The Seattle International Film Festival announced the 2019 Film Teams for the four feature films – two documentary and two narratives, and Industry Mentors for the New Works-in-Progress (WIP) Forum.
The projects in the 2019 New Works-in-Progress Forum in Documentary are:
HOPE’S JOURNEY (USA/Mexico) | Director Yolanda Cruz
Hope arrives in Oaxaca angry, out of place and afraid. Others have come in celebration, making the annual pilgrimage to La Virgen de Juquila, the region’s patron saint, but it isn’t until Hope befriends Soledad that a sense of origin begins to emerge.
A LOSS OF SOMETHING EVER FELT(Estonia/Colombia) | Director Carlos E. Lesmes
At the request of her mother Hille, Eeva arrives from Estonia to Bogotá, Colombia to look for her drug addict and alcoholic half brother Lauri. In her quest to find Lauri, Eeva manages to rediscover and reconnect with the fragile love she and her brother once shared.
The projects in the 2019 New Works-in Progress Forum in Narrative are:
LINA FROM LIMA (Chile/Argentina/Peru) | Director Maria Paz González
It’s Christmas time. Ten years have passed since Lina (40) traveled to Chile to work as a housekeeper leaving behind her son who lives with his grandmother in Peru. This holiday season, Lina will find herself yearning to rest from the weight of her obligations to think, even for a brief moment, first about herself.
THE PATHS OF MY FATHER (Vietnam/Brazil) | Director Mauricio Osaki
When 11-year Nhi’s grandma is hospitalized, she is forced to join her absent father, a truck driver, on a journey around Vietnam. Nhi wants to escape to her hometown and reconnect with her roots, while the father sees it as a chance to give her away.
The New Works-in-Progress Industry Mentors
The 2019 Documentary Mentors are Programmer/Curator Dorota Lech (HOT DOCS Forum Producer; TIFF International and Lead Programmer, Discovery section); Producer/Director/Writer Greg Rhem (previously Director of Development HBO Documentary Films) and Executive Director Simon Kilmurry (International Documentary Association).
The 2019 Narrative Mentors are International Programmer Jane Schoettle (previously TIFF, Palm Springs); Distributor Sandro Florin (FiGa Films) and Film Critic/Writer/Producer Thelma Adams (New York Film Critics Circle, New York Post, Us Weekly)
SIFF New Works-in-Progress Forum Projects from 2018 are now award-winning films having successfully premiered at major film festivals around the world. The 2018 SIFF New Works-in-Progress film, The Dive(Israel) from Writer/Director/Actor Yona Rozenkier, premiered at Locarno, Jerusalem, and Toronto International Film Festivals last fall and will now screen at SIFF 2019 as part of the main festival lineup.