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The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) offers more than just screenings. For young, racialized creatives, it provides opportunities to network, learn from others and imagine an industry that involves their work and cultural backgrounds despite challenges from union sets.
“One of the biggest challenges facing young racialized filmmakers is the under-representation of racialized individuals in key decision-making roles in production funding and green lighting,” said Christopher Aylward, an associate professor of film studies at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Projects from a racialized lens “can be misunderstood, undervalued, or completely overlooked by those who do not share and appreciate that lived experience and perspective,” he said.
Rosa Riad, who was hired by Variety for the second year to be a freelance camera operator for TIFF 2025, said her Iraqi and Muslim backgrounds shape the stories she tells. Her documentary explores where “home” is for children of the diaspora.
“I noticed when I started speaking out [about Palestine], there was a period of time where I had no work,” said Riad, a filmmaker and founder of FoxWing Productions. “Then I actually noticed the reverse — where I got a lot of work from people who supported the Palestinian cause or who were Muslim or who were just from marginalized communities.”
Film school taught her to “write what you know,” where she was encouraged to draw inspiration from her own life.
“I’m always going to have that lens, no matter what story I tell,” said Riad.
Age and experience can also be a challenge, said Riad. She says she will be able to tell stories better with age and understands the importance of experience.
“The Canadian film industry is getting better when it comes to systematic challenges, but there is still a lot of improvement that needs to be done,” said Selina McCallum, a documentary filmmaker of Tanzanian and Jamaican descent. She has had two of her seven films played on CBC.
There are “more organizations by and for racialized communities now, which has helped a lot with ensuring more filmmakers have access to workshops, mentors and resources,” she added.
Networking is important when breaking into the industry, said Riad. “Just as a child of immigrants, a lot of us don’t have parents who grew up here or have any real network here,” said Riad.
She says TIFF offers a chance to network and learn from industry professionals.
For some, TIFF is a lifelong goal. Dani Ramadhania, a second-year TMU student, says the festival influenced her decision to move to Toronto from Indonesia.
“I tend to shoot very up high sometimes. I feel like at this point it’s not even on the moon — it’s like a galaxy,” said Ramadhania. In the next 10 years, she aims to participate in TIFF and win an Oscar at the same time.
Aylward says both the union and indie world have made immense progress toward diversity through hiring and training. “But a significant challenge to these filmmakers remains underrepresentation within the industry as a whole, and specifically within production,” said Aylward.
The indie filmmaking world offers more cultural representation than unionized sets, where the demographic is more “white straight men in their 50s,” said Riad. “But in the indie scene, it is so colourful and vast and welcoming and warm and young.”
A unionized set — where wages and working conditions are protected by contractual agreements — requires more money than indie films, but often comes with more experienced crews.
Ramadhania said that cultural representation in the indie world is encouraged, and she hopes to see the same diversity more in union projects.
“Young filmmakers are starting to take things into their own hands,” said McCallum. “They are creating the jobs for themselves by working on projects they want to see and share with people in their communities.”
Including more racialized creatives in key positions within production, broadcasting and distribution would help address the imbalance, said Aylward. Ramadhania is certain that will happen, saying the young racialized creatives will become the future of filmmaking.
Clip.to was used in transcribing the interviews for this story.
