Today (June 3), Women in Film and Television Vancouver (WIFTV) announced that Vancouver-based actor and writer Sarah Kelley has been chosen by a jury as the recipient of the 2019 WIFTV Banff World Media Festival Mentorship.

Kelley will be mentored by Omnifilm Entertainment director of scripted development Elizabeth Schofield. She will also attend the Banff World Media Festival to be held in Alberta from June 9 to 12 and will meet with WIFTV before and after the festival.

Kelley, who moved from Ottawa to Vancouver, has had roles on locally shot TV series such as Arrow and When We Rise, as well as the 2017 B.C. film Kayak to Klemtu.

“Being a successful, Indigenous woman story teller is important to me and to my community,” Kelley stated in a news release in response to the announcement. “I want to show the youth and my family to never give up on your dreams.”

Kelley completed writing her first feature film in WIFTV’s Tricksters and Writers program, a feature film writing program for Indigenous women, and is working on a TV series In the Shadows.