Montreal, December 12, 2019. It is with great pride and pleasure that the Fabienne Colas Foundation, an arts organization that created the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), has awarded yesterday the $5,000 Quebecor Diversity on Screen Scholarship to Annaïla Telsaint.
Provided by Quebecor since 2018 as part of a three-year partnership with the Montreal International Black Film Festival, this scholarship will cover part of Telsaint’s training fees for the 2020 Cinema Program – screenwriting section at the institut national de l’image et du son (L’inis).
The Fabienne Colas Foundation awards the Quebecor Diversity on Screen Scholarship to young people aged 18 to 35 and from Quebec’s black communities, who wish to study in the audiovisual industry at a well-known educational institution. This support helps train the upcoming generation in television and film, all the while encouraging more diversity on and off screen. This scholarship encourages wider accessibility and cultural exchange while supporting the next generation of creators in the Quebec film industry.
“Whoever writes the script chooses which story is told, decides how to tell that story and most importantly who will be in front of the camera. Awarding this scholarship to Annaïla Telsaint to study screenwriting at l’inis is yet another concrete step toward recognizing Quebec’s modern-day diverse society.” – said Fabienne Colas, founder and president of the Fabienne Colas Foundation and the Montreal International Black Film Festival. “We are pleased to continue pursuing our mission of building bridges and promoting education and diversity through the arts!”
“Quebecor is pleased to award the second Quebecor Diversité à l’écran scholarship,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO. “Developing a strong, diverse and engaged community of young film professionals is one of the keys to producing richer content and promoting cultural exchange. Congratulations to this year’s recipient, Annaïla Telsaint!” – said Pierre Karl Péladeau, President and CEO.
“We are very pleased to renew this collaboration with the Fabienne Colas Foundation and Québecor. The scholarship awarded to Annaïla Telsaint, admitted to the scriptwriting section of the Cinema Program, will increase the presence of emerging professionals from Quebec’s Black community at all stages of film creation, including those who determine ideation and writing. This support, granted to Annaïla, is in line with L’inis desire to promote, through various actions, the access of people from a diversity background to its training programs.” – stated Michel G. Desjardins, Executive Director of L’inis.
“I am very happy to receive this scholarship because my dream will come true. I am one of the young people who pay for their studies and the costs of living. This scholarship allows me to focus on my studies without worrying about money. I am very grateful to the Fabienne Colas Foundation and Quebecor. Life always smiles at us when we are ready to receive that smile.” – said the scholarship recipient Annaïla Telsaint.
Annaïla Telsaint was born in Haiti, more precisely in Bassin-Bleu, Port-de-Paix. When she arrived in Canada at the age of 11, speaking only Creole, she had to join specialized classes, fighting to get her high school diploma, which she finally obtained. “One day, my guidance counsellor asked me what I wanted to do in life; Candid, I answered: “I want to be a writer. I would like to write stories for television. “His face changed. He told me: wouldn’t you rather be a nursing assistant? I told him: No, sir! I don’t like hospitals. A few days later, I changed guidance counsellor. My new counsellor is the first person who believed in me. One day, that person told me: “You can make all your dreams come true if you believe in them and work hard enough. Life will help you if you take the right one. “This sentence has accompanied me throughout my school career. In College, I enrolled in Communication and Media. Later, in university, I took creative writing. From an early age, I knew I was going to work in the artistic world. I remember when I was in Haiti, watching television, in my aunt’s bedroom, I thought to myself; one day I will be part of this world. A world where stories always end well. That’s why I enrolled at L’inis in the scriptwriting section.” – Annaïla Telsaint
About the Fabienne Colas Foundation
The Fabienne Colas Foundation (FCF) is a not-for-profit cultural organization dedicated to building bridges and advancing education through the arts as well as to support the creation, production, promotion and dissemination of cinema, the arts and culture in Canada and elsewhere. To fulfill its mission, the Foundation put together the Youth and Diversity Program and 8 festivals and programs to break barriers, celebrate diversity, foster togetherness, understanding and inclusion. Since its inception in 2005, its programs and festivals have showcased and supported over 2,000 artists and attracted close to 1 million festivalgoers in Canada, the USA and Haiti. The Foundation mostly promotes Black culture in Montréal, Toronto, Halifax, New York City and Salvador de Bahia – Brazil; and Quebec culture in Port-au-Prince. www.fondationfabiennecolas.org
About the Montreal International Black Film Festival
Created in 2005 by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) is currently the largest Canadian film festival entirely dedicated to black realities from all four corners of the globe. It aims to offer the public the most spectacular productions in black cinema and debate the great cultural, social, and socio-economic issues facing society. The MIBFF goal is to promote the development of the independent film industry and showcase more films depicting black realities around the world. The Festival seeks to prioritize local and international films that do not necessarily come under the spotlight, a new cinema that moves its audience and raises awareness – and a few eyebrows. In so doing, the MIBFF addresses issues and showcases art that makes you think and smile, provokes, bewilders, and shocks you—a new, fresh look at black cinema from all four corners of the globe! www.montrealblackfilm.com
About Quebecor
Quebecor, a Canadian leader in telecommunications, entertainment, news media and culture, is one of the best-performing integrated communications companies in the industry. Driven by their determination to deliver the best possible customer experience, all of Quebecor’s subsidiaries and brands are differentiated by their high-quality, multiplatform, convergent products and services. Quebecor (TSX: QBR.A, QBR.B) is headquartered in Québec and employs more than 10,000 people in Canada. A family business founded in 1950, Quebecor is strongly committed to the community. Every year, it actively supports more than 400 organizations working in the vital fields of culture, health, education, the environment and entrepreneurship. Visit our website: www.quebecor.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Quebecor
Source : Fabienne Colas Foundation
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