Adjacent to the festival’s free-spirited curatorial spirit, the programming team is composed of experienced Gen-Z and millennial industry professionals, all under the age of thirty.
The Team at
David Cuevas is a film journalist and filmmaker, formerly based in Ottawa, Ontario. He has written for publications such as Next Best Picture, POV Magazine, The Playlist, and InReview Online. He has attended high-profile events as an accredited journalist, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Biennale, the Berlin Film Festival, the Locarno Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.
Over the years, David has worked for organisations such as Hot Docs and the Canadian Film Institute. He is an associate programmer for the Ottawa International Animation Festival, which hosts its Oscar-qualifying short film competition each year. In his spare time, David works on independent, self-funded film projects. His debut, Closing Night, screened at the 2021 Mill Valley Film Festival. His follow-up short Avulsion screened at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival.
David Cuevas
Artistic Director
Mercy Lam
Film Operations
Mercy Lam is the acquisitions, publicity, and digital marketing manager at Canadian distributor Films We Like. She plays a key role in bringing critically acclaimed independent and arthouse films and documentaries to Canadian audiences, curating a prestigious slate that includes Academy Award-winning titles such as Drive My Car (2021) and Flow (2024). She has served on the 2024 CUFF Docs Jury and participated in top industry initiatives with DGC Directors Guild of Canada, Atlantic International Film Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Hot Docs and TIFF. She holds a Master of Arts in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto.
Kassy Gascho is a Toronto-based filmmaker, film programmer, and production coordinator with experience across development, production, post-production, business affairs, and film festivals. Her previous roles span Hot Docs, Fantasia, TIFF, Hangar 18 Media, The Image Centre, and PurpleDOG Post Production. As a filmmaker, her short #BOSSBABE won the Bronze Audience Award at the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival. As a programmer, Kassy is entering her third programming year with Blood in the Snow Film Festival.
Kassy Gascho
Logistics/Programmer
Gabriel Sousa
Associate Programmer
Gabriel Sousa is a Brazilian film professional with extensive experience in production and post-production. A graduate in Film Production from York University, he is currently producing an original horror feature film, set to release in 2026. For the past four years, he has also been a contributing writer for Oxente, Pipoca, a Brazilian film website, where he covers major international festivals, award seasons, and the global cinema landscape.