Leading the charge for representation and acknowledgement of women and non-binary directors, Canada’s Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC) organization recently held the 2024 edition of their annual awards ceremony. Toronto-based Lu Asfaha took top honors by earning the Feature Film Award for her screenplay They Echo, which is currently estimated to begin production in 2025. In recognition of her achievement, Asfaha will receive $350,000 worth of in-kind services.
“I am incredibly proud and honored to be this year’s award recipient,” says Asfaha, “joining an incredible group of talented and accomplished women directors that have won this award in the past. I am also excited to work with WIDC, Carol Whiteman and the They Echo team to bring this powerful story to life. My hope and wish is that They Echo can both entertain audiences and be part of an ongoing conversation in communities of color.”
Described as a “psychological horror about a young woman who returns home to care for her dying mother and then is confronted by the ghosts of her family’s sins,” They Echo will see Asfaha tread beyond her previous short-form genre work into a feature-length runtime. Judging by the praise bestowed upon her body horror entry Sight and award-winning Fresh Meat, it’s a sandbox the filmmaker is undoubtedly prepared for and capable of creating in.
“This year’s jury described Lu Asfaha’s They Echo as a page-turner they could not put down,” says WIDC’s Dr. Carol Whiteman (With Love and a Major Organ, Rustic Oracle, Red Snow), who provides executive producing services as part of the award. “Lu’s work deftly utilizes genre to externalize the internal. Lu and her award-winning feature film screenplay were a unanimous jury choice.”
They Echo is being produced by Toronto-based Snail Mail Media’s Fonna Seidu (VIRGINS!, Dirty Bad Wrong, Being Black in Toronto) and co-produced by LaRue Entertainment (Someone Lives Here, The Amazing Gayl Pile). Executive producers also include Lindsay Blair Goeldner (I Like Movies, Queen Tut) and Joe Pirro (Driveways, We Grown Now). They Echo is funded by Telefilm Canada.
