Through her love of film and its potential to inspire change, Mandy Leith has worked creatively in the film & television industry for over 25 years, focusing on sociopolitical and environmental documentaries. After graduating with an honours degree in Radio, Film & TV Studies from Christ Church College in England, she began her editing career with a prestigious apprenticeship at the BBC in London in 1984. Later she fulfilled a lifelong dream when she worked as an editor at the National Film Board after emigrating to Montreal in 1989. She has since worked with independent film producers and broadcasters in Canada, the US and Britain.
Mandy currently lives in Victoria, B.C. where she works with the local independent film and television community as an editor, teacher and producer. Recent editing credits include the following award-winning films: The Friendship Village (Cypress Park Productions, 2001), From Baghdad To Peace Country (NFB, 2002), Breaking Ranks (NFB/Screen Siren 2006), Art is a Mirror (Moonbeam Productions 2007) and The Art
of Observation (Asterisk Productions 2008).
Mandy is also the Founder and Director of OPEN CINEMA, a successful non-profit dedicated to the use of film as a tool for community engagement. Since 2003, OPEN CINEMA has screened over 70 documentaries in 17 café-style venues, followed by open forum discussion with invited guests (www.opencinema.ca). Mandy’s contribution to the local arts community was recently recognized with a 2007 Victoria Leadership Award nomination and in 2007 and 2008 OPEN CINEMA was nominated by Monday Magazine’s “M” Awards as ‘Best Screening Event’. As an active member of DOC-BC and the Victoria Film Producers’ Association (ViFPA), Mandy is a passionate supporter of alternative media production, access and distribution.
Mandy recently returned to her childhood home in Kenya, where she is developing a media education and exchange project with local groups in one of Africa’s largest slums, and creating a documentary about the remarkable and inspiring stories emerging from one of the most desperate places on earth.