INVISIBLE VOICES
The Program
SUPPORTED BY THE PHI RESIDENCIES
InVisible Voices is a three-day intensive program, including a final evening of presentations, that will grant 6 to 8 creators and storytellers from Black communities from the Greater Montréal area the opportunity to benefit from masterclasses and mentoring sessions presented at PHI. This professional development program will allow participants to learn and exchange on a variety of themes, such as innovative storytelling, music, directing, animation, editing, the challenges of filmmaking, funding and grants, and much more.
Directed by Jorge Camarotti, the program takes an intersectional approach, focusing on the dynamics that shape underrepresented communities and their impacts on creative storytelling, production, and distribution.
The goal of this program is to create a space for students, partners, innovators, storytellers, and experts to collaborate, with the hopes of expanding and amplifying the intersections of art, culture and society within local Black communities.
Selected Artists
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An actress of Haitian descent and playwright, Maryline debuted her first solo show, AFRODISIAQUE, in 2021 at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. The show was later presented at the Zoofest (OFF-JFL) festival, where it won the Award for Show of the Year (2022), and then as part of the CAM en tournée program, where she performed to sold-out audiences (2022–2023 season). In 2022, she received the Gloria Mitchell Aleong Award from Black Theatre Workshop, recognizing her artistic excellence, community spirit, and contributions to the arts. In 2024, Chery was named Theatre Actress of the Year at the Gala Dynastie.
Website ↗ | Instagram Maryline ↗ | Instagram Collectif Potomitan ↗ | Facebook Maryline ↗ | Facebook Collectif Potomitan ↗
Photo: Annie Diotte
Dougy Hérard
Dougy has written and directed several independent short films over the past ten years. His latest, lghtskn, is a surreal satire that was part of the official selection at the 28th Fantasia Festival. Like many of his projects, the film plays with the concepts of time and space, externalizing the character’s subconscious and blending it with the surrounding world in an effort to capture the full complexity of human subjectivity. Soon to begin a graduate diploma in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Dougy is now focusing on his career as a multimedia creator, striving to find the balance between artistic creation and the realities of the cultural sector.
Stacy Lee
Stacy Lee is a Jamaican-born writer-director who moves fluidly between polished visuals and experimental storytelling. With a background in commercial photography, Stacy combines sharp visual instincts with a technically grounded, agile approach. As a director, she blends an expressionist visual language with personal mythologies to craft transformative narratives, ensuring creative cohesion from concept to final cut. Her portfolio spans music videos, fashion films, and an evolving body of narrative fiction. She is also exploring cameraless techniques as part of a parallel, process-based practice.
Stella Lemaine
Graduating in 2022 from UQAM in Dramatic Arts, Stella is a proudly Laval-born interdisciplinary artist. She presented her very first short film Prendre sa lumière (2018) at the Black Film Festival and on Télé-Québec. Since then, she has continued working on her projects as a director and screenwriter. In theatre, she is currently developing her first solo creation Corps Noirs, supported by the Black Theatre Workshop. She is also working on a youth theatre piece about the climate crisis with her collective Sous l’amandier. Committed, politically engaged, and vegan, she sees art as an act of love for life.
Facebook ↗ | Instagram ↗
Photo: Olivier Hardy
Richard Mugwaneza
Richard Mugwaneza is a Rwandan filmmaker based in Montréal. His cinematic work blends poetic imagery with emotional realism, often exploring memory, resilience, and transformation. Over the past 15 years, Richard’s films have screened and been awarded at festivals including Khouribga, Vues d'Afrique, Luxor, and Silicon Valley. An alumnus of L’inis, Berlinale Talents, and Maisha Labs, he continues to craft personal and socially resonant stories across formats.
Website ↗ | Instagram ↗
Photo: Shane Visuals
Iannicko N'Doua
Since graduating from Collège Lionel-Groulx, Iannicko N’Doua has stood out on television (Unité 9, Les Simone, Pour toi Flora), in film (Starbuck, King Dave, Hochelaga), and on stage (Caligula [Remix], Atteintes à sa vie). In 2023, he shines in ROME at Usine C under the direction of Brigitte Haentjens, followed by Le Misanthrope at TNM in 2024, directed by Florent Siaud. He reunites with Siaud in 2025 for Michel Marc Bouchard’s latest play, Une fête d’enfants, also presented at TNM. A recipient of the Michelle-Rossignol Fund, Iannicko premiered his first written work, Neige sur Abidjan, at the Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, directed by Marc Beaupré.
Caesey Shakes
Caesey is a Jamaican-Canadian filmmaker whose work weaves magical realism, folklore, and emotional truth. Raised in the layered cultural landscape of Montréal, she crafts intimate narratives that center Black womanhood, healing, and resistance. Her films explore the spiritual journey from trauma to restoration and selfhood, creating sacred spaces where the Black feminine can exist freely. Deeply rooted in womanism and inspired by futurism, Caesey views storytelling as a radical act of liberation. She is currently developing a short film that explores the liminal space of Black girlhood: a tender, powerful reflection on survival, intuition, and becoming.
Sika Valmé
Sika Valmé is a contemporary Creole-Canadian artist and creative director whose work portrays diasporic identity through music, illustration, and experimental narrative. Raised in Port-au-Prince and based between Montréal, Vancouver, and Mexico City, she blends lived experience and Creole futurism to craft immersive, conceptual worlds. Her practice integrates performance, multi language expression, and spatial media formats, with recent works exploring the process of erosion in nature, self-actualization, ancestral knowledge, modern and traditional, and the space between north and south geographies. In addition, Sika is a competitive tennis player in training and a lover of kites.
Website ↗ | Instagram ↗
Photo: BAIA Agency
InVisible Voices 2025
PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
Location: PHI, 407 Saint-Pierre Street, Montréal, Canada
- Mandatory introduction session for all selected artists: July 16, 2025
- Day 1: August 23, 2025 — Full day
Online Mentorship: August 27, 2025, from 5 PM to 7 PM - Day 2: August 30, 2025 — Full day
Online Mentorship: September 3, 2025, from 5 PM to 7 PM - Day 3: September 6, 2025 — Full day
Online Mentorship: September 10, 2025, from 5 PM to 7 PM - Final Evening: October 15, 2025, starting 6 PM
The program, directed by Jorge Camarotti, consists of several master classes and mentoring sessions given by experts in their fields on various topics related to storytelling, including:
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Producing Across Different Mediums
This mentorship explores how storytelling adapts across different formats. Participants will learn how producers shape a project’s vision, how documentary directors craft authentic narratives, and how TV directors maintain creative consistency in episodic storytelling. A comprehensive look at how narrative choices define each medium.
Storytelling Through Animation
This mentorship explores animation as a storytelling tool, blending creativity, emotion, and visual artistry. Participants will learn how to develop characters, environments, and moods while discussing different styles and techniques. A session on animation’s power to convey complex themes and engage audiences in new ways.
Memoir Storytelling
This mentorship focuses on transforming personal experiences into compelling narratives. Participants will explore how to balance truth and creativity, structure a memoir, develop their voice, and convey emotions. Whether for print, audio, or multimedia, this session provides the tools to craft authentic and resonant stories.
Storytelling and Music: Crafting Perfect Harmony
This mentorship explores the powerful role music plays in storytelling and how to collaborate with composers and artists to achieve the best results. Participants will learn how music can shape atmosphere, evoke emotion, and elevate visual storytelling. A session designed for artists who want to deepen their understanding of musical storytelling and craft more powerful, evocative narratives.
How Editing Can Transform a Story
This mentorship delves into the power of editing in shaping a narrative. Participants will explore how pacing, rhythm, and juxtaposition influence character development, tension, and emotional impact. A session on how editing is more than a technical skill—it’s a creative force that brings stories to life.
A Deep Dive into Film Awards and Festival Selections
This mentorship provides emerging storytellers an inside look at film awards and festival strategies. Participants will refine their narratives, explore industry strategies, and gain crucial insights into positioning their work for major awards. A session that merges artistic vision with industry expertise, empowering storytellers to advance their careers.
Getting Your First Public Grant
This mentorship guides emerging artists through the grant application process. Participants will learn strategies to structure compelling proposals, understanding eligibility criteria, and presenting their work effectively. The session also highlights funding initiatives for underrepresented artists, providing essential insights to navigate public funding with confidence.
Poetic and Sensorial Storytelling in Film
This masterclass examines how non-linear structures, visual symbolism, and soundscapes create immersive experiences. Participants will explore the fusion of personal memory and collective imagination, emphasizing vulnerability and intuition. A session for filmmakers looking to craft atmospheric and deeply resonant films.
Innovation: Immersive Storytelling
This masterclass explores the fusion of storytelling, technology, and audience interaction. Participants will learn how to design engaging, transportive environments by integrating narrative structure with technological advancements. A session for those looking to reinvent the art of storytelling.
2025 Program Mentors
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Véronique Barbe
How Editing Can Transform a Story
Véronique Barbe is an editor working on Canadian and American productions across film, television, documentary, and advertising. She is driven by the belief that storytelling—by stimulating empathy and reflection—has the power to influence how we perceive the world, ourselves, and others. In television, she has worked on the HBO series Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects, both directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, as well as the CRAVE series So Long Marianne. In film, she has contributed to the editing of several short and feature-length films, including The Rest of Us, Rodeo, and Balestra. Passionate about her craft, she works closely with directors to elevate their vision and convey the inner lives of their characters.
Photo: Kristina Wagenbauer
Beata Calińska
Innovation: Immersive Storytelling
Beata Calińska is the Associate Director of The Music Center’s Digital Innovation Initiative in Los Angeles, curating experiences for multidisciplinary arts centers. From 2019 to 2024, she managed Sundance Institute’s New Frontier programs, overseeing Labs and Festival exhibitions. Her work on The Spaceship, an immersive platform for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, earned a Webby Award in Arts & Culture. Beata’s career spans cultural diplomacy and collaborations with international creative studios and artists. She serves as a hosting organizer for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Interdisciplinary Fellowship and as a mentor and jury member for festivals including Tribeca Immersive, FilmGate Miami, DOK Leipzig, Sarajevo Film Festival, and the Cubaverso - XR lab in Havana.
Beata holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Łódź and completed a master’s program in Film and TV Production at Łódź Film School. Her contributions to the arts are supported by grants from entities like the Goethe Institute, UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art, UCLA’s Documentary Program, and the University of Cyprus.
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Storytelling and Music: Crafting Perfect Harmony
Cristo is a three-time Emmy and BAFTA-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist, whose classical music training and ingenious sense of composition opened a new dimension to cinematic music and brought him iconic status. He is widely known for his works on critically acclaimed cult series like C4’s Utopia, Black Mirror, The White Lotus or #1 box-office surprise hit Smile (Paramount).
Miryam Charles
Poetic and Sensorial Storytelling in Film
Miryam Charles is a Haitian-Canadian director, producer and cinematographer living in Montréal. She has produced several short and feature films. Her films have been presented in various festivals in Quebec and internationally. Her first feature film This House was presented at the Berlinale, the AFI film festival this year and was also included in the TIFF Top 10 of the year 2022. She also launched the short film At Dusk at the Locarno Film Festival.
Photo: Claudie-Ann Landry
Aisling Chin-Yee
Producing Across Different Mediums
Aisling Chin-Yee is an award-winning producer, writer, and director based in Montréal, Canada, and Los Angeles, California. In 2024, she was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the Reel World Film Festival. She won the Directors Guild of Canada award for directorial achievement in a mini-series for the CBC series Plan B, starring Patrick J Adams in 2023. In 2021, Aisling was celebrated as one of DOC NYC and HBO Documentary’s 40 Under 40. New Yorker Magazine hailed Aisling’s latest film as “a genre unto itself” and one of the magazine’s Best Movies of 2021. She also won the DGC Award for Best Editing in Documentary in 2021. She was named one of Canada’s Rising Film Stars by Now Magazine in 2019 and by The Montreal Gazette in 2020, after her debut feature film, The Rest of Us, premiered at TIFF19. Aisling also produced critically acclaimed films such as Rhymes for Young Ghouls, The Saver, and Last Woman Standing.
Photo: Dariane Sanchez
Heather O’Neill
Memoir Storytelling
Heather O’Neill is a novelist, short story writer and essayist. Her bestselling novels include Lullabies for Little Criminals, The Lonely Hearts Hotel, When We Lost Our Heads and The Capital of Dreams. She has won numerous prizes for her books, including Canada Reads, the Danuta Gleed Award and the Hugh Maclennan Prize. She has also been shortlisted for, among others, the Governor General Award, the Women’s Prize, and the Giller Prize. She has contributed to numerous publications including The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Globe and Mail. Her book Valentine in Montreal, which was written in serialized form in the Montreal Gazette, is forthcoming in July 2025. Born and raised in Montréal, she lives there today.
Photo: Julie Artacho
Michael Fukushima
Storytelling Through Animation
Michael Fukushima has been an animator and filmmaker for over 40 years, and from 1997 through 2021 was a producer for, and then head of, NFB Animation. He’s directed, produced, or exec produced well over 200 films, is a member of AMPAS®, and produced three Oscar-nominated animation shorts. Though mostly retired, he’s currently OCADU’s Experimental Animation Executive Producer-in-Residence, and advises a handful of his favourite artists and people.
Emily Paige
Storytelling Through Animation
Emily Paige is the Co-founder and General Director at E.D. Films, a Montréal-based multimedia animation studio known for its unique approach to blending traditional practices with cutting-edge technology. For over two decades, Emily has produced critically acclaimed projects for international markets, ranging from animated films to digital tools to large-scale immersive exhibitions. Beyond the studio, Emily is a sought- after juror, advisor, and speaker at international industry events, including 2024 Grand Prix Numix Awards, 2024 Luxembourg Immersive Pavilion, and 2025 Durban Film Market. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Cinémathèque québécoise and has been recognized as an FCTMN-Allia award recipient for her continued contributions to the digital creative industries.
Juliana Sakae
A Deep Dive into Film Awards and Festival Selections
Juliana Sakae is a film producer and publicist whose work focuses on human rights, and children. She has made significant contributions to the documentary community, representing 200+ filmmakers in the U.S. based distribution company GOOD DOCS, managing the competition that led to the International Documentary Association Awards (IDA Awards) and leading the Artists Programs at Brown Girls Doc Mafia. She also worked on the feature film The Human Trial as co-producer and the Emmy-winning Netflix’ docu-series Making a Murderer as assistant director. Juliana specialized in Oscars campaign, working with several contenders such as the New York Times short film Walk Run Cha-Cha nominated for an Oscar in 2019, and the Brazilian films Babenco - Tell Me When I Die, Private Desert, Out of Breath, Incompatible with Life and Mãri Hi - A Tree of Dream.
Photo: Annete Owatari
Kakim Goh
Getting Your First Public Grant
Kakim Goh is a Program Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts, where he manages the delivery of grants for the Arts Across Canada and Arts Abroad Programs. A seasoned arts and culture consultant, curator and community mobilizer, Kakim is dedicated to bridging the intersection between arts, culture and community. Born in Singapore and raised in Malaysia, Canada, and Mexico, Kakim’s global perspective informs his deep commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. With over 15 years of experience in the arts, he has curated multidisciplinary exhibitions, professional development workshops and cultural mediation activities at Festival Accès Asie, showcasing diverse and historically underrepresented voices.
He has been a trusted consultant for artists, arts organizations and funding bodies, including the Conseil des arts de Montréal, where he served on peer assessment committees from 2017 to 2024. A passionate advocate for accessibility and inclusion, Kakim actively promotes disability arts and works to bridge divides among Quebec’s Anglophone, Francophone and equity-seeking communities. His extensive leadership experience extends to board roles with non-profit arts organizations such as Festival Accès Asie, MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), and ELAN (English-Language Arts Network).
Photo: Noushin Bahraini
Photo: Noushin Bahraini
The Voices of the Mentors: Advice and Experience
What Artists Are Saying
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“Joining the
InVisible Voices program gave me the opportunity to connect and build relationships with fellow filmmakers and future collaborators. Led by Jorge Camarotti and the team at [PHI], their generosity and care were key to a beautiful experience.”— Adam Mbowe,
InVisible Voices 2024
“
InVisible Voices was a significant experience thanks to the support of seasoned mentors, whose exceptional and inspiring careers deeply nurtured me. Their invaluable advice gave me the confidence to assert my artistic voice and explore my project with greater boldness.”— Phania Jean-Baptiste,
InVisible Voices 2024
“
InVisible Voices was a true artistic breakthrough for my short film project. It greatly helped me unlock my creativity and screenwriting. It allowed me to encounter other worlds and draw inspiration from them to find my own. For me, it was an essential space for learning from the inspiring artistic journeys of racialized participants, as well as from the speakers and mentors.”— Anamê Gnanguenon,
InVisible Voices 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
Candidates must be creatives and storytellers from Black communities from the Greater Montreal area.
Have produced at least one previous professional work in film and/or visual storytelling.
Have a narrative project in development and the desire to complete it as part of the program.
Six to eight participants will be selected annually to take part in the program.
The program lasts approximately three months. It begins with a mandatory online introductory session with the artists, followed by three intensive days of mentorship and workshops in person at PHI. Subsequently, online mentorship sessions and group discussions will be held. Finally, the program will conclude with a final in-person evening event at PHI.
The program’s final evening includes a presentation by the participants of their projects, followed by a discussion led by Jorge Camarotti on the outcomes of the program.
No, there is no application fee.
The selection process will be carried out by an external committee to PHI composed of invited professionals with expertise related to the program, an artist who has previously participated in the residence, and an industry expert, ensuring a diversity of expertise, experiences, and perspectives.
Clarity, vision and scope of the approach and project presented (50%);
Previous work and portfolio (25%);
Motivation to participate in the program (25%).
Any other questions?
Contact us!
Partners
PHI is a cultural infrastructure dedicated to supporting contemporary art and artists probing the key agenda of our times, and facilitating access between them and the public. PHI is guided by values that include generosity, rigour, the importance of community, and devotes itself to the innovation and evolution of cultural experiences that both challenge and delight.
To reiterate its commitment to supporting local artistic communities, and to help shape the art of tomorrow, PHI offers three artistic residency programs annually: North, Montréal and Immersive while also supporting the InVisible Voices program. Although each residency meets different artists’ needs, our common mission is to provide our artists in residence with the tools, support, and impetus they need to expand the scope of their practice and take it to the next level.
