Justine McCloskey
Artistic Director
Justine McCloskey is a filmmaker, writer, photographer, programmer, and analogue artist. She graduated with honours from Toronto Metropolitan University's BFA Film Studies program in 2013, specializing in directing and production design. In 2012, she won the prestigious Norman Jewison Award for Innovation in Filmmaking in the Production Design category. After working as a Photographer, Video Producer, and Creative at agencies such as THP Agency and HumanContact Inc., Justine went on to attend the University of Toronto, where she received her MA in Art History while working as a TA in media and photography courses with both UofT and OCADu. She is attending U of Guelph for yet another MA, focusing her thesis on feasts and banquets in Italian Renaissance art and literature.
A recipient of OAC and CCA grants among others, her writing, films, and photography have been published and screened internationally. This year, she is touring Canada with her new doc, Navels I, and her CCA-funded experimental film Whispers Mary is being distributed by CFMDC.
Kimber Sider
Senior Programmer & Curatorial Advisor
Kimber Sider is a documentary filmmaker, multimodal storyteller, and a human/animal eco-scholar specializing in the ways in which humans engage with and perceive the more-than-human world (plants and animals).
Kimber is passionate about the transformative potential of storytelling, with a particular affinity for quirky films that embrace unconventional narrative approaches. Through this lens, she is drawn to work that invites a deeper understanding of anothers’ experiences and perspectives. Kimber is best known for her feature documentary, Chasing Canada (CBC Documentary 2011-2014), which follows her journey across Canada with her horse, Katrina.
José Garcia-Lozano
Senior Programmer: 2020-Present
José Garcia-Lozano (he/him) is a video producer and director with over 25 years of experience in the production of images, animation, sound, and projection. He has a diploma in classical hand-drawn animation and speaks three languages: Spanish, French, and English. He is passionate about creating immersive video experiences that connect with audiences and convey powerful messages.
Paola Varela
Board Programmer: 2023-Present
Paola (she/her) is a visual artist, originally from Mexico. Paola is currently pursuing her passion for visual storytelling at Toronto Film School, where she's earning her diploma in video production. With a deep-rooted love for creative arts, particularly photography and videography, Paola sees these mediums as powerful tools for connecting people and sharing their stories.
Paola firmly believes in the transformative power of film to bridge gaps, break barriers, and celebrate diversity. Driven by her desire to make a meaningful impact in the film industry, Paola is determined to contribute to the growth and success of the Guelph Film Festival while pursuing her own artistic endeavours.
Cole Forrest
Programmer
Cole Forrest is an Anishinaabe filmmaker, film curator, and arts worker from Nipissing First Nation. Cole has worked for a decade in the arts sector in film festivals and artists organizations in various key administrative and artistic
roles at local, regional, and national levels. They have written and directed 10 films that have been screened at film festivals including imagineNATIVE, TQFF, TIFF Next Wave, and the Vancouver International Film Festival. Cole has created films through imagineNATIVE, National Film Board, and Canada Council for The Arts. Cole is a recipient of the 2025 King Charles Coronation Medal for their work in the arts. Cole is a recipient of the imagineNATIVE
Director’s Lab, and of the James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Award. They are the 2019 recipient of the imagineNATIVE + LIFT Film
Mentorship and a 2020 participant of the Sundance Native Filmmakers Lab. Cole was a 2023 participant of the Reelworld E20 Program, the 2024 curator-in-residence at Images Festival, and 2024 recipient of the MoabARTS Re-use residency. Cole has supported programming at festivals in both Canada and the USA; including TIFF, imagineNATIVE, VIFF, Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Santa Fe International Film Festival, Durango Film Festival, deadCenter Film Festival, and Pathways Indigenous Film Festival. Cole is currently a professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts where they teach Cinema Studies. They are grateful to represent their community in all artistic pursuits.
Kourtney Jackson
Programmer
Kourtney Jackson is a Toronto-based filmmaker, lens-based artist, and film curator. Her artistic practice employs hybridized and experimental forms of storytelling that permeate interiorities of Black queer womanhood. As a film programmer, she seeks to champion underrepresented filmmakers and platform BIPOC, queer, and feminist media that subverts inherited cinematic conventions. Her award-winning films have screened locally and internationally at festivals including TIFF Next Wave (Toronto), BlackStar Film Festival (Philadelphia), Sundance Film Festival, Ignite x Adobe (Utah), and the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (Montréal). She has curated cinema series for the Nia Centre for the Arts, the 519, and Hot Docs.