#FIRSTLOOK: DEVERY JACOBS AND HUMBERLY GONZALEZ TO BE HONOURED AT FUTURE OF FILM SHOWCASE (FOFS) 2025 | PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Future of Film Showcase (FOFS), Canada’s premiere festival celebrating emerging Canadian Filmmakers, proudly celebrates its 12th year by honouring two of Canada’s brightest stars: Devery Jacobs and Humberly González. Jacobs, an award-winning actress, writer, director, and producer, will receive the festival’s inaugural Trailblazer Award for her groundbreaking work and advocacy in the industry. González, a dynamic Canadian-Venezuelan actress, is the recipient of the Rising Star Award, which recognizes artists who inspire and empower the next generation of filmmakers.

Taking place June 19-22, 2025, at the Paradise Theatre and other venues across Toronto, FOFS continues to spotlight Canada’s emerging talent with an exciting slate of feature and short film screenings, industry workshops, keynote and panel discussions, a director development incubator, after-parties, and more. Tickets to select programming are on-sale now at fofs.ca.

New in 2025, the Trailblazer Award honours inspirational figures who are making waves in the film industry while creating space for emerging filmmakers to follow. Recipients are selected based on artistic impact, innovation and meaningful contributions to equity and representation. Jacobs is best known for her starring role as “Elora Danan” in the Emmy-nominated series Reservation Dogs, for which she earned two Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy Series and a Gotham Award nomination for Outstanding Performance in a New Series. Other notable credits include Marvel’s Echo and What If…?, American Gods and Backspot. A proud voice from Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, she uses her platform to advocate for Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ communities.

The Rising Star Award celebrates filmmakers in the early stages of their careers who innovate, champion inclusive storytelling, and inspire the next generation of filmmakers. González stars in the upcoming Netflix series The Waterfront (premiering June 19) and reprises her role as “Sophie Sanchez” in Season 3 of Ginny & Georgia, launching June 5. She was nominated for 2025 BAFTA Game Award for Performer in a Leading Role for Star Wars Outlaws.

The Rising Star Award was introduced in 2024 and previously awarded to Sara Waisglass and Avan
Jogia. Jacobs and González will be honoured live on stage during the festival’s Closing Keynote
Conversation on Sunday, June 22 at 5:30pm at Paradise Theatre, with a livestream available on
FOFS’ Instagram @futurefilmshow.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS

Now in its 12th year, FOFS returns June 19-22, 2025 at the Paradise Theatre and other venues around
Toronto. Tickets are now available at fofs.ca.

2025 Feature Film Program

SPECIAL FEATURE PRESENTATION

Friday, June 20 at 8pm
Rien De Mal, Samuel Plante | Toronto | Drama | Toronto Premiere
After a shocking revelation turns Andrea’s life upside down and tests the bond with her younger
sister Claire, they embark together on a strange scavenger hunt – searching for hidden truths, and a
way back to each other. Based on true events. Trailer.

Short films preceding the feature presentation:

HAIR!, Sara Jade Alfaro | Oshawa | Comedy
A casual afternoon of ritualistic body hair removal between three witchy Iranian matriarchs unleashes a
classic Middle Eastern emotional purge, while marking the chaotic coming-of-age for twelve year old
Nora.

How To Bury Your Father, Ammar Keshodia | Toronto | Drama | World Premiere
A young man returns home and spends the night trying to fulfill his father’s dying wish for a proper Islamic burial.

CENTREPIECE FEATURE

Sunday, June 22 at 3pm
Cherub, Devin Shears | St. John’s | Drama | Toronto Premiere
A gentle character study of Harvey – a straight, fat man who decides to submit a photograph of himself to
a gay magazine for ‘big men and their admirers’.

Short film preceding the feature presentation:

Hello Stranger, Amélie Hardy | Montreal | Documentary
Between loads of laundry at the corner laundromat, Cooper shares the tumultuous story of her gender
reassignment journey.

CLOSING NIGHT FEATURE

Sunday, June 22 at 7:30pm
Fortescue, Rebecca Love | Toronto | Drama | Toronto Premiere
A quiet reflection on womanhood, psychosis and friendship, Fortescue begins capturing the whimsical
and platonic love that exists between two old friends, as they eat, tan and play on the sunny shores of an
old worldly summer cottage. When a boyfriend arrives on the scene, for them all to perform an age old
fairy tale for the neighbouring cottagers, one of the friends descends into a frightening trance, sharing the pains of living shackled to a dated ideal of womanhood.

Short film preceding the feature presentation:
Roots that Reach Toward the Sky, Jess X. Snow | Philadelphia | Drama
After her mother’s traditional Chinese medicine shop is vandalized, a young botanist draws on the
resilience of her local community and the healing remedies of her ancestors to contend with her deepest
anxieties. Snow was recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

SHORTS PROGRAMMING

OPENING NIGHT SHORTS PROGRAMME

Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 pm
MISSING, MJ Tremblay | Montreal | Experimental | World Premiere
Missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
MJ Tremblay’s experimental short film Missing, about missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, will have its world premiere at Future of Film Showcase on Thursday, June 19, 2025.

Eid, Rame Ibrahim | Vancouver | Drama | Canadian Premiere
Two women are not able to visit their sons’ graves due to them being buried in different countries.
Inspired by the true story of Abdelaziz Ibrahim, an artist for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, who
was killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Avancer masque, Laurence Olivier | Vancouver | Documentary, Experimental | Ontario Premiere
On a freezing night, in an isolated village, masked figures prowl. The monsters lurk by the houses, knock
on doors. You let these strangers into your home. They remain silent. They observe you.

Aski, la mère de tous (Aski, The Mother of All), Amélie Courtois | Mashteuiatsh | Documentary |
Ontario Premiere
A poetic film inspired by nature and what it ofers us: colours and softness. A tribute to Mother Earth, this
film takes the time to look at the little details of the forest.

Things Behind the Sun, Giran Findlay | Toronto | Drama | Toronto Premiere
A week in the life of a teenage tennis player, struggling to balance practice with his home life as an
important tournament approaches.

Abgad Hawaz, Robin Riad | Toronto | Experimental
Robin Riad’s short hand-drawn analogue film ostensibly teaches the pronunciation of the Arabic alphabet
in 28 easy steps. In actuality, the hand-drawn letters were printed using a laser jet printer onto the optical
soundtrack of 16mm film, and what you hear in the film is the projector reading the letters, and
interpreting them into sound. Riad uses humour to play with and sit with her mother tongue, offering a
‘false’ lesson in pronunciation.

Greenhorn, Sabrina Way | Toronto | Drama
While at a dinner party with friends, 20-something masculine presenting Logan receives a phone call that
her estranged Father has been in a car accident. With encouragement from her Mother, Logan decides to
travel back to her rural hometown to care for him.

welima’q, Shalan Joudry | L’sitkuk – Bear River First Nation | Documentary
Witness a sweetgrass landscape on the shores of Mi’kma’ki. Between the salt water and forest line, a
family weaves themselves within these grasses. It is the sweet scent that draws them in, and ultimately
goes home with them. Still, this earth breathes and bends, continuing on after us.

One Day This Kid, Alexander Farah | Vancouver | Drama
One day this kid will feel something stir in his heart and throat and mouth. One day this kid will reach a
point where he senses a division that isn’t mathematical. One day this kid will talk.

Después del silencio, Matilde-Luna Perotti | Montreal | Documentary
A filmmaker returns to her grandmother after six years of silence to confront the family taboo: the sexual
assault she suffered.

The opening shorts program joins the previously announced short films HAIR! (Sara Jade Alfaro,
Oshawa, Comedy); How to Bury Your Father (Ammar Keshodia, Toronto, Drama, World Premiere);
Hello Stranger (Amélie Hardy, Montreal, Documentary) and Roots that Reach Toward the Sky (Jess X.
Snow, Philadelphia, Drama), which will screen as part of the feature film presentations.

ADDITIONAL 2025 FOFS PROGRAMMING

INDUSTRY PROGRAMMING
FOFS also presents an extensive lineup of industry programming that offers valuable development
opportunities through workshops, panel discussions and one-on-one mentorship, directed towards
fostering the future of emerging Canadian filmmakers. For industry programming and more information,
visit fofs.ca.

FOFS AWARDS
FOFS also presents seven awards to featured filmmakers in the Opening Night Shorts Programme: Best
Film, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Picture Editing, Best Director, Best Screenplay and
People’s Choice. Award winners are selected by the FOFS 2025 Jury, with the People’s Choice Award
determined by audience vote. The award-winning films will be announced on June 22 and will stream for
free across Canada on CBC Gem beginning June 24, 2025.

This year’s jury consists of: Jason Anderson (Lead Programmer for Canada, Toronto International Film
Festival), Carolyn Mauricette (Director of Canadian Programming, Fantasia International Film Festival),
Maxwell Paparella (Assistant Editor, Notebook, MUBI), Angelica Stirpe (Producer, BOLDLY), Jake
Burling (Production Executive, Elevation Pictures) and Antoine Bourges (Director, Fail to Appear).

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DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT INCUBATOR

FOFS is pleased to present the second annual Director Development Incubator – a six-week
mentorship program for emerging filmmakers that culminates with a live pitch competition, co-presented by POV Film, on Saturday, June 21 at Archipelago Productions, 213 Sterling Rd.

This year’s six finalists – A.C. Birch (Bear Night), JoAnne Fishburn (Fish Boy), Gulzar (Skin to
Skin), Noor Gaith (One Way to Kurdistan), Michael Petruzzelli (It Comes in Waves), and Marlee
Sansom (Tell Me About My Mother) – will participate in weekly mentorship sessions with industry
professionals. They include workshops on how to direct actors, pitching, budgeting and financing,
framing, blocking + visual storytelling, and more.

At the end of the program, each filmmaker will pitch their short film production idea to a panel of
judges, followed by five minutes of constructive feedback. Judges will evaluate pitches based on
creativity and originality, strength of the proposed team, budget, timeline, potential impact, and
overall viability.

One filmmaker will be awarded a grand prize valued at $55,000 – including $5,000 in cash and
$50,000 in-kind services – to support the development of their short film. The winning project will also
be screened at a future FOFS Festival.

Future of Film Showcase can be found on Instagram, X and Facebook at @FutureFilmShow and FOFS2025.

Future of Film Showcase is supported by the Government of Canada, City of Toronto, Ontario Arts
Council, DGC Ontario, Shotdeck and the Indigenous Screen Office.

ABOUT FUTURE OF FILM SHOWCASE
The Future of Film Showcase (FOFS) is a Canadian not-for-profit media arts organization presenting
works from emerging Canadian Filmmakers, while at a crucial stage in their emergence as an artist
and storyteller, as well as elevating work by women, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and other emerging
creatives from traditionally marginalized communities. FOFS fosters the future of Canadian film by
providing burgeoning artists and filmmakers with professional development opportunities, as well as
a national platform through an annual film festival.