As the semester was reaching its end, I got to turn my brain off for a while and celebrate the local film community by visiting The Reach Gallery to attend the 2026 Abbotsford Film Festival (AFF). Taking place Mar. 26-28, the first day had 14 showings of short independent films from around the world directed by industry professionals. The second day showed a collection of 48 hour films, with the third day having workshops on documentary filmmaking, editing, and cinematography. Although I was only able to attend the final day, I gained valuable insight on the inner workings of making a film, the art of promoting, and connections that are built behind the camera.
The first panel, “How to Get Funding + Pitch Your Film,” was a presentation from award-winning Telefilm filmmaker, Melanie Jones, and award-winning writer and actor, Tanya Jade. They shared their advice and personal experiences in the film industry, and when discussing how to get funding for films, Jones said promoting a film starts with always believing in your idea.
“You have to be your champion, your advocate. You have to fight. You have to be a little bit delusional about [your project], because nobody else is gonna do it for you.”
Promotion is about the film itself and the artist. Jade mentioned that whether you’re being approached with a project or you’re advocating for your own work, it’s important to understand the project inside and out and the people involved.
“I think just being intentional with what you’re trying to achieve and being respectful of people’s time and where they’re at [is important].”
Jones discussed how pitching is very much an art form, and shared a simple tactic to elevate your pitching skills that, personally, I feel like many people overlook.
“You have to practice and listen … so many times I’ve had casual conversations with other filmmakers who are like ‘oh god, I hate pitching.’ It’s hard, we all admit that … it’s scary every single time, but it’s also just telling your story.”
Jones said to be distinguishable from other filmmakers when pitching, it starts with being able to answer the most commonly asked question “why you?” Jones’s strategy is having agency and looking at your power differently.
“I do not like feeling desperate in a pitch. ‘Please give me money, please like my project.’ I hate feeling that way, and that question I think triggers the power dynamic … if you’re coming to the table [saying] … ‘I have something to offer you,’ it’s a much [stronger] position to be approaching people with.”
Director and founder of Colla Films, Matej Balaz, hosted a workshop titled “Documentary Filmmaking: Tackling Human Stories,” and I enjoyed learning about his process in making his documentaries “Letisha’s Well” (2018) and “Laina & Mantis” (2018). The former film is about a tragedy that took place in Abbotsford in 2016 when Letisha, the young daughter of a local family, was lost. Letisha was a continuous participant in Run For Water, an internationally recognized organization that raises funds for communities who don’t have access to clean water by staging a running event in Abbotsford every year. The documentary is the family’s journey to building a well in Ethiopia in Letisha’s name. Balaz explained how important it is to respect the subjects and the community in order to convey a story in an appropriate way. The last thing a filmmaker wants to do is turn the story into a spectacle.
“[We went] somewhere where [we] wanted to respect a certain level of ethics. We had a lot of conversations about ‘what are the things that we shouldn’t be doing?’ … we don’t want this to turn into this white savior story. I don’t want to come in and [say] ‘pose for me over there’ and ‘can we get a sad looking shot of you in a window?’”
Documentary filmmaking can’t be successful if you view your subjects as shiny things rather than real people. A key takeaway is the importance of being authentic and genuine off screen as the filmmaker, not just on screen.
“You’re asking people to be vulnerable … if you want to be the person who’s telling a story, you have to also be there to protect that subject.”
The best thing I took away from the festival besides these workshops was getting to see how passionate these filmmakers are. They care so much about the story –– not just money –– and the people inside it much more. That’s what will encourage me to watch independent films.
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.