JUDGING COMMITTEE

Meet the 21st Annual Vancouver Island Short Film Festival Judging Committee!

The Vancouver Island Short Film Festival (VISFF) is thrilled to introduce the talented individuals lending their expertise to our 21st annual festival. These industry professionals form our Selection Committee and Judging Committee, tasked with the difficult job of curating this year’s program.

April 17th & 18th, 2026: Join us at the Malaspina Theatre in Nanaimo, BC, for the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival!

April 18th, 2026: The prestigious Goldie Award Ceremony.

Award Categories

Our judges will be evaluating films for the following honors:

Best Film, Best of BC, Best Performance, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Music

The People’s Choice Award is voted on by you, the audience, during each program!

Youth Filmmakers: Submissions are still open!

Check back in March 2026 for the official festival lineup and for the Goldie Award nominees!

Meet the Committee

Lesley Mirza A Vancouver-based actress with a prolific career across film, television, and streaming platforms. Her recent credits include roles in Tracker, The Hunting Party, Smoke, and Watson.

Stephanie Joan A film professional based in Vancouver, Stephanie currently serves as a Motion Picture Tax Credit Analyst at Creative BC. She brings a unique blend of business acumen and creative vision to the committee. Her notable producing credits include the viral short En Dehors de Toi (+1.3M views) and the 2024 Leo Award-winning short drama, Astronaut.

Vivian Cheung A Chinese-Canadian filmmaker from Vancouver, Vivian has a deep history with VISFF; her film For Roy won both Best Film and People’s Choice at our 2023 festival. Her accolades include being a finalist in the Regent Park Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition and a participant in the prestigious VIFF Catalyst Mentorship program.

Sam Joseph Hailing from Nanaimo and East Vancouver, Sam is currently based in Virginia while completing an MA in Motion Picture Preservation at Toronto Metropolitan University. A devotee of cinema history—his favorite film being Paris, Texas (1984)—he is also a talented film photographer whose work is featured at omomo.ca.

Marcie Nestman Marcie (she/her) is a versatile actor, voice-over artist, and instructor. A graduate of Mount Royal University and The Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC, she has appeared in nearly 60 productions and commercials. She is the co-creator of the web series Worthy and recently debuted as the narrator for the TVO series Happy Place. Marcie has over 15 years of experience teaching theatre and writing across Canada, Korea, and Thailand.

See the 2025 Goldie Award results here.