Fabienne Colas Foundation festivals during Black History Month

In 2020, NSCAD welcomed Award-winning actress, filmmaker, speaker, business owner and consultant Fabienne Colas as the university’s first virtual Visiting Artist in Residence in Film and Media Studies.

Fabienne, currently a member of NSCAD’s Board of Governors and the university’s Advancement Committee, is the ‘Queen of Festivals’ who created and manages (through the Fabienne Colas Foundation) nine successful festivals between Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, New York City and Port-au-Prince. Created in 2013, the Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF) is Canada’s biggest celebration of Black History Month through films and so much more. “I’m on a mission to create Black film festivals everywhere,” says Fabienne. TBFF runs from February 10-21, 2021.

Fabienne started the Fabienne Colas Foundation in 2005 to foster inclusion in the arts. The Foundation’s Being Black in Canada program – Canada’s largest incubator dedicated to Black Filmmakers – annually supports 35 new young, promising Black filmmakers in Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa who will be guided through the many steps in audiovisual production (screenwriting, directing, editing, post-production, etc.), and will create a documentary short (from eight to 10 minutes).

This process will be carried out under the tutelage of industry professionals using pro equipment. In 2020, the program enabled 20 emerging filmmakers from Montreal, Toronto and Halifax to create short documentaries. Their works will premiere at TBFF and then will also be screened at the Halifax Black Film Festival (February 23 to 28) and Montreal International Black Film Festival (September 2021).