Who We Are
SAFF Canada South Asian Film Festival Society Co-Founders
Hannah Fisher
SAFF Canada Co-Founder and Artistic Director Hannah Fisher is a former Executive Director of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). She contributes to many major international festivals, including the Dubai International Film Festival, the OFF PLUS CAMERA Festival of Independent Cinema, Krakow, Poland, and the Kolkata International Film Festival, where she was a Festival Programmer for 18 years.
Hannah has extensive experience as an International film and media consultant for Government and Industry.
Hannah utilizes her many years of experience, relationships, contacts and passion for South Asia, in the development of SAFF Canada. She is committed to bringing the best films and filmmakers to SAFF 2012, and to building long-term relationships between young South Asian Filmmakers and their Canadian counterparts.
Pat Bayes
SAFF Canada Co-Founder and Executive Director Pat Bayes is a former photographer, with a strong background in public opinion research for Campbell Goodell Traynor. She has also worked in Fund Development for Canadian Red Cross and Grant MacEwan University, both through Donor Direct.
Pat is the former Executive Director of ground-breaking Stand Up For Mental Health (SMH), a Vancouver grown and based program that successfully uses stand-up comedy to shatter the stigma surrounding mental illness. She created the SMH National University and College Campus Comedy Tour and a Department of National Defense Program where SMH comedy troupes perform on Military Bases across Canada, and other innovative initiatives.
Pat brings her love of film and her organizational background into developing the overall infrastructure, Partnerships, Sponsorships and Educational Program Components of SAFF Canada.
SAFF Canada South Asian Film Festival Society Founding Members
Julius Fisher
Documentary and TV Producer/Director. Long-time British Columbia Social and Cultural Activist.
Gillian Walker
Retired Professor, UBC and Carleton University School of Social Work. Tireless Community and Cultural Activist.
Mel D’ Souza
Film and Television Producer, Founder of SILO Entertainment, South-SE Asia Business Expert and noted Photo Journalist.
Satwinder Bains
Executive Director of the University of the Fraser Valley’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.
SAFF Canada South Asian Film Festival Society Board of Directors
The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh
Former Premier and Attorney General of British Columbia, and Federal Minister of Health.
Neil Stephenson
Founder and Former CEO of the Dubai International Film Festival, Lawyer.
Jas Johal
Internationally respected TV Journalist, former Head of Global TV’s Asia and South Asia News Bureaus.
Rashmi Lamba
Rashmi is a creative and versatile media professional with diverse skills and over twenty years experience in all aspects of film and television production, corporate and social communications. Her portfolio includes documentaries, infotainment series, news coverage, commercials, public service and corporate films. Having functioned as a Producer, Director, Manager and Coordinator, Rashmi has spearheaded international film projects with sizeable teams reporting to her for creative, financial and production decisions.
Widely travelled, Rashmi has worked in television stations, international production companies, advertising agencies and set up her own companies in India, UAE and Canada, Her Directorial experience covers a variety of shows for television ranging from programs for children and youth, a series on the six classical dance forms of India and award winning documentaries on Ravi Shankar, Mother Teresa and the Bedouin village lifestyle.
Rashmi brings a creative and conceptual edge to her work with in-depth research, compelling story-telling, multi-cultural understanding and stringent budgeting. She is proficient in the varied production and post-production formats and has spent endless nights in the editing suite perfecting each frame and mixing every note.
Satwinder Bains
Executive Director of the University of the Fraser Valley’s Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.
