Cathy Wong, Vice President of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and Official Languages, Telefilm Canada


1. Sunny Side of the Doc for you in 3 words?

Partnership. Storytelling. Networking.
Sunny Side of the Doc provides incredible opportunities to create and nurture partnerships, bring diverse and independent storytelling to the forefront, and share in a network of talent passionate about documentary filmmaking. That is why Telefilm supports the festival year over year.

2. What do you expect from this reunion edition with the international documentary community?

After two years of online and hybrid events, we are beyond excited to be back in-person, not only to be surrounded by industry professionals and be able to learn more hands-on skills from them, but to simply enjoy the communal experience of being in a hall with other documentary lovers. Sunny Side always delivers with people from around the world coming to explore documentary storytelling. This year with everyone coming back from around the world is the well-needed reunion to rekindle partnerships and just absorb all knowledge, artistry and storytelling that we have missed over the years.

3. #NewVoices, our main thread for 2022, what does this mean to you?

#NewVoices as this year’s theme is very fitting. It’s a call out for independent artists to come back to Sunny Side in person to let their voices be heard and showcase their storytelling. More importantly, it’s a reflection of the progress that the screen industry is continuing to work towards as we increase opportunities for more and more artists from every walk of life who have a story to tell. I can’t wait to see what stories come out of this year’s event and what new things we will each get to learn as we immerse ourselves into documentaries from around the world.