Chairperson, Award-winning Filmmaker

Originally from Montreal, Canada, Eddy Kara started making films at the age of 17. After graduating from Vanier College with a specialization in Theatre, he graduated from the Vancouver Film School in Film Production.

Since 2016, he has been the Festival Director of the MIWAFF, where he won the award for Best Director in 2015, for his work in "The Sociopath's Guild".

In 2019 and 2020, has also won multiple awards for his latest political dramedy "No, Mr. Mayor-Part 2.

2015 Best Director & 2019 Best Screenplay Wreath Award Winner

Eddy Kara

Music Composer, cultural journalist and record label owner

Chloé-Anne composed soundtrack for Western, East Asian & Middle Eastern TV
productions, including Turkish phenomenon “Gunesin Kizlari” (Daughters of the Sun). She is
the executive producer of several award-winning music videos and writes music and film
reviews for different magazines. She is also the founder of MusiqMatch, a Record Label
which launches emerging talents while promoting cultural exchange and diversity.

Chloé-Anne Touma

Vice-Chair &

Board Director

Mardig has been working with MIWAFF since the company’s formation in 2015. He oversees the submissions of films as the Submission Director.   

Since 2015 , Mardig has been exposed to film production , marketing and judging .

Mardig Bidanian

Actor

Zeshaun Saleem is a Montreal based actor who is best known for playing Salahuddin in the 'Domestic Crusaders.' With a background in academia and creative writing, for Zeshaun, storytelling through performance art is a powerful medium through which we not only discover the world around us but our very selves. 

Zeshaun Saleem

Matthew Benzrihem

Board Director

Matthew Benzrihem is a podcast personality. Having launched his two years ago, he has been an advocate for film and politics. He was also a contributor and consultant for MIWAFF 2019, and is a member of this year’s Board of Directors. He is in charge of festival operations and logistics since this year it is virtual. He is currently completing his studies for a Bachelor’s in Political Science at Concordia University.

Ben Cahlamer

Film Critic &  Jury

Ben Cahlamer is a Phoenix, AZ based film critic with a love of independent cinema. Currently, you can find his reviews on The Cinema Files, his own website The Movie Revue. He has also written for Electric Bento and the Phoenix Film Festival website. Ben has previously juried for the Phoenix FIlm Festival where he serves as the LGBTQ Film Programmer. Whe he's not talking about movies, he's watching movies