TMU grads win prestigous prize for self-funded film about Gen Z

The Toronto Short Film Festival might be over for the year, but the excitement is still alive for first-time director and writer duo Kelsea MacKay and Jennifer Sidoriak.

The first-time director and writer duo, who are both recent TMU graduates, managed to pull in the Jury Award at the festival for their film One to Five Minutes which, Kelsea tells blogTO, was — and still is — “really shocking.”

The self-funded short (for which Kelsea worked two jobs, sometimes working 19-hour days,) came about when Kelsea, fed up with the barriers to getting work in the film industry, decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I reached out on a Filmmakers Facebook groups to see if anyone had a story to share,” Kelsea tells blogTO. “Jen responded.”

Jennifer shared her script for One to Five Minutes, which tells the story of protagonist Maggie learning she’s pregnant, and grappling with the decision of whether she wants to bring a child into the world or not.

“The film touches on Gen Z’s anxiety about climate change, housing crisis, etc. and how it’s impacting whether we feel we can have kids,” says Kelsea.

Director of Photography, Peter Dibussolo, was the next key player to join the team.

“There were numerous applicants for the role, many of whom possessed more experience and equipment,” Kelsea says, but ultimately Peter’s experimental eye and tangible passion for filmmaking won him the position.

Clearly, it all paid off. When the film was screened at Paradise Theatre, the audience’s reception was instantly palpable, Kelsea says.

“Seeing it on the big screen made all of the effort worth it, but more so the audience reaction. Some people cried, some laughed, and feeling the energy of that made me so happy.”

Despite being up against films with larger, more experienced crews, a presence at larger festivals and, most importantly, funding, One to Five Minutes managed to make a large enough impact that the underdogs were able to pull in a prestigious win.

“You don’t want to rely solely on the opinions of others, but you also need to consider them because performing well in a festival can help you secure funding,” Kelsea tells blogTO. “Our entire profession hinges on what people think of our work.”

And, in spite of the gruelling days, pushing past health issues to continue to earn money for the production, creating her own set and assembling a crew with few (if any) connections in the industry, Kelsea says she’d do it all again.

“Such hardships are often part of the journey for emerging filmmakers, particularly when lacking connections in the industry,” she says. “I would do it again even if the film never made it into a festival, because I learned so much and it taught me that I can […] get through tough things.”

While Kelsea remains shocked that the film pulled in the prize, she’s already working on her next projects, hoping that she’ll be able to work with Jennifer and Peter again in the future.

“I’m hoping I can make my next short film with a real budget and aim for even bigger festivals,” she says.