Leslie is a Filipinx moving image artist and educator, who has worked with artist-run centres for over 12 years. She has taught extensively in the community as a facilitator, mentor and academic instructor, with service on artist-run Boards in Winnipeg and Toronto. Leslie has programmed artist-driven screenings at the Winnipeg Cinematheque, Pacific Cinematheque, Pleasure Dome and Plastic Paper: Winnipeg’s Festival of Animated, Illustrated and Puppet Film. Leslie’s artistic practice spans various media – animation, analog film/video, expanded drawing and design, with works screened at TIFF, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Image Forum Festival in Japan, Flaherty NYC and Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen amongst many others. She holds an MFA in Film Production (experimental stream) from York University.

With over 20 years rooted in the media arts sector as a filmmaker, teacher, administrator and consultant, Elida brings expertise in mentorship, advocacy, and leadership to the position of Executive Director of the Media Arts Network of Ontario (MANO). Elida is best known for “Zyklon Portrait,” her internationally-acclaimed short experimental documentary on matrilineal trauma. The late Peter Goddard, of the Toronto Star, described the 16mm collage piece–made with archival stills, footage and hand-painted imagery–as “elegantly haunting and perhaps the most visually lush film about the Holocaust ever made.” Elida has a PhD in practice-based visual arts from York University and an MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York. She has built her understanding of anti-oppression and equity frameworks through her doctoral research grounded in feminism and intersectionality. She is actively working to extend this sensibility and sensitivity beyond her blind spots.

Leslie is a Filipinx moving image artist and educator, who has worked with artist-run centres for over 12 years. She has taught extensively in the community as a facilitator, mentor and academic instructor, with service on artist-run Boards in Winnipeg and Toronto. Leslie has programmed artist-driven screenings at the Winnipeg Cinematheque, Pacific Cinematheque, Pleasure Dome and Plastic Paper: Winnipeg’s Festival of Animated, Illustrated and Puppet Film. Leslie’s artistic practice spans various media – animation, analog film/video, expanded drawing and design, with works screened at TIFF, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Image Forum Festival in Japan, Flaherty NYC and Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen amongst many others. She holds an MFA in Film Production (experimental stream) from York University.

Verónica Sedano Alvarez holds both a Master's degree in Art History from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2019) and a Bachelor's degree in Art History from the University of Havana (2003). Her research, which focuses on the absence of Central American contemporary art in Latin American art historiography, received the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s program from the SSHRC. In 2001, the University of Havana granted her the Alma Mater award for the most relevant contribution to the higher education. She taught Latin American Art History at the University of Havana from 2003 to 2008. Additionally, she collaborated with major institutions such as Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna), Hayward Gallery (London, UK) and Mori Art Museum (Tokyo). From January to June 2019, she was coordinator of the visual art project Montréal ~ Habana: Rencontres en art actuel. Currently, she works as Communications and Special Projects Coordinator at Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV).

Kim Tomczak is a multidisciplinary artist primarily known for his work in performance, photography, video, and photo/text work. Since 1983, he has worked exclusively in collaboration with Lisa Steele. They have received numerous grants and awards including the Bell Canada prize for excellence in Video Art, a Toronto Arts Award and in 2005, a Governor General’s Award for lifetime achievement in Visual & Media Arts. 

Tomczak is a co-founder of Vtape and teaches at the University of Toronto in the Visual Studies program, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Steele and Tomczak were awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) in 2009.

Wanda vanderStoop provides continuing support to Vtape’s artists, promoting over 5000 independent productions to worldwide markets including museums, national and international festivals, broadcasters, educational institutions and mobile platforms. She is a committed advocate for artist’s rights and fees and contributes to a policy consultation process on the changing methods of dissemination in video and new media.

Karen Knights is Manager of the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive (CDMLA) and Development Officer at VIVO Media Art Centre (2013-present). She’s committed to the preservation and development of VIVO’s collection and oversees the CDMLA’s digitization projects of original media (most recently the Women’s Labour History Project Oral Histories; Celebration ’90 Gay Games III; Gayblevision community cable program). Previously, Knights was active in the artist-run community as a librarian, video art distributor, curator, and anti-censorship activist (1984-2000). As an independent curator and critic, she has completed several historical surveys of archives held by Canadian ARCs and contributed to solo exhibition catalogues for Sara Diamond and Jin-me Yoon. Knights is a Board member of the Audio-Visual Heritage Association of B.C.