Emergence: Women in the Storm Toronto Premiere
Hosted by
Filmmakers Nova Ami & Velcrow Ripper
date
May 31, 2026 7:00 pm
Venue
Friends House
Price
Sliding Scale
Event Details
Presented by The Toronto Climate Film Festival and Climate Fast. This film is being distributed independently. We’ve priced tickets at a sliding scale. Please consider supporting our community launch at the level you can afford. All profits will fund our campaign to get the film seen. Find out how to host a screening of your own: Emergence.film
ABOUT THE FILM
Climate change is here. As heat domes, atmospheric rivers, and wildfires reshape our world, how do we protect what matters most? EMERGENCE: Women in the Storm goes beyond the headlines to explore how women are navigating climate emergencies.
Recent disasters, including the wildfire that burned the town of Lytton to the ground and the devastating floods in the Fraser Valley, are seen through the eyes of survivors, while emergency responders and community organizers provide perspectives on preparing for – and moving beyond – the worst. Meghan Fandrich’s reflective readings from Burning Sage: Poems from the Lytton Fire, written after losing her town to the blaze, are woven together with stories of healing, resilience and hope in the face of an uncertain future.
Intimate and beautifully crafted, the film offers insights on how to live in this new reality, finding ways to carry on without giving up
Date & Time
–
Venue
About the Host
Presented by The Toronto Climate Film Festival and Climate Fast.
Q & A with the filmmakers moderated by legendary feminist activist Judy Rebick.
FILMMAKERS:
NOVA AMI, Writer, Director & Producer
Nova Ami is a Canadian documentary filmmaker of mixed Filipino heritage. Her current work explores themes of climate emergency and environment, focusing on the perspectives of women and diverse communities.
Recent projects include creative collaborations with filmmaker Velcrow Ripper: EMERGENCE: Women in the Storm explores how communities are navigating the reality of climate emergency as atmospheric rivers, heat domes, and mega fires reshape our world. INCANDESCENCE is an immersive, experiential feature documentary about wildfire (produced by the NFB). The award-winning METAMORPHOSIS, a theatrical feature documentary which explores the theme of change in this time of climate crisis, described as “breathtaking” by the Toronto Star. SAY I DO, following the journeys of Filipino women who came to Canada as mail-order brides; and SECRETS: A Parent’s Guide to Teen Sexuality which aired on CBC’s The Passionate Eye. She was host, director, and writer on The Leading Edge, a television series about innovation that aired on Knowledge, and was host and segment producer of GVTV, a series about urban issues in metro Vancouver. She has a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School, NYC.
VELCROW RIPPER, Writer & Director
Velcrow Ripper creates powerful, cinematic feature documentaries that deal with the
central issues of our times. His films are released widely in movie theatres, streaming, broadcast and community screenings around the world. They have featured luminaries such as bell hooks, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Alice Walker. He began co-directing with Nova Ami with the award winning feature doc Metamorphosis, the web series Living With Dying, and their latest feature docs, Incandescence (NFB) and Emergence: Women in the Storm (a Knowledge Original). His epic Fierce Light Trilogy began with Scared Sacred, a journey to the Ground Zeroes of the world, winner of the 2005 Genie (Canadian Academy) Award for best feature documentary, continued with Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, and concluded with Occupy Love. His film about elders and the struggle to save the ancient forests, Bones of the Forest (co-directed with Heather Frise) won nine awards. He is well known for his award-winning sound design of such films as The Corporation (Best Sound, Leo Awards) and A Place Called Chiapas (Best Sound, Hot Docs, Leo Awards).
Learn more at: TransparentFilm.media
EVENT HOST
