David A. Stein
Memorial Award
(1970–2004)
This award is presented in memory of gifted Toronto filmmaker David A. Stein, who passed away in 2004 at age 34. The “Tzimmie”—named after his production company, Tzimmes Entertainment—is an annual $5,000 award given to the Director of the Best Documentary making its Canadian Premiere at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. This award supports documentary filmmakers in creating works that would have interested David, and that carry on his passion for storytelling.
Malcolm Lester has been in the Canadian publishing industry since 1964. He was Managing Editor of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, General Manager of Coles Publishing, and President
of Lester & Orpen Dennys. He is a past president of
the Association of Canadian Publishers, and for many years taught Introduction to Book Publishing at Ryerson University. Currently, he is publisher of New Jewish Press, the publishing arm of the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.
Ellie Skrow has extensive programming and communications experience in the areas of film, television, music and theatre. She was Corporate & Media Relations Director for Vision TV and the NFB, and did promotional work for Marlene Smith and Company and CentreStage Music. Ellie initiated a repertory cinema at the ROM, and was Programme Book Editor and Publicist for TIFF. She is a former Managing Director and curator of special programmes at TJFF.
Gabrielle Zilkha is an award-winning director and producer with experience in scripted, documentary, multi-media and interactive storytelling. Her work has been screened and exhibited around the world to critical acclaim. Most recently, she directed and co-produced the feature-length documentary, Doing Jewish: A Story From Ghana which premiered at TJFF 2016.
The Micki Moore Award
The Micki Moore Award is a $5,000 prize presented to the Best Narrative Feature Film directed by a woman. “I think film is the highest form of art, combining so many disciplines; words, music, pictures, sets, costumes, continuity. A great director needs to be master of all, working to bring out the best in her cast and crew. With this award, I want to acknowledge that creativity, talent and tenacity. I hope this grant will help open one more door, remove one more obstacle, so that the winner of the Micki Moore Award can flourish and continue on her cinematic journey”. (Micki Moore)
Danae Elon is an award-winning documentary producer, director and cinematographer. Her first feature Another Road Home premiered at Tribeca 2004, and was theatrically released in the US. Her second feature Partly Private won best NY film at Tribeca 2007. In 2009 Danae won the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in Film. In 2015 she completed P.S Jerusalem, which premiered internationally, and at TJFF 2016. Her new film The Patriarch's Room is the 2017 David A. Stein Memorial Award winner.
Kerry Kupecz is VP, Distribution & Marketing at Unobstructed View, an independent film distributor in Toronto. She oversees sales, marketing and deliverables for multiple platforms for all of UV’s films. Previously she worked in marketing at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. She has served as an Assistant
to the Producers on the TV series Hair Wars and as an Associate Producer on the roller derby documentary Rolling Thunder.
Sudz Sutherland works as a freelance writer and director for TV dramas and feature films. Sudz’s latest feature film, Home Again, won the prestigious PAFF‐BAFTA Festival Choice Award in Los Angeles. Home Again follows his multiple award-winning debut feature film Love, Sex and Eating the Bones. Sudz’ next feature is called Operation Red Dog. His latest project was CBC’s Shoot the Messenger, co-created with writer/producer Jennifer Holness that premiered fall 2016.
No previously awarded films.