Are you a newcomer or refugee filmmaker living in or near the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)? Are you looking to develop specific film-related skills, better familiarize yourself with the film community, or work towards completing a project?
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce the launch of the fourth year of the Newcomer Filmmentor program. The program will allow three participants to each be paired with one mentor practicing in one of the three following fields: Documentary, Experimental or Narrative filmmaking.
The mentorship period will take place from August 2025 to March 2026. This is a self-directed mentorship. The mentee must present a clear plan in their application of how they would like to structure the mentorship and what they would like to accomplish within the eight months of the program. Proposals exploring analogue or digital filmmaking through LIFT’s workshops, production equipment and post-production facilities will be considered.
The successful applicants will:
– Be paired with a mentor to provide advice and guidance once a month.
– Be provided with a LIFT Production Membership until June 30, 2026.
– Receive $2,500 CAD (total) in artist fees in two installments.
– Have the opportunity to be enrolled in up to four (4) LIFT workshops over the duration of the mentorship period listed above.
– Receive $1,500 in-kind equipment credit to use LIFT’s extensive analogue and digital equipment and facilities, expiring June 30, 2026. (Any additional equipment, facilities, expendables, and production costs will be the responsibility of the participant).
-Have the opportunity to participate in three (3) “Lunch and Learn” sessions with industry professionals.
– Receive a Conference Level Accreditation for TIFF 2025.
Application Deadline: 10:00am ET on Monday, July 7, 2025
Learn more and submit here: https://lift.ca/community/call-for-applications-newcomer-filmmentor-2025/
