Madeleine Sims-Fewer is an actor, writer, director and producer working alongside her longtime collaborator, Dusty Mancinelli. Madeleine and Dusty met at the 2015 TIFF Talent Lab and experienced an instant convergence of minds, quickly joining forces as a filmmaking team. Highly focused on a naturalistic performance style and visual aesthetic, their films explore gender politics, the selfishness of human nature, and abuse of power.
Their first collaboration together was the short film SLAP HAPPY, which screened at BFI London Film Festival, VIFF and Slamdance, among others. Their next short, WOMAN IN STALL, won the Jury Award for Narrative Student Short at the Austin Film Festival and the Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance. Their latest short, CHUBBY, had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and won the Silver Dragon award for best director at the Krakow Film Festival. Their debut feature, VIOLATION, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival where Madeleine was selected as a TIFF Rising Star. VIOLATION won the Emerging Canadian Artist award at the Calgary International Film Festival, the Emerging Canadian Director award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and was nominated for a Directors Guild of Canada Discovery Award. Most recently, VIOLATION had its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Texas premiere at SXSW, and has been nominated for 5 Canadian Screen Awards, including the John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award.
