Tickets at the door are cash only.

Teams of filmmakers will go tête-à-tête and have an energizing debate about how explicit sex scenes should get in film and television. Sure to have controversial arguments from perspectives of directors and performers, join us for this humorous event. Jameson Irish Whiskey will be on hand to lubricate the action and share details about their First Shot program. Don’t be afraid to heckle! 

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The Debaters

Team Local
Arielle Rombough
The daughter of a theatre technician, Arielle gained a love for the arts at a young age. Excelling in dance and music throughout grade school, Arielle began acting at age 17 and attended two post secondary theatre arts programs before landing her first professional theatre job at age 21. From there she quickly became a regular on stage and in film appearing on some of Canada's biggest stages. Her love for theatre has never dwindled and she balances a film/TV and professional theatre career with operating her own business. She is also an award winning burlesque performer and has recently had international recognition in the burlesque scene. 

Mike Peterson
Michael is an award-winning writer, producer and director whose body of work includes shorts, commercials, reality tv, music videos, documentaries, scripted series (Tiny Plastic Men, The Wilmore Boys) and the feature films (Lloyd the Conqueror). His films have been featured in over 75 film festivals worldwide. He completed the 2013 Canadian Film Centre’s Directors Lab, in which he was one of only six directors chosen from across Canada. He has since worked as a director and producer for various broadcasters including Superchannel, Wild TV and BBC. He holds a BA with Honours from York University in Communications Studies and Humanities. His Masters of Arts from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill concentrated in documentary film theory and practice and also consisted of working with many local independent and PBS documentary producers and directors. He resides in Calgary, reads and watches films voraciously, and spends as much time with the family as possible.

Team Visiting
Jesse Klein
Jesse Klein is a filmmaker from Montréal. Klein holds an MFA in Film and Video Production from the University of Texas at Austin and for the past three years was an Assistant Professor of Film and New Media at Middle Georgia State University. He has written film criticism for Filmmaker Magazine, Hammer To Nail, and ION Cinema among other publications. In 2016, Klein was selected to the Berlinale Talents program and the TIFF Talent Lab as a director. His film WE'RE STLL TOGETHER rrecently had its World Premiere at the 2016 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

April Mullen
A director known as much for her versatility as she is for her passion, April Mullen's latest directorial offer BELOW HER MOUTH, is a relentless love story shot entirely by an all female crew. She is also being honored with the TIFF Birk Diamond a tribute to Women in Film. Her previous feature's include: 88, an action thriller, Dead Before Dawn 3D, which confirmed April Mullen as the youngest person and first female to direct a live action stereoscopic 3D feature film. The film was celebrated for its technological achievement and awarded the Perron Crystal. Mullen is co-founder of the independent production company Wango Films, alongside Tim Doiron. The company has produced five films to date. A true maverick in the feature film world, Miss Mullen is known for her bold and stunning visuals, ambitious shooting style, strong performances and unique voice.