Starting in 2006, the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival has provided a vital hub for the city’s established female filmmakers and a warm welcome to those on their way up. Here are some of the key names returning for this year’s edition, and a few other sisters making things happen on both sides of the projector.

Sharon McGowan/Peggy Thompson
The powerhouse team behind Bearded Ladies: The Photography of Rosamond Norbury (screening next Wednesday [March 9] ) boasts credits stretching back to the ’80s, although they’re probably best known for the 1999 feature Better Than Chocolate.

Katherine Monk
Recognized across Canada for her film criticism, Monk debuted behind the camera last year with a short film about another local institution: DJ Rhiannon. “Rock the Box” will bring a whole different set of beats to VIWFF when it screens next Thursday (March 10).

Tracey Friesen
After many years at the NFB, Friesen recently served as executive producer on the acclaimed doc Hadwin’s Judgement. Her presentation titled Story Money Impact: Funding Media for Social Change takes place next Friday (March 11).

Karen Lam
“I don’t just make entertainment; I have some things to say. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put myself through this.” That’s what Karen Lam told the Straight when her feature, Evangeline, opened 2014’s VIWFF. Lam’s new short, “Chiral”, screens next Friday (March 11).

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Her work as a writer-director has brought international recognition to Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, whose new short, “Rebel (Bihttoš)”—a multidisciplinary doc that landed on this year’s list of TIFF’s best Canadian shorts—screens next Saturday (March 12).

The Soska Sisters
The recipients of 2014’s artistic innovation award (chosen by VIWFF’s founding body, Women in Film + TV Vancouver), Jen and Sylvia Soska drew global attention last week with the announcement that they’d signed on to direct the remake of David Cronenberg’s 1977 classic, Rabid.

Corinne Lea
Back in 2012, Rio Theatre owner-manager Corinne Lea mounted a loud and quixotic campaign to amend the venue’s liquor licence. She won, and the Rio has brought a steady diet of first-run, revival, and cult hits to a cinema-starved East Vancouver ever since, along with an equally steady diet of hops and barley.

Jacqueline Dupuis
Joining VIFF as its executive director in 2012, Dupuis really made her mark by expanding the festival’s trade forum into the VIFF Industry Conference, pushing for greater engagement with the thousands of Vancouverites who make their living in B.C.’s booming creative sector.

Dorothy Woodend
Besides being one of the brightest film critics around, Woodend has brought a sense of playfulness and wide-ranging curiosity to her work as director of programming at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, creating a vital annual landmark in every local cinephile’s calendar.