Ages 14-25

Filmmakers Lindsey Addawoo and Kyisha Williams will give you a sneak peak into their film, Queen of Hearts, sharing behind-the-scenes content, the story of how the project was funded, and a lesson on how to pitch to broadcasters and investors.

Queen of Hearts is a short, supernatural period-piece film set in a fictional Victorian era. It is a Black feminist reimagining of the mid-1800s and hones in on a complex Queen who rips the hearts out of people who harm others. Addawoo and Williams strongly believe in diversifying both speculative fiction and period pieces in film and are advocates of expanding possibilities for Black people and other racialized communities both behind and in front of the camera. ‌

Kyisha Williams ​(Co-Director, Co-writer, Actor) ​is a Black, queer, high femme, sex positive, artist and health promoter. Her favourite mediums are filmmaking, acting and dance. Kyisha works with Black/ queer/trans/youth/ racialized/ criminalized/HIV+ communities. In her art she attempts to accurately portray the realities of these communities. Kyisha fuses her experience as a health promoter with her work as an artist, creating socially relevant content that discusses health and promotes healthy sexuality (including consent culture). She created her first film, Red Lips [cages for Black girls] in 2010, with the support of the Inside Out Film Festival’s Legacy Film Program. In 2015, she independently created her second short film project still[ness] Black. In 2016, she completed the Black Women Film! Leadership Program. She has acted in over 15 short films and is currently being mentored by Brad Milne.

Lindsey Addawoo ​(Co-Director, Co-Writer) is a writer and filmmaker from the Toronto area. She is a recent university graduate from Ryerson University’s RTA School of Media (fkaRadio & Television Arts). In 2014, she earned a Tara Award nomination (‘Best Upper Year Script’) for UNDERside, a student based webseries project that highlighted underprivileged youth based on their class, gender, and race. In the past, she has worked in TV broadcast journalism as a freelance news writer and chase producer at CTV News Channel, Canada’s 24-hour national breaking news channel. With a strong interest in diverse speculative fiction, she centers her work around sci-fi, fantasy, and supernaturalism. Her script, 'ROOM 219' (formerly called ‘Diagnosis'), placed in the quarter-finals for ScreenCraft’s 2015 Pilot Launch TV Script Contest and later took her to the Caribbean, where she was a recipient to mentorship under the Bahamas International Film Festival 2015 Screenwriters Residency Program. In 2016, Lindsey completed the BlackWomenFilm! Leadership Program.

View all Free After Three Events.