Female Eye Film Festival

09/14/2026

✨Siân Heder✨

Siân Heder is an American writer, director and producer, best known for Tallulah (2016) and CODA (2021).

Heder began her career writing for television, including Men of a Certain Age and Orange Is the New Black. Sh

CODA was her breakthrough which she wrote and directed. The film premiered at Sundance in 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. Heder went on to win the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. CODA also made history as the first film distributed by a streaming service to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Her latest feature Being Heumann (2026), a biographical drama about disability-rights activist Judy Heumann. It premiered as the opening-night film at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.

👏👏👏

09/05/2026

Submit NOW!

TWLC 2027 will be free for the eight (8) Canadian scriptwriters selected!!

TWLC will take place in Toronto from Tuesday, January 19, to Friday, January 22. Submissions are now open on FilmFreeway.

25% off submissions for FeFF alum: TWLCFEFF26
The Writers Lab Canada in Toronto is devoted to script development for Canadian women and nonbinary film and TV writers 40 years of age and over, produced by Firecracker Departmentand Female Eye Film Festival, and in partnership with DGC Ontario.

During this four-day, in-person intensive, a select group of film and TV writers will engage in individual script work, one-on-one mentor meetings, and group sessions to develop their scripts, build community and bolster their careers.

09/04/2026

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Participation Fee UPDATE:
The Writers Lab Canada (TWLC)
is FREE in 2027!!!

👏👏👏

Submissions are now OPEN! 🎬✍️✨

FeFF alum receive 25% off the application fee with code: TWLCFEFF26

Lab Intensive: January 19-22, 2027 in Toronto
Apply now on FilmFreeway.com

We’re excited to welcome applications from our community of women and nonbinary screenwriters 40+

📅 Early Bird Deadline:September 10
📅 Regular Deadline:September 24

Produced by Firecracker Department and The Female Eye Film Festival, with the support of The Writers Lab Inc. in partnership with Directors Guild of Ontario.
Supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, The Writers Lab is the only program in the world devoted exclusively to script and career development for women and nonbinary screenwriters 40+.

Who can apply?

🇨🇦 Canadian citizens and residents
🎬 Features and pilots (1-hour or half-hour)
📝 Projects must be in English
🌟 Eight projects will be selected for an in-person retreat in Toronto

This is TWL’s third year in Canada, produced by Firecracker Department with the Directors Guild of Canada Ontario.

At TWL Intensives, writers bring fresh eyes to their projects through deep development work, one-on-one and group sessions, revision guidance, and career support from the experienced TWL team and some of the industry’s leading writers and producers.

The Lab is about more than developing a script. It’s about building skills, confidence, community, and the tools needed to navigate collaborative work and the demands of the market.

Past TWL participants have gone on to secure management and writing opportunities, win Nicholl and PAGE Awards, land on The Black List, teach, and see their screenplays produced.
We can’t wait to see your work. Hope to see you at TWLC 2027!!!

09/04/2026

Firecracker Department

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Participation Fee UPDATE:
The Writers Lab Canada (TWLC)
is FREE in 2027!!!

👏👏👏

Submissions are now OPEN! 🎬✍️✨

FeFF alum receive 25% off the application fee with code: TWLCFEFF26

Lab Intensive: January 19-22, 2027 in Toronto
Apply now on FilmFreeway.com

We’re excited to welcome applications from our community of women and nonbinary screenwriters 40+

📅 Early Bird Deadline:September 10
📅 Regular Deadline:September 24

Produced by Firecracker Department and The Female Eye Film Festival, with the support of The Writers Lab Inc. in partnership with Directors Guild of Ontario.
Supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, The Writers Lab is the only program in the world devoted exclusively to script and career development for women and nonbinary screenwriters 40+.

Who can apply?

🇨🇦 Canadian citizens and residents
🎬 Features and pilots (1-hour or half-hour)
📝 Projects must be in English
🌟 Eight projects will be selected for an in-person retreat in Toronto

This is TWL’s third year in Canada, produced by Firecracker Department with the Directors Guild of Canada Ontario.

At TWL Intensives, writers bring fresh eyes to their projects through deep development work, one-on-one and group sessions, revision guidance, and career support from the experienced TWL team and some of the industry’s leading writers and producers.

The Lab is about more than developing a script. It’s about building skills, confidence, community, and the tools needed to navigate collaborative work and the demands of the market.

Past TWL participants have gone on to secure management and writing opportunities, win Nicholl and PAGE Awards, land on The Black List, teach, and see their screenplays produced.
We can’t wait to see your work. Hope to see you at TWLC 2027!!!

09/04/2026

✨🎬 spotlight:

💫MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL💫

Today, we’re spotlighting Maggie Gyllenhaal: an actor, writer, producer, and director. Gyllenhaal made her feature directorial debut with The Lost Daughter (2021), adapting Elena Ferrante’s novel into a deeply human exploration of motherhood, identity, desire, and the choices women aren’t always allowed to speak openly about. The film premiered at Venice, where Gyllenhaal won the award for Best Screenplay.

As president of the 2026 Venice Film Festival competition jury, Gyllenhaal has spoken openly about the systemic barriers women continue to face in filmmaking, including whose stories are considered worthy of being funded and elevated.

🎥✨

09/04/2026

As Maggie Gyllenhaal said in a recent press conference in Venice, "There's a systematic problem." If there aren't enough films submitted to Venice from women directors, Leslie Ann Coles, The Female Eye is happy to share a slew of films from our database! There are more female filmmakers than ever! What we're experiencing are critical funding cuts. We're bleeding. After a quarter-century, we are now losing critical ground! I have yet to draw my sword.

09/01/2026

💫 Nia Vardalos 💫

Nia Vardalos is a Canadian writer, actor, and filmmaker who turned her own story into an international success.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Vardalos wrote and starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, inspired in part by her Greek-Canadian family and experiences. The 2002 film became a major box-office success and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Vardalos went on to write and star in multiple films in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, as well as direct the second and third installments.

She has also used her experience to support emerging women screenwriters. In 2024, Vardalos became the inaugural Ambassador of The Writers Lab Canada, a program focused on supporting women and non-binary screenwriters.

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

08/28/2026

🎬🤍 ✨ASIA YOUNGMAN✨

Cree-Métis filmmaker Asia Youngman is one of Canada’s exciting directors to watch. Her work spans documentary, scripted film and television, including ESPN’s 30 for 30: I’m Just Here for the Riot and projects for CBC, APTN, PBS, History and Lifetime.

Most recently, Asia stepped onto one of the world’s biggest stages as second-unit director on Netflix’s Black Mirror Season 7 episode “Common People,”starring Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Her award-winning films include This Ink Runs Deep, N’xaxaitkw and Delta Dawn, which won the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Documentary Short at Hot Docs 2025.

👏👏👏👏👏