Jaclyn Bruneau is a writer with a penchant for all films worth watching, enjoying psychological thrillers, high-saturation colour palettes, themes surrounding queer identity and female sexuality, grunge culture, and coming-of-age tales. She volunteered for the 2011 Vancouver International Film Festival, and is currently interning at Adbusters. Jaclyn will graduate from SFU's faculty of Communication in April 2013.
Bahar Noorizadeh is a recent graduate of UBC's film production program. The short film she directed this year, Lingo, was selected among nine other films from across Canada for the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival Student Showcase and has been screened both in Toronto and Vancouver. This summer, she is handpicked to participate in workshops run by the well-known Iranian filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami.
Julia Patey is a student in the UBC Film Production program. This past year, she wrote and directed her first short film, Swim. Currently, she is developing a new short film script to shoot in the fall.
Emilio Rojas was born in Mexico City. He is interdisciplinary artist working primarily in performance, video, installation and sculpture. He is currently living in Vancouver, B.C., and graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a degree in Film, Video and Integrated Media. He has volunteered as a photographer for the VIFF, and as part of the programming committee for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.
Joanna Strzelecki is currently a third year Sociology major at Simon Fraser University. Her passions include understanding and communicating with others as well as the arts. She sees film as a perfect union of the two. She hopes her experience with VLAFF will open the door to experience unique films which she will be able to share with others through reviews and recommendations.
Sandra Suasnabar Alberco immigrated to Canada from Lima, Peru in 2005. Beginning with arts in social activism in Peru, her love of the arts has led her to dance, photography and a consciousness and respect for the arts. Recently Sandra participated in a documentary film making course at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School in BC. She is currently working as a community based women’s advocate.
Claire Love Wilson is a multidisciplinary learner and art-enthusiast based in Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. She is a student of First Nations Studies and Film Production at UBC and has directed two short documentaries in the past year focusing on issues of ancestry, gender, love, and identity. Practices in all areas of her life attempt to manifest a fullness of joy, generation and growth while honouring multiple spaces of struggle, loss and limitation.
Diana Xu is from Vancouver, Canada and has recently received her BA from Simon Fraser University with a Major in English literature. Her interests are endless, but her passions can be limited to: writing, literature, films, shoes, and dance.
Michael Yoo is currently a film production student at UBC advancing into his final year. This past academic year, he directed his first short film titled Rooms. He is currently working on a music video for debuting Montreal band "Low-st".
Jacey Gibb is a student new to the Vancouver scene, fresh off the boat from Alberta two years ago. He is currently enrolled at Douglas College in the Future Teachers program, but hopes to find a place in his future for writing as well. In his spare time, he enjoys practicing standing long jump, making paper mâché models of solar systems, and spending time with his cat.