The nation's capital is not just a collective of government drones and high-tech wizards. You can't do that at the other school. It also has private screenings of new films not yet seen by the public and panel discussions. The fields covered include acting, directing, screenwriting, producing and new media. Workshops are in English and French and more than half the teachers are women, which Shoebridge says is a conscious choice.
Organizers also bring in people from all the provinces and territories.
They have grown slowly, though. Way Downtown and The Law of Enclosures will be screened at the Toronto Film Festival in September, along with Virgo's film Love Come Down. All the teachers have to be professionals currently in the marketplace. He launched SIFT 20 years ago after he had to go to the United States for a screenwriting course because there were none in Canada. He picked Ottawa because it was where he happened to live.