DIRECTORS

Carolyn Saunders is an award-winning writer and director of fiction films and documentary. As mixed race/Roma and an airforce child raised in many places, she frequently explores themes of identity and home. Carolyn wrote and directed her debut feature, The Wasting, in 2016. The arthouse horror had a successful festival run, including winning Best Feature at the 2017 Vittorio Veneto Film Festival, Best Thriller at the Austrian Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Feature at the BAFTA qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival. It went on to a limited North American theatrical release and is now available on VOD. Carolyn is an alumna of the prestigious Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program, and a member of Directors UK and the Writers Guild of Canada. As a feature film writer, Carolyn has tackled many genres. She wrote the feature car-racing doc A Sicilian Dream, nominated for Best Story at Nice International Film Festival, and winner of Best Documentary at the Indianapolis Film Festival. Her dark comedy Drilled won Honourable Mention at the Praxis Screenwriting Awards and is in development. As a script analyst at the Harold Greenberg Fund for 13 years, Carolyn gave notes on some of Canada’s top films. Before turning to directing, Carolyn wrote, developed and creative produced documentary television series, including Mighty Ships, Yukon Gold, Outlaw Tech and Forensic Factor. Carolyn’s next feature as writer/director is Island West, a sci-fi about xenophobia.