DOC ATLANTIC BREAKTHROUGH PROGRAM
Now in its fourth year, the DOC Atlantic Breakthrough Program—led by Lunenburg Doc Fest—continues to champion emerging documentary talent from Atlantic Canada who identify as Indigenous, Black, and/or People of Colour (IBPOC).
This 10-month professional development initiative (August 2025 – May 2026) will support six selected filmmakers from the Atlantic provinces as they develop, market, and produce their own documentary projects. Through hands-on training, personalized mentorship, and direct access to industry gatekeepers, participants will gain the tools and connections needed to thrive in the documentary field.
What’s Included:
Comprehensive training on storytelling, producing, budgeting, and legal essentials
Tailored mentorship from established Canadian documentary filmmakers
One-on-one pitch coaching to refine your project and presentation, with opportunities to pitch at industry markets
Full access to the Dock Market at the 12th Lunenburg Doc Fest (September 17–21, 2025)
Delegate pass to industry events at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (May 2026)
Participant honorarium upon completion of program
Program Timeline:
The program kicks off in July 2025 with a comprehensive workshop series, delivered in two phases:
Phase 1 (July–September 2025): Participants will explore the craft of authentic storytelling, interviewing techniques, and industry navigation, laying a strong creative and professional foundation. This phase leads into full participation at the 12th Lunenburg Doc Fest and Dock Market (September 17–21, 2025), offering invaluable real-world experience and networking opportunities.
Phase 2 (Fall 2025 – Early 2026): The workshop series continues with deeper dives into film financing, producing, budgeting, and the business and legal aspects of documentary filmmaking.
Following the workshops, participants will receive personalized feedback through one-on-one sessions with seasoned pitch coaches, and continue developing their projects through monthly group and individual mentorship with a celebrated Canadian documentarian.
The program culminates in May 2026 at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where participants will attend the Hot Docs Forum and gain unparalleled access to industry decision-makers.
Applications are now closed.
meet the year 4 cohort
Allan Saulis is a Wabanaki Elder, artist, filmmaker, and knowledge keeper whose work revives and preserves the rich history of the Wolastoqiyik. Based in Tobique FN, New Brunswick, he blends oral tradition, archival research, and immersive storytelling to spotlight voices silenced by colonial history. His current documentary, Mehtawtik – Fin du Chemin, unearths the story of a submerged National Historic Site.
Ewa Mebiri is an emerging filmmaker based in Prince Edward Island with a deep passion for storytelling and community engagement. His work focuses on capturing real-life experiences through documentary film, giving voice to everyday people and the stories that shape our world. For Ewa, filmmaking is more than art – it's a way of participating in meaningful dialogue, building connections, and creating space for reflection, empathy, and social awareness.
Jamal Jefferson Weekes
Jamal Jefferson Weekes is an actor, writer, filmmaker, and overall storyteller passionate about highlighting voices that often go unheard. Born in Barbados, he moved to Canada in 2022 to study Television and Film at Sheridan College. After graduation, he joined Rising Tide Theatre, working as a cinematographer on their exciting Digital Archival Film Project (2023–2025) and also performing in their summer show, The Trinity Pageant, in 2024. In 2025, Jamal took on the role of Samson in Todos Productions’ stage play 76 Centimetres, written by Xavier Michael Campbell and directed by Santiago Guzman. Then in the spring, he participated in the PARC Playwrights’ retreat, where he worked on the first draft of his new play, Stray Shards.
Maria de Fátima Lima is a Brazilian Canadian writer and emerging documentary storyteller based in Atlantic Canada. Her work explores identity, memory, mental well-being, and belonging through creative expression and visual storytelling. With a background in scriptwriting and a deep passion for South Korean dramaturgy, Maria is dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices and crafting meaningful narratives. She is currently developing her first documentary project through the DOC Atlantic Breakthrough Program.
Norman Ho is a writer and emerging director from Hong Kong, now based in Nova Scotia. A ReelWorld Emerging 20 and RBC YFF Mentorship alum, his debut short Spud Island? was nominated at the Yorkton Film Festival, and his feature screenplay The Dodo won the Grand Jury Prize in the 2025 ScreenCraft Family Screenplay Competition. He also won the IRSA Newcomers to Canada Award for his short story I Beg Your Pardon at the 2022 Island Literary Awards.
Philly Gannon is known as ‘Jon Kizzy’ on “Eh! We Started a Podcast”, a Hip-Hop- focused video podcast that also covers other entertainment and political topics (which he directs, writes and produces himself) and “Kizzys Korner,” a food review YouTube channel. He also co-wrote, edited and starred in the short film What a Time to be Alive for the 48 Hour Film Festival in 2024 and co-starred in the short film Growing Secrets that same year.
Lalita Krishna
Lalita Krishna is an award-winning documentary producer and director with over 20 years of experience through her company, In Sync Media. Her impactful films—such as Bangla Surf Girls, Semisweet: Life in Chocolate, Ryan's Well and Jambo Kenya—have aired on major networks and screened at festivals worldwide. All of her films have received multiple awards, with Bangla Surf Girls alone earning 18 international accolades. A passionate advocate for diversity and representation, Lalita has held leadership roles with CISF, DOC Ontario, and Hot Docs. She is also a dedicated mentor, recognized with the 2013 WIFT Crystal Award for Mentorship, and has guided emerging filmmakers through workshops, panels, and one-on-one coaching. Her work has been showcased at Silver Docs, Durban International Film Festival, and Co-Pro Market (Tel Aviv). She is the recipient of the 2021 Don Haig Award and Reelworld’s Trailblazer Award for her contribution to the industry.
Baljit Sangra
Baljit Sangra is a Vancouver-based, award-winning filmmaker whose work amplifies underrepresented voices. Her acclaimed feature Because We Are Girls (NFB), about the impact of sexual abuse on a Punjabi family in BC, premiered at Hot Docs in 2019, opened DOXA, continues to screen internationally, and is now on Amazon with over 18 million minutes viewed. Her latest film, Have You Heard Judi Singh? (Knowledge Network), profiles a Black and Punjabi jazz singer who broke barriers in 1950s–60s Canada. Other documentaries include Mareya Shot, Keetha Goal: Make the Shot (Telus/TVO), Many Rivers Home, Have You Forgotten Me?, Warrior Boyz, and Hockey United. Sangra founded Viva Mantra Films, which debuted with a CityTV series celebrating diversity in the arts, after years of working across the film industry in production and management roles.
Ariel Nasr
Ariel Nasr is a writer/director and producer whose films include Hot Docs audience award-winner, The Forbidden Reel (2019) and Canadian Screen Award-winner The Boxing Girls of Kabul (2011). Other directing work includes Good Morning Kandahar (2009), and La Mosquée (2018). As an independent producer, Ariel was nominated for a 2013 Oscar for half-hour fiction, Buzkashi Boys, shot entirely in Afghanistan. As a producer at the National Film Board of Canada (2020-2024), Ariel produced and co-produced award-winning documentaries, including Perfecting the Art of Longing and Stolen Time. A citizen of Canada, Afghanistan and the USA, Ariel was the recipient of the 2024 TIFF CBC-Films Screenwriter Award for his screenplay, Daudistan.
John Seongho Choi
Leon Lee
Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Leon Lee creates powerful documentaries and narrative films that shed light on critical human rights issues. His skill in working with sensitive sources and operating in restricted areas allows him to tell authentic, impactful stories. Through films like Human Harvest and Letter from Masanjia, Lee has revealed shocking truths about China's illegal organ trade and labor camps, reaching millions worldwide. His narrative films, Unsilenced and Mind Wave, explore resistance in China and the hidden influence of Chinese social media on Canadian politics. Beyond filmmaking, Lee mentors filmmakers across North America, with a special emphasis on supporting BIPOC creators. In 2016, he received Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants Award for his work as an artist and advocate.
Tamara Dawit
Tamara Dawit, an Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker and alumna of Berlinale Talents and EAVE, has produced films such as Girls of Latitude (2008), Grandma Knows Best (2014), Finding Sally (2020: Hot Docs), Alazar (2024: Critics Week Cannes) and Made in Ethiopia (2024, Tribeca, Sheffield) through her company, Gobez Media. Currently, she's actively involved in producing a diverse range of dramatic and documentary projects. In 2021, Tamara was a TIFF Producer Fellow, winning the Doc Institute Vanguard Award and the Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence in Filmmaking. She's also a Chalmers Arts Fellow (2023) and a MacDowell Fellow (2024).
Aisha Jamal
Aisha Jamal is a filmmaker, film programmer and college professor, based in Toronto. Aisha's feature documentary debut A Kandahar Away about her family's connection to the small Saskatchewan, Canada hamlet of Kandahar, premiered in 2019 and played on CBC, Documentary Channel and CBCGem. Her previous short films have played venues and festivals worldwide. Aisha also programs Canadian documentaries for the Hot Docs Documentary Festival. She is currently working on her second feature documentary entitled The Theft, while teaching at Sheridan College in Brampton, Ontario and frequently moderating discussions with creatives of all types.
Sidney Chiu
Sidney Chiu is a feature film producer based in Toronto whose credits include Love Jacked (2018), a Canada South African romantic comedy. Coconut Hero (Munich 2015), and Bang Bang Baby (TIFF 2014). Sidney was also the PM on the Chinese feature Finding Mr Right, which grossed over 80 Million USD. Three Days in Havana shot in Havana Cuba with E1 distributing. Sidney’s first feature was A Night for Dying Tigers (TIFF 2012). He was the former Vice Chair on the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival’s Board of Directors.
Kirk Cooper is a producer, film festival strategist, and film market consultant.
In 2017 he produced the documentary feature film EL GRAN SALTO - Mexico /Canada co-pro. He followed up with the short narrative OLDTIMERS in 2022 which played over 20 festivals worldwide and received awards at Fantasia and San Sebastian. He is also the festival manager at Raven Banner Entertainment where he facilitates strategic festival planning for the many sales titles in the company's catalog.
In 2007, Kirk founded Film Market Access (FMA), a film consulting and PR firm. He has assisted over 200 producers/directors via FMA's Market Readiness Program to successfully participate in the Marche du Film at Festival de Cannes, Hot Docs, Fantasia, and TIFF.
The DOC Atlantic Breakthrough Program is presented in association with the Documentary Organization of Canada, DOC Atlantic, the Canadian Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, InnovationPEI, PictureNL, Lunenburg Doc Fest, and others.
