The Editor's Cut – Details, episodes & analysis

We want to feature the editors of four Canadian films that are not only critically acclaimed in this year's festival circles but also reflect the great community spirit behind their creation. Whether it's the utterly independent visions of MATT AND MARA and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE or the deeply necessary stories of the Indigenous community in ABERDEEN and THE STAND, this year's Canadian films, in all their shapes and forms, are not short of boldness and style.

Sara Bulloch is an editor and filmmaker in Winnipeg, Canada. She's edited films and series like ABERDEEN (premiered at TIFF2024), ALTER BOYS, SEEKING FIRE, ANCIENT BODIES, and many short films including I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MY BODY which won Audience Choice Award at Gimli Film Fest 2023. Short films she's written/directed have screened with Toronto Jewish Film Fest, the8fest, Gimli Film Fest, and more. Her films often explore mental health, identity, and relationships. Her short film, HOT DOG GUY won a People's Choice Award at Vox Popular Media Arts Fest 2022. She's also a motion graphics artist and community organizer. From 2019-2023 she organized OurToba Film Network & Fest, a community group for women, non-binary and gender diverse Manitobans in film.

Xi Feng is a film editor based in Montreal. Having lived in China, Canada, and France, she has cultivated a unique blend of cultural and artistic sensitivity. Feng has worked as an editor on award winning films including CETTE MAISON, CAITI BLUES and most recently UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, which won the inaugural Audience Award at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes and is Canada's 2025 submission for the Oscars. Her filmography includes films premiered at major festivals such as Berlinale, Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, Vision du Réel, HotDocs, etc.

Nathalie Massaroni is a Winnipeg-based editor and post production supervisor of more than 400 hours of television. Since graduating from the University of Winnipeg's film program, she has edited features and series including WINTERTIDE, ALTER BOYS, SEEKING FIRE, and ABERDEEN (which premiered at TIFF 2024). Nathalie has also edited other short form series and films such as D DOT H, TAILOR MADE, and I HURT MYSELF. If she's not working on a computer, you can find Nathalie at the dance studio or sipping coffee with a cat on her lap.

Ajla Odobasic is a Bosnian-Canadian film editor based in Toronto. Her credits include MATT AND MARA, THE WHITE FORTRESS, the TFCA Best Canadian Film Award-winning ANNE AT 13000 FT, A.W: A PORTRAIT OF APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL, and the CSA-nominated HELLO DESTROYER. Her work has screened at several festivals and platforms including Locarno, TIFF, the Berlinale, MoMA, CBC Gem, and the Criterion Channel. Ajla teaches editing in Humber College's Film and Television program.

Sarah Hedar is a Vancouver-based editor and story editor. Her patience and sense of humour keeps the challenges that so often bog down the creative process at bay. Sarah's award-winning work on provocative and original films spans both documentary and narrative projects, from features to shorts. Her keen eye for visual storytelling reflects her belief in the power of community, and the importance of continuously reassessing the status quo while building a world filled with empathy and hope for a brighter future. Her work has screened at festivals across the globe, but most notably, Sundance, TIFF, and VIFF.

Kelly Boutsalis is the International Programmer, Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival. She's also a freelance writer, and has written about film and television for the New York Times, NOW Magazine, Elle Canada, Flare, POV Magazine and more. She's also written about lifestyle, design, and culture for publications including Vogue, Toronto Star, Chatelaine, VICE and Toronto Life. Originally from the Six Nations reserve, she lives in Toronto. She is on the board of imagineNATIVE and a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association.

Animation is often stereotyped as a children's genre. The truth is that it is a versatile medium for all ages: one that allows storytellers to experiment, push boundaries, and captivate audiences around the world. This episode features the editors behind INSIDE OUT 2, THE WILD ROBOT, SPELLBOUND and NIMONA. They discuss the creative process behind these titles and the particularities of working in the editor's chair on animated feature films of this caliber.

Comedy demands a mastery of pacing to make a story flow but most importantly make the audience laugh. Whether it's solving mysteries in the coming-of-age comedy horror WEDNESDAY, the misfortunes of a dysfunctional family in MOONSHINE, the attempt to save a mediocre hockey team in SHORESY, or building a business of fake IDs with very real consequences in FAKES. This year we invited the 2023 CCE nominee editors of these spectacular shows to tell us about the craft of editing in the comedic genre. Maybe they'll tell us a joke or two.

In this episode Sarah Taylor sits down with award-winning editor Cathy Gulkin, CCE. 

For much of her career, Cathy has focused on long form social issue documentaries but the breadth of her talent is demonstrated with a wide ranging filmography with credits in music docs, comedy TV shows, theatrical feature films, children's programs, reality and lifestyle series. Her work has been recognized with several editing awards for such films as the classic feature documentary Forbidden Love (1992 Atlantic Film Festival), The Four Seasons Mosaic (2005 Gemini nomination, Best Editing in a Performance Program), And We Knew How to Dance (1994 Columbus, Best Documentary) and Omar Khadr: Out of the Shadows which received a 2016 Emmy nomination and won 2016 DGC Award.

This episode is a Q&A with Sarah Taylor that took place in March 2019 in Edmonton, Alberta about the short documentary FAST HORSE.

FAST HORSE follows the return of the Blackfoot bareback horse racing tradition in a new form: the Indian Relay. Siksika horseman Allison Red Crow struggles to build a team with second-hand horses and a new jockey, Cody Big Tobacco, to take on the best riders in the Blackfoot Confederacy at the Calgary Stampede.

The Q&A was moderated by fellow editor Brenda Terning. If you would like to see FAST HORSE there is a screening on November 20th in Toronto, Ontario at the TIFF Lightbox Theater or you can watch it on Vimeo where it recently received a staff pick.

In this episode Sarah Taylor sits down with the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Dean Balser, CCE.

Dean worked on the series The littlest Hobo, Night Heat and countless dramas, comedies, documentaries and factual programs. He was at the forefront of the evolution of editing from film to digital, working on the most advanced editing platforms of the day, including being an early user of Avid systems.  Dean became acclaimed not only for his editing work, but also for his role as a friend and mentor to many in the industry.

In this episode Sarah Taylor sits down with the founding members of the Canadian Cinema Editors Paul Day, CCE, Roger Mattiussi, CCE and Paul Winestock, CCE as well as the current CCE president and vice president Stephen Philipson, CCE and Jane MacRae.

We discuss where the CCE came from, where we are currently and what we hope for the future of the CCE. 

This is part four of our four part series covering EditCon 2019. In this episode we will hear from indie feature editors Michelle Szemberg of Un Traductor, Christine Armstrong of The New Romantic and Isabelle Malenfant, CCE of Pieds nus dans l'aube.

There's no formula to a festival hit, but these three editors, each with a recent feature film on the circuit, shed light on their respective experiences. This panel discussion moderated by Lisa Grootenboer, CCE focuses on their careers in indie film, their process in editing these films, getting a festival run, and what lies ahead.

This is part three of our four part series covering EditCon 2019.  In this masterclass, award-winning editor Ron Sanders, CCE will be sharing insight from his career, notably his work with celebrated director David Cronenberg. Their collaboration spans 19 films, for which he won four Genie Awards for Excellence in Film Editing and three Best Editor Awards from the Directors Guild of Canada. Ron discusses scenes from Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, A Dangerous Method and Maps to the Stars. This panel was moderated by Jim Allodi.

This is part two of our four part series covering EditCon 2019.  Learn from Canada's leading animation editors about the critical role they play in crafting animated films. How does the process differ from editing live action? At what point does the editor's work start? What does the collaboration look like with team members and the director? These questions and more will be answered in this lively group discussion with Paul Hunter and Lesley Mackay Hunter. This panel was moderated by Chris Mutton.