Madeleine Sims-Fewer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Madeleine Sims-Fewer is a British-Canadian independent filmmaker and actress.

Personal life[]

Sims-Fewer was born in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada. Her family moved to England when she was two years old. Sims-Fewer studied filmmaking at York University in Toronto.[1] She returned to England to study acting at the Drama Centre London.[2]

Career[]

Acting roles[]

Sims-Fewer made her film acting debut in 2007 in the short The Adventures of Ratman. After several shorts, Sims-Fewer made her feature film debut in Operation Avalanche in 2016.

Mancinelli and Sims-Fewer collaborations[]

In 2015, Sims-Fewer met Dusty Mancinelli at the 2015 TIFF Talent Lab. Since 2017, the pair has co-directed several short films in their DM Films joint venture. Their films have been shown at TIFF, BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival, among others. Their first collaboration, Slap Happy, about a tempestuous relationship, was an official selection at the BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver and Slamdance.[3] Reviewer Ben Robins named it one of the best short films at the BFI Festival, describing it as "like a little less touched-up Blue Valentine, with a much more twisted sense of humour."[4] Their second collaboration was Woman in Stall, a "claustrophobic thriller" about an encounter in a public restroom between a man and a woman trapped in a cubicle.[5] It won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance festival.[6] Chubby, their third collaboration, was shown at the 2020 Slamdance festival. A study of a 10-year-old's experience with sexual abuse, it was described as "harrowing" and would "stay with you long after its credits roll".[7]

Violation[]

Main article: Violation (film)

A teaser of their debut feature Violation was shown at the Cannes Marché du Film Online in June 2020.[8] Violation, which is described as "decidedly dark, potentially dangerous and probably deranged" and "flips the revenge genre on its head", was selected for the "Fantastic 7" genre festival initiative to highlight genre films at seven international film festivals.[9] Violation premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival in the "Midnight Madness" program.[10][11] Critic Mike Crisolago has named it one of 30 films he is already "excited to see.".[12] Now Toronto critic Norman Wilner called it "a major levelling up of their signature combination of rage and intensity".[13] According to Variety reviewer Tomris Laffley, "Despite some heavy-handed choices, Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli pack a profound gut-punch with their debut feature."[14]

Sims-Fewer received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for Best Actress and the John Dunning Best First Feature Award.[15]

Filmography[]

Film/Series Year Actor Director Writer Notes
The Adventures of Ratman 2007 Ellen short
Souvenirs from Asia 2007 Art Student short
A Stir in the Forest 2008 Miss Simmons ✓ ✓ short
Fix Me 2011 Claire ✓ short
Blood In 2012 Nikki ✓ short
Jess & Maria 2012 Maria ✓ short
Rip-Off 2012 Madeleine ✓ short; co-writer
Inked 2013 ✓ short; story
Red Reflections 2014 Amelia short
The Storm at Yellow Creek Farm 2014 Ada ✓ short
The Substitute 2015 Miss Byrd ✓ short
Foxes 2016 Receptionist short
Operation Avalanche 2016 Madeleine feature
Emma 2016 Dermatologist short
Off-piste 2017 Bernadette feature
The Expanse 2017 Refugee woman episode of TV series
Cut 2017 ✓ short; co-writer
Slap Happy 2017 Joanna ✓ short
Rape Card 2018 Frances ✓ ✓ short
Woman In Stall 2018 (unnamed) ✓ short
The Roots of Men 2018 Dee short
Chubby 2019 ✓ ✓ short
Violation 2020 Miriam ✓ ✓ feature
Shadows in the Grass 2021 (unnamed) ✓ short; in post-production

References[]

  1. ^ Bains, Pahull (September 25, 2020). "TIFF 2020: These Are the Up-and-Coming Canadian Actors to Know". Fashion Magazine. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. ^ Berger, Laura (September 9, 2020). "TIFF 2020: Women Directors: Meet Madeleine Sims-Fewer - "Violation"". Women and Hollywood. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  3. ^ "Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli". Independent Talent. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. ^ Robins, Ben (October 21, 2017). "The Best Short Films from the 61st BFI London Film Festival". FlickeringMyth. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  5. ^ Serapova, Serafima (May 1, 2020). "Woman in Stall". shortoftheweek.com.
  6. ^ "DUSTY MANCINELLI". moscowfilmfestival.ru/. Moscow International Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  7. ^ Saveliev, Alex (January 30, 2020). "Chubby". Film Threat.
  8. ^ "Canadian Presence at Cannes 2020". RDV Canada.
  9. ^ Dale, Martin (June 25, 2020). "Fantastic 7 Film Festivals Endorse Potential Upcoming Genre Standouts at Cannes Session". Variety.
  10. ^ "Violation". tiff.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  11. ^ Miska, Brad (July 30, 2020). "TIFF's Midnight Madness is Still Going to Get Crazy!". bloodydisgusting.com. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  12. ^ Crisolago, Mike (July 30, 2020). "30 Films We're Already Excited to See".
  13. ^ Wilner, Norman (September 14, 2020). "TIFF review: Violation shows us the horrible cost of revenge". Now Toronto. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  14. ^ Laffley, Tomris (September 13, 2020). "'Violation' Review: Disturbing Rape-Revenge Thriller Subverts Genre Trappings". Variety. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  15. ^ Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations". ET Canada, March 30, 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""