Filipino producer to participate in Toronto Int’l Film Fest accelerator program

Photo by Natalie Parham on Unsplash

Talk about Filipino excellence on a global scale.

Alongside writer and director Karen Chapman, Enrique Miguel Baniqued—the Filipino producer of “Village Keeper,” which is a full-length feature based on the 2019 short “Measure”—has been selected to participate in the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Every Story Accelerator program.

Every year, the program chooses two producer/director teams with feature-length projects in post-production to “receive targeted support to pitch their projects to industry decision-makers in three key markets.”

The program is part of the RBC Screen Creators’ Initiative supported by the RBC Foundation. Highlighted by the said film festival, it is designed to support and advance projects from emerging filmmakers with diverse backgrounds, including those “who identify as Black, Indigenous, a person of color, 2SLGBTQ+, or from other equity-deserving groups.”

With hopes and passion to uplift enthralling narratives to the world, Baniqued shared on his LinkedIn that “Village Keeper” is about “a single mother on an Eat, Pray, Love Journey-like journey starring the incomparable Olunike Adeliyi, showcasing the City of Toronto as its backdrop.”

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Baniqued believes that the power of storytelling can be a catalyst for change and since then, he has committed to telling stories of the unheard and the underrepresented sectors, according to the TIFF profile.

The “Village Keeper” team along with the other chosen team will receive a Micki Moore Fellowship, which is supported by Toronto-based broadcaster, journalist, and actor Micki Moore.

The talent program of this year’s TIFF will be held on Sept. 7 to 17 in Toronto, Canada.