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Polina

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Polina Teif

Polina Teif is a Belarus born photographer and filmmaker based in Toronto. She received her BFA from the University of Toronto with emphasis on Visual Studies and Semiotics and completed an MFA in Documentary Film Production at York University. In 2019 she attended the Doc Institute Breakthrough Program and was awarded the Hot Docs Pitch prize and the 2019 Planet in Focus Green Pitch Award.  in 2019 She participated in the Cannes Doc Corner Canadian Showcase and in 2020 she attended the Berlinale EMF DocSalon Toolbox Program and the 2020 Hot Docs Accelerator Program.

Her work has been shown at the Istanbul Design Biennial, Trinity Square Video, Gallery Stratford, Art Metropole, Hart House, Nuit Blanche, and Idea Exchange. Her work has been featured in DER GRIEF, Aesthetica Magazine, Hart House Review, Magenta Magazine, Collective Terrain, LUMA Quarterly and ICON Magazine.

Her debut feature documentary, Eulogy for the Dead Sea, premiered in Toronto at the 23rd Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival and explores the intersection of people, politics and environment in the Dead Sea region.

Project Description

Understatement Pictures

Understatement Pictures specializes in impactful cinematic storytelling. We believe in the power of thought provoking documentary film to inspire change, and working with people who share our values.

Our upcoming film is a character driven feature documentary following Karla Rae James, a trans woman in her 60’s living in Toronto, through a pivotal stage of her transition.