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ignite!
2023
Lineup

  • +50 creators
  • 5 days
Youtube Instagram
  • Day 1
  • Monday 15 May
  • Solstice; Opening Party

Paige Smith

tough sell
  • Day 2
  • wednesday, May 17
  • daybreak

Molly Cross-blanchard

astrid trueman

natasha chew

david volpov

maheem bista
  • Day 3
  • thursday may 18
  • high noon

Minerva navasca

christian oriak

judy caranto

sheri ptolemy

malka martz-oberlander

fiana kawane

andjela tomic

kate kurbatoff

hoodie browns

ben
parker

Mina + akina

ahsia music
  • Day 4
  • friday may 19
  • golden hour

Natasha chew

jaqueline ritter

tiffany oud

jilian tolzmann

annika chan

zoë braithwaite

icy
gaze

feven kidane

precipice
  • Day 5
  • saturday may 20
  • solar flair; the big finale

savina andromeda+ phoenix 007

amé simard

amy wang

bobo lee culham

陈曦 Larkin Chen

sydney hunt

Leilei Lee Culham

jillian burke

miriam dumitra

milena carrasco

ra

samantha walters

bongganisa

ploy pailin

Monday, may 15
Solstice; Opening party

Paige Smith

Paige Smith is an experimental filmmaker and visual artist who works primarily in film, video, photography, mix-media, and installation. Her work often explores questions about body and place, and she uses reflexive techniques to investigate her viewer’s perceptions with art. She received her BFA in Film from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2018, and is currently pursuing a Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Visual Arts from SFU. Recent presentations of her artwork include Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society (2022), Massy Arts Society (2022), Audain Gallery (2022 & 2021), Dawson City International Short Film Festival (2020), and Vines Art Festival (2020).

Tickets

Monday, May 15
Solstice; Opening Party

Tough Sell

As a songwriter and experimental music producer / performer, Tough Sell draws inspiration from disparate musical genres (folk, pop, noise, ambient, electronic) to create works that document, archive, and abstract the places and head spaces she finds herself in.

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Wednesday, May 17
Daybreak

Molly Cross-Blanchard

Molly Cross-Blanchard is a white and Métis poet living on unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory. She teaches creative writing at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and is the outgoing Indigenous Writer-in-Residence there. Her debut collection of poetry is called Exhibitionist

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Wednesday, May 17
Daybreak

Astrid Trueman

Stridvicious (aka Astrid Trueman) is a 21-year-old musician, actress, and writer born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. Finding solace in the arts and only the arts (and having learned guitar/prose just so girls would think she was sexy), she is excited to perform at IGNITE! for the second time. She feels festivals like this are the lifeblood of the city. Alongside releasing her Demo EP Blatherskite! and a self-published poetry chapbook Canines Cuddling Coastlines, she is currently studying literature at post-secondary with the hope of becoming a cool professor.

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Wednesday, May 17
Daybreak

Natasha Chew

Natasha is an emerging Asian-Canadian storyteller who is currently based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Natasha has recently had her work showcased at the Cultch and Presentation House Theater, and is especially passionate about celebrating moments of levity and joy in the navigation of an ever-evolving identity.

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Wednesday, May 17
Daybreak

David Volpov

David (he/him) is a writer, actor, producer, and a recent graduate of the UBC’s BFA Acting program. Good people can do bad things. Bad people can be vindicated. Life is complex. These are the building blocks of the stories that David loves to explore. Writing credits include: Civil Court (Or Festival), The Minimum-Wage Dame (Eternal Theatre Collective), and the upcoming premiere of Tragedy, Slander and Wine (Promethean Theatre). He is currently developing his next play through the Arts Club’s Emerging Playwrights’ Unit. David is the Executive Director of Promethean Theatre, where he advocates for emerging artists to take positions of creative leadership.

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Wednesday, May 17
Daybreak

Maheem Bista

Maheem Bista is a Nepalese student currently in his first year at the BFA for Creative Writing at UBC. He is grateful for being given the opportunity to showcase something ridiculous at a festival filled with amazing panelists/artists

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon
IGNITE! Shorts, Kamayan

minerva navasca

Minerva Navasca is a Filipina director and producer, and a ’23 graduate of the BFTV program at Sheridan College. Best known for “Kamayan” (2021), which has been showcased at the 2022 TIFF Next Wave, she aims to explore hyper-personal stories of cultural dysphoria and girlhood with intimate specificity.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“The Last Show with Jerry Keenster”

Christian oriak

Cristian Oriak is a cinematographer and event videographer based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. I enjoy creating visual art in the way of film, for the past 6 years I’ve refining my craft. Cinematography is my passion. I’m always eager to create more film and work with directors to bring their vision to life.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“Man of My Dreams”

Judy Caranto

Judy Caranto is a student at the University of Victoria studying theatre. Despite most of their experience being in the theatre, they have a curiosity and love for the art of filmmaking as well. This is the second short film they’ve created. They met Danika Booth at The Cinematheque’s summer film program. The two hope to continue their journeys as filmmakers and as emerging artists.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“The First time I thought I was fat”

Sheri Ptolemy

Sheri Ptolemy recently graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and a certificate in General Music from Berklee College of Music. She released her first EP of all original music called “Change Your Mind” at 18 and just released her newest single Lonesome for You. Sheri has always had a passion for film, taking film classes and making home videos whenever she had the chance. Sheri just completed her first short documentary, The First Time I Thought I was Fat in Documentary Class at UBCO. Sheri is currently working on two culture-based documentaries she hopes to complete in 2023.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“In the Details” and “The Onion Effect”

Malka Martz-Oberlander

Malka Martz-Oberlander is a 20 year old independent writer, director, producer and current film student at Capilano University, based in so-called Vancouver B.C. Canada. Her plan is to fix the world through comedy and explore the new ways we can use humour to grapple with tough subjects. Her work is driven by curiosity and out-of the box thinking and a passion to talk in third person.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon 
Dance Performance

Fiana Kawane

Fiana Kawane is a performing artist trained in Kathak, a classical dance form known for its pirouettes, footwork, and lyrical movements. She received foundational training in dance at Kadamb, India, with Kumudini Lakhia and Vaishali Trivedi. Her repertoire includes performing with dance companies and independently across countries like India, Pakistan, Canada, Japan, and France. She has choreographed an hour-length production “Nrityavandan: An Ode to Dance” and her new work-in-progress has been presented by 12 Minutes Max, Dance Centre. Currently, she is writing her dissertation on South Asian diasporic poetry, lyric, and ecology at UBC.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“The Last Show with Jerry Keenster”

Andjela Tomic

Andjela Tomic is an aspiring director who loves exploring an array of filming techniques. Watching films from my childhood contributed to my love for them. I hope to be able to take filmmaking to the limit and pursue it in a way which will make the audience question the impossible.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“The Memory”

Kate Kurbatoff

Kate Kurbatoff is graduating from high school in June 2023 and is excited about continuing her education. She was doing ballet, contemporary dance, and hip hop for 15 years. Her interest in film started with the art of acting. Being on the other side of the camera for years taught Kate to trust her creative process and persevere in honing her skills. Her current high school did not offer any film programs, so Kate decided to study the mechanics of some editing software and functions of camera on her own. She was thrilled to complete the filmmaking program with the Cinematheque last summer.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon 
Music Performance

hoodie browns

hoodie browns (she/her) is a settler of Amhara, Oromo and Tigray descent living on traditional & unceded territories of the šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

She’s been compared to Corinne Bailey Rae meets 1960s Motown & Soul with a *sprinkle* of hip hop. With fluid sounds and soft beats, her music is gently disarming. She offers us a moment to hold ourselves and see what movement comes up in stillness, to reclaim our connection to our humanity that was stolen from us all, but especially for multiply marginalized folks.

Headshot credits: Roxanne Lewis (@roxanne_lewis) 

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“The Last Show with Jerry Keenster”

Ben Parker

Ben Parker is an up-and-coming writer, director, editor, and actor from British Columbia, Canada currently attending Capilano university for film studies.

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon IGNITE! Shorts
“Leave a Message”

Mina + Akina

Mina Barnes-Tehrani currently attends Templeton Secondary School and has a strong interest for the art of film and cinematography. Akina Silins currently attends Eric Hamber Secondary School and is very interested in the art of film-making as well. Akina and Mina have been making short films together since they were 11 years old and discovered iMovie. Since then, they have moved on to bigger projects and made their short film “Leave a Message” in the Summer of 2022. They plan to continue to pursue their love for film-making and currently have multiple projects in the works.

 

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Thursday, May 18: High Noon 
Music Performance

ahsia

AHSIA is an up-and-coming singer, songwriter, and poet from Vancouver, BC. She was born in Philadelphia and raised in Vancouver with a Nigerian and Congolese background. By the age of ten, AHSIA was already singing, writing, and performing. Her musical styles include R&B, Soul, Jazz, Afrobeat & poetic rap. AHSIA has participated in a wide range of shows, such as anti-oppression and black empowerment movements and protests, LGBTQ events, festivals, fashion shows, and other performing arts venues. AHSIA has a vibrant personality that allows her audience to feel connected with her tasteful melodies and her charismatic stage presence.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

Jaqueline ritter

Jaqueline Ritter (she/her) is an emerging contemporary dance artist based in Vancouver, BC. Jaqueline is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s School for Contemporary Arts, and holds a BFA in dance. She is currently a member of AMOK Dance Project, as well as a freelance performer and creator working throughout the Greater Vancouver area. As a choreographer, Jaqueline’s interests lie in the emotions that remain buried deep beneath the surface of the human experience; she strives to create vivid and engaging works that leave audiences feeling more aware of the common threads that run throughout all human beings.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

Tiffany oud

Tiffany is a performer, writer, and sound designer. She has an Applied Diploma in Performing Arts from the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Tiffany worked as a sound designer/composer for CCPA’s production of Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, and Shrek the Musical. Post graduation, she’s fallen in love with clowning – and co-created and performed a clown act for the cabaret, Pandemonium: Master in Pieces (Atomic Vaudeville). Devising new works is her passion, especially through physical theatre and music, and she’s looking forward to collaborating with inspiring artists for the IGNITE! Youth Festival 2023.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

Jilian Tolzmann

Jilian was led to theatre from her musical background in singing, piano and dance. She has been on a stage from a young age, when she started to play the piano, which was her entry into the performing arts. Since being in her first musical, she has performed in more productions and also enjoys working behind the scenes. She is also active in the Film and Television Industry. Jilian has a passion for ocean conservation and giving back to the community. 

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

Annika chan

Annika Chan is in the Theatre Program at UBC, and has received several Arts Leadership awards. Her current involvement in arts initiatives has been centered on finding ways to embrace discomfort through exploring new mediums and experiences. She loves that stories evoke emotion, facilitate awareness and even change others. She hopes to use this project to bring forward salient themes and issues surrounding the climate and Asian-Canadian culture and heritage.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

Zoë braithwaite

Bio TBC

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May 19: Golden Hour
Multidisciplinary Incubator

icy gaze

ICY GAZE uses poetry to befriend their own soul and hopefully play with yours. Born in Indonesia and based on Turtle Island, they have been cultivating their poetic dexterity for over ten years. They blossomed as a spoken word poet on the UBC and Vancouver Poetry Slam stages, eventually featuring and competing nationally. Inspired by the literary tradition in their South Asian roots, ICY’s poetry is a journey of overcoming shame, guilt, and grief by shattering illusions, showing up in the present as authentically as possible, and becoming love.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Music Performance

feven kidane

Feven Kidane is an Ethiopian-Canadian composer, trumpeter, bassist, and electronic musician from Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She adheres to the traditions of Black American Music (“jazz”) of the ’60s and ’70s, studying its foundational components of decolonization, creation, spirituality, and self-liberation. As an improviser in Vancouver’s free scene, she has worked alongside veterans of the genre including Douglas R. Ewart (Yusef Lateef, Anthony Braxton), as well as being a member of the New Orchestra Workshop Society (est. 1977). She also makes electronic music inspired by both her Blackness and video games of her youth under the moniker thehabeshaman.

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May 19: Golden Hour
Music Performance

precipice

Precipice seeks to weave a mosaic that reflects our experiences of the human condition. With a versatile approach to performance, our songs provide a unique listening experience that evoke feelings of introspection, solidarity, longing, euphoria, despair, and serenity. Our music strives to reclaim the relationship between the spiritual and the natural.

Precipice creates music that is difficult to categorize into a single genre. Our diverse musical backgrounds result in a mixture of progressive-psychedelic rock, heavy metal, jazz, Latin and classical. Precipice is currently in the process of recording their first album, alongside having started writing the second.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Voguing Performance

phoenix + savina

Phoenix 007 and Savina Andromeda are active ballroom competitors and voguers in Vancouver’s local ballroom scene, having won multiple grand prizes collectively. Phoenix and Savina share a love for the art of FEMME QUEEN PERFORMANCE, a specific lineage of vogue performance that honours the black trans women who created the sacred dance practice of vogue. They are excited to bring you an energetic performance to share the love of this culture with other queer youth and hopefully encourage and foster participation and learning more about the beautiful culture of ballroom. 

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

amé simard

Amé is a French-Canadian filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist, based in on the lands of the the unceded, ancestral and traditional lands of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Kwantlen, sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsawwassen) and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) Nations. They have been completing their BFA in Film at Simon Fraser University where they have written, shot and directed short narrative and documentary films. Poetry and theatre have recently become alternate ways to explore themes of queerness, memory and nostalgia and mental health across all mediums. They hope that a more multidisciplinary approach will lead to exciting creative discoveries.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

amy wang

Amy Wang is a Chinese-Canadian interdisciplinary artist based on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples (Vancouver). Their practice explores the overlap between queerness, disability, and cultural identity, all of which pertain to lived experiences. Text and visual mediums are formats they frequently experiment with. Amy’s work has been published in The Garden Statuary and exhibited in Healing Fires: Art by Survivors and Allies.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

Bobo Lee Culham

Bobo Lee Culham (he/they) lives, works, and plays on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Bobo enjoys acting and drawing and is passionate about LGBTQ2SIA+ representation in movies, tv shows, and other forms of media. Through the Telling it Bent program, he has gained new knowledge of creative writing and performing and is looking forward to sharing his final project at the IGNITE! Festival. 

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

陈曦 Larkin Chen

Larkin comes from Sichuanese farmers on their baba’s side, and Hakka scholars on their mama’s side. They migrated to/settled on Turtle Island as a child, grew up with the prairies and mountains of Treaty 7 territories, and came into queerness among the rainforests and seashores of unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh homelands. Through poetry (and other times – dance, photography, and tabletop roleplaying games), Larkin weaves stories about all their loves: trancestors and plantcestors, queer human and more-than-human kin.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

sydney hunt

A recent graduate of UVIC’s theatre department and current Master in Management Student, Sydney has always been drawn towards wordsmithing for the stage. Her work centres around the human experience, and she strives to connect with audiences of all backgrounds. Previous credits: Subway (Theatre Inconnu, Director), A Bottle Too Many (Alberta Theatre Projects, Playwright), what it means to be nothing (SATCo, Playwright), Shakesperes Women (Phoenix Theatre, Livestream Director). See more of Sydney this summer in SKAMpede with her new play, E. Carr. She looks forward to sharing this evening with her fellow TIB cohort, and hopes you enjoy the show.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

Leilei Lee Culham

Leilei is an avid reader and writer who loves to challenge herself and learn about different writing styles, when her head isn’t in the clouds dreaming. At just 14 years old, she’s already had a short story published by the Vancouver Public Library and is determined to make it the first of many publications.

Tickets

May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

jillian burke

Jillian Burke (They/She) is a multidisciplinary artist now living on the ancestral and unceded lands of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples (Vancouver, BC). A current student of Studio 58’s acting program, they have enjoyed exploring new areas of creation throughout their time here from pantomime to fire dancing. They are honored to be working professionally as an actor, lighting tech, director and creative collaborator. They strive to use their voice and opportunities to create a space for those still looking for a way to share their own. Their work hopes to bring a spotlight to the stories exploring themes of culture, queer identity, connection, and coexistence.

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

Miriam dumitra

Miriam Dumitra is an emerging queer theatre practitioner whose library of skills include lighting and sound design, writing, technical production, and blacksmithing. Miriam grew up in Austria, Romania, and the Philippines. At age ten, they settled in Langley, BC and later moved to Vancouver Island where they received their BFA in theatre from the University of Victoria. Their summers are spent portraying the apprentice blacksmith in the historic town of Barkerville, while working in more traditional theatre the rest of the year. In their practice, they are passionate about showcasing themes such as climate change, queer joy, and intersectional feminism.

Tickets

May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

milena carrasco

Bio TBC

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Drag Performance

ra

Ra is Vancouver’s desi non-binary kamasut-Ra drag deity hailing form the land of rich culture and performance art- Punjab, India. Their drag stems form an amalgamation of art, culture, sex and fashion. Every aspect of their craft is to empower brown folks to be proud and feel powerful in their sexuality, colour, language and gender identity. 

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Telling it bent showcase

samantha walters

Samantha Walters is an emerging interdisciplinary performer, writer, and creator based on xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl ̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh lands. She mostly works between contemporary performance, directing, and video making. She grew up in England and Hong Kong and holds a BFA honours in Theatre Performance from Simon Fraser University’s School for Contemporary Arts. Her work has been featured by the Arts Club LEAP Program, the Or Festival, the Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen, UNIT/PITT Society for Art and Critical Awareness, and What Lab. Find her work at samanthawalters.com

Tickets

May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Drag Performance

bongganisa

Bongganisa (they/them) is a drag ghost back from the dead to bring creativity, dramatics, and unhinged emotions to the stage. Bong is inspired by theatre, fashion, anime, and Filipinx culture. In their spare time, you can find them turning tablecloths into dresses and making wigs out of garbage bags. 

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May 20: Solar Flair; The Big Finale
Drag Performance

Ploy pailin

Ploy-Pie-Lin, not Pay Lin is a princess from Thailand. She’s a lady in the streets who always knows when to bring the heat. Serving you cool-calm-and collected, choreo and a curated closet, Pailin’s motto in life is “you can stab me in the back but whilst you’re there, kiss my ass.”

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thursday, may 19
music

argel mdr

Argel MDR is a Filipino-Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor from Surrey, Canada. He was one of the Top 10 finalists of CBC’s Toyota Searchlight 2021. When he was 15 years old, he moved to Canada from the Philippines with his family to seek a better life and opportunities. As a young immigrant, Argel wants to use the power of storytelling to inspire Filipino youth and other immigrants through his music and theatrical performances. He is an advocate of representation, anti-racism work, and inclusion. Argel’s most recent single, ‘Sail Away’ was featured in Spotify playlists including Fresh Finds Philippines.

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wednesday, may 18
Ignite!-curated shorts

corinne langmuir

Corinne Langmuir (they/she) is a video editor, multimedia creator, and writer. In 2020, they directed the introspective dance short Zì Jǐ with their collaborator Erin Lum. Corinne is studying at the University of Toronto. They aim to challenge the barriers of subconscious narratives through multimedia grounds.

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wednesday, may 18
Ignite!-curated shorts

Erin Lum

Erin Lum (she/her) is a dancer, writer, and filmmaker. Her instinctual love for movement has allowed her to explore the ways creative practices intertwine. With her collaborator Corinne Langmuir, she directed and danced in the F-O-R-M commissioned short, Zì Jǐ. Erin is currently studying at SFU and works as F-O-R-M’s Associate Producer.  

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