Programming
Programming Jury:
Mary Rose Vallarta is a visual artist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mary Rose holds a B.F.A. from the University of Manitoba School of Art and is primarily a photographer and filmmaker. Though she works effortlessly through various mediums, Mary Rose is passionate about photography, camera operating, and shaping light with cinematography. Having a background in fine arts inspires her work on identity, and human relationship with places and time. Vallarta has been an active member of the art community in Winnipeg from being a founding member of the art collective Actually Milk, hosting art shows around Winnipeg with her fellow members throughout their time in university. During this, she joined a local photography collective, From Here & Away and began photographing for Synonym Art Consultation. She has been a member of the International Cinematographer’s Guild and working in the film industry camera department since 2021.
Madelyn Gowler is a queer, film-based artist focusing on materiality and experimental processes of image making. They currently reside in Treaty 1 territory and received their BFA from the University of Manitoba. They mainly work with textiles, installation, and moving-image film. Their practice focuses on meditative processes of deconstruction, repurposing, and film as subject.
Their films have been screened internationally at ‘Engauge Experimental Film Festival’ in Seattle WA (2023), and ‘Experiments in Cinema v18.4’ in Albuquerque, NM (2023).
Taryn Edgeworth is a writer and director based in Winnipeg, MB. As a storyteller, Taryn has always been drawn to film as a means of connecting people and articulating internal worlds. She is inspired by stories about the female experience, existentialism, self-discovery, and connecting one another; often through a genre-bending lens.
After falling in love with writing, acting, and directing as a teenager, Taryn took to the industry with a passion to learn and share her vision. She completed her BA at the University of Manitoba in Film in 2024. Taryn has worked various positions in the Manitoba Film and TV industry, now primarily in the AD department. Taryn also is a founding member of the Manitoba Emerging Filmmakers Festival.
Most recently, Taryn participated in the National Screen Institute’s “Manitoba Director’s Lab” (2026). Her next short film, “House 416”, follows a thrilling female-driven story that explores identity, inner-conflict, and liberation through the action-genre.
Award Jury:
Alec Carlos is a Winnipeg-based actor, musician, filmmaker, and writer. Alec has worked in film and television under multiple different hats, garnering over a decade of experience both in front of the camera and behind. He is a 2x UWPG Film Festival Award winner, having won Best Actor and Best Canadian Film in 2021 for In a Moment's Notice (2021). Notably, he was on the writing team for the Manitoba-made sitcom Maria and the Mennos and recently just wrapped his first directorial feature film The Jam Van. In front of the camera, he has notably starred in Safehaven (2025 TV Series), Elevator Game (2023), and the upcoming Violent Night 2 (2026). Alec also serves as the primary ring announcer for Winnipeg Professional Wrestling and has been fully trained as a professional wrestler, allowing his horizons to be expanded into the stunt world with stunt credits in The Long Walk (2025) and the upcoming A24 horror film Altar. Aside from film, Alec Carlos is the frontman for the indie-rock band OpenTAB and has had their music featured in film and TV as well.
Quan Luong is a Vietnamese Canadian cinematographer & filmmaker whose work has been recognized at prestigious festivals including DOC NYC, Hot Docs, and the Canadian Film Festival.
Quan is a two-time Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award nominee for his work on the short documentaries Tailor Made and I Hurt Myself. His portfolio bridges the worlds of scripted and unscripted storytelling.
Some of his current projects include the Paramount+ true crime series Lone Star Homicide with director John Barnard, Mike Maryniuk's NFB hybrid film Born to be Wild, and the CBC/APTN kids series Stevie and The Sacred Animals co-directed by Dinae Robinson and three-time Emmy-winning director J.J. Johnson.
Festival Staff
Festival Director
Yatatu Reimer
University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre & Film
Department Chair
Adam Parboosingh
Office Manager & Student Advisor
Jennifer Orr
Theatre and Film Department Staff Advisors
Delton Kreller, Milos Mitrovic, Lise Raven, Colin Weins
Festival Founder
John Kozak