows, so does the women's friendship & Nawal learns what it truly means to heal, be seen & resist within the confines of colonialism in modern day Toronto.

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.