Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman | CANADA | 90 min | Partial Subtitles
Co-presented by Alice Street Realty
Co-presented by The Arboretum, University of Guelph
EVENT: The Charisma Factor: How we perceive and protect animals
Feature Film Screening: A polar bear's traditional migration path leads it into populated areas, sparking conflict between human interests and wild nature as the animal struggles to survive in a changing world.
Post-Film: Join us after the film as we honour the emotional themes within the film, and welcome a panel to discuss local animal/human interactions.
DIRECTOR BIO:
Jack Weisman
Jack Weisman aspires to make visually striking and original films that defy easy classification. His works of creative non-fiction have premiered at many festivals including Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, and IDFA. Jack’s breakout short, Nuisance Bear (2022), co-directed with Gabriela Osio Vanden, offers a gripping, wordless study of polar bears navigating human-dominated landscapes in Churchill, Manitoba. The film received widespread acclaim, earning a spot on the 95th Academy Award Shortlist, two Emmy nominations, and top honors at Cinema Eye Honors, Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, and IDA Documentary Awards. Jack’s debut feature will premiere in 2026 and is produced by A24, Documist, and Rise Films. Weisman is a co-founder of Documist, an Emmy and Peabody-winning production company based in NYC and Toronto. He served as an executive producer on The Territory (2022). The Territory premiered at Sundance, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize, and is now available on Disney+ through National Geographic Documentary Films.
Grabriela Osio Vanden
Gabriela Osio Vanden is an award-winning Venezuelan-Canadian Director and cinematographer based in Toronto. She brings a background in painting and dance to her images which have premiered at major festivals, including TIFF, Camerimage, SXSW, IDFA, Sheffield DocFest, and True/False. She is a HotDocs 2022 Fellow. Her student thesis film The Rambler was awarded an internship with Phedon Papamichael ASC GSC whom she shadowed on Alexander Payne’s Downsizing. Gabriela has a BFA in Film Production from York University. Her latest film Nuisance Bear premiered at TIFF and played at over 120 Film Festivals. It won multiple awards but most notably a Critics Choice Award and Outstanding Non-Fiction Short at Cinema Eye Honors. It was shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards.
