Selection Committee

Meet The 21st Annual Vancouver Island Short Film Festival Selection Committee!

The Vancouver Island Short Film Festival (VISFF) is excited to introduce the talented individuals who will be lending their expertise to the selection process for the 21st annual VISFF happening April 17th and 18th, 2026, at Malaspina Theatre in Nanaimo, BC.

Check back in Feb 2026 to see this year’s VISFF line up!

Lesley Mirza

Lesley Mirza is a Vancouver-based actress whose career spans television, film, and streaming platforms. Her recent screen work includes Tracker, The Hunting Party, Smoke, and Watson.

Stephanie Joan

Stephanie Joan is a film professional based in Vancouver, BC. With extensive experience in business affairs, Stephanie brings a unique blend of creative and organizational skill to her work. Currently, she works as a Motion Picture Tax Credit Analyst at Creative BC. Her most notable producing credits include the viral short film “En Dehors de Toi” (2022, +1.3M views on YouTube) and the Crazy8s film “Astronaut” (2024, “Best Short Drama” Leo Award Winner). 

Vivian Cheung

Vivian Cheung is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. She stepped onto her first film set with her award-winning MAMM17 film, For Roy, which won Best Film and People’s Choice at VISFF in 2023. Vivian also was a finalist in Regent Park Film Festival’s 2022 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition, was one of the fifteen selected BIPOC science filmmakers to workshop with CBC’s  The Nature of Things, and was one of the fifteen emerging filmmakers selected for VIFF’s 2023 Catalyst Mentorship program.

Sam Joseph

Sam Joseph, from Nanaimo via East Vancouver, is currently stationed in Virginia while completing an MA in motion picture preservation at Toronto Metropolitan University.

His favourite film is Paris, Texas (1984). He is also a film photographer whose work can be seen at omomo.ca.

Marcie Nestman

Marcie (she/her) is an actor, voice-over actor, and writing and theatre instructor. She recently made her kids series debut in the voice-over role as narrator in the TVO series, Happy Place. She is also the co-creator, writer, producer, and actor in the web series, Worthy. Marcie is a graduate of the Theatre Arts Performance Conservatory at Mount Royal University in Calgary, and continued her studies at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. She has appeared in nearly 60 TV commercials, Film & TV, and theatre productions, and other projects. In addition to teaching at Jericho Learning Centre, Marcie has taught at numerous theatre and writing camps, including the Mount Royal University Summer Camp, CWC camps in Korea, the Write It-Read It Camp for the Whistler Public Library, and served as an artist-in-residence for a school in Thailand. She also taught children’s theatre for fifteen years at Carousel Theatre for Young People.