FACULTY & STAFF

People : Production Part Time : : Mary Ellen Davis

B.F.A., Concordia University, 1984

Mary Ellen Davis has lived in France and in Québec. A Concordia University Film Production graduate, she first made a short film, Nelson Symonds Jazz Guitarist. She travelled many times to Guatemala, where she filmed two 16mm documentaries: The Devil's Dream (1992) and Tierra Madre (1996). Both films reveal the profound injustices that plague the country, while honouring Guatemalans and their cultures. In 2001, Davis released a third documentary shot in Guatemala, Haunted Land, a quest into the past, a story of death and survival in the Mayan highlands. These three works have each won several awards, as well as widespread recognition inside and outside of Québec. With the same inspiration, Davis directed Mexico: Dead or Alive (1996), produced by the N.F.B., about political violence and the fight for democracy in that country. She helped produce Alejandro (1994), a feature-length 16mm documentary by Salvadoran director Guillermo Escalon. In 2007, Davis released three new documentaries: Territories, about Canadian photographer Larry Towell, member of Magnum Photos; A Day in Palestine, a short film shot in super 8 and co-directed with José Garcia-Lozano and Will Eizlini; Los Músicos, about musicians in Mexico and the local passion for music. Since 1997, she has worked part-time as film and video program advisor for Montreal's First Peoples' Festival Présence autochtone, and since 2007, as coordinator for Regards palestiniens.

People : Production Part Time : : François Miron

M.F.A., School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago, 1990
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François Miron began makings films in 1982, working exclusively with emulsion (as in film NOT video). His early body of work consists of several short experimental films, all created using a powerful film image manipulation technique that he has mastered: optical printing. In 1990 he received an MFA in filmmaking from The School of The Art Institute Of Chicago where he went under a full merit scholarship. All of Miron’s films have been screened in festivals and all sorts of venues throughout the world, receiving countless awards and true underground acclaim. Aside from this, the cult director produces music videos, feature title sequence design, photography and short and feature length independent surrealistic narrative films. Since 1993 he has been teaching optical printing, filmmaking, and technical aspects of film at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.

Besides several short film projects, Miron has recently completed principal photography on The 4th Life, a 35mm feature film project written by James Galwey and produced with Les Films de L'Autre. This film is funded in part by Telefilm Canada, SODEC and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

People : Production Part Time : : Michael Yaroshevsky

M.F.A., Concordia University, 2002, M.A., University of Toronto 1994
e-mail:
After receiving degrees in the history of art, Japanese, and cinema, Michael Yaroshevsky began working in film as a writer, director, and cameraman. His selected filmography includes: Petropolis, 2002 (Best Experimental Documentary, Barcelona Docupolis); Interstellar, 2005 (Festival Nouveau Cinéma), Death Valley Superstar, 2008 (International Jury Award, 32nd Sao Paulo International Film Festival), Hard Sign (feature in development with the financial support of SODEC).