POV Magazine is a non-profit corporation led by a Board of Directors. The majority of our Board members are members of the Documentary Organization of Canada, which remains a key partner.
POV features an editorial advisory committee, which discusses and selects articles for print publication and online strategies.
POV is committed to safe working conditions and a workplace free from harassment.
Board of Directors
Ari Cohen
Marc Serpa Francoeur (treasurer)
Stuart Henderson (interim chair)
ChrisAnn Hessing
Aisha Jamal
Angus Leech (vice-chair)
Kristina McLaughlin
Ann Shin
Marc Serpa Francoeur
Marc Serpa Francoeur is a documentary filmmaker and interactive producer whose work builds on lifelong interests in immigration, diversity, and social justice issues. Co-founder of Lost Time Media with Robinder Uppal, they have produced a wide range of linear and interactive documentaries since 2013, including The World in Ten Blocks (2016), a feature-length interactive documentary that premiered at Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc/Fest and The Head in the Hand (2018), which was listed by DOC NYC as one of the top twelve contenders for the Oscars’ Documentary Short category. In 2020 they released No Visible Trauma, a scathing exposé of police brutality and accountability issues in Calgary, their hometown. They are in production on Love in the Time of Fentanyl, a feature-length documentary produced in partnership with ITVS and with the support of the Sundance Documentary Film Program. More info at losttimemedia.com/
Stuart Henderson
Stuart Henderson is President of 90th Parallel Productions, Ltd, one of Canada’s longest-running documentary film companies. Since its founding in 1987, 90th has distinguished itself again and again with a focus on premium content for discerning audiences. The result is dozens of award-winning films over 30+ years.
A creative producer, Henderson is currently overseeing a slate of documentary films ranging from broadcast hours to anthology series to feature-length projects.
Recent films he has produced include the feature film The Long Weekend for TVO (Director: Catie Lamer, 2022), the CBC film The Climate Baby Dilemma (Director: Vicki Lean, 2022), the TIFF People’s Choice Award-winning Inconvenient Indian (Director: Michelle Latimer, 2020); Food for the Rest of Us (Director: Caroline Cox, 2020), Be Afraid: The Science of Fear (Director: Roberto Verdecchia, 2019); Invisible Essence: The Little Prince (Director: Charles Officer, 2018); The Skin We’re In (Director: Charles Officer, 2017); My First 150 Days (Director: Diana Dai, 2017).
He is currently the executive producer and showrunner of We’re All Gonna Die, a CRAVE doc series hosted by Jay Baruchel now into its second season, the CBC film Butt… Seriously (Dir. Liam O’Rinn), an Untitled CBC film (Dir: Habiba Nosheen), and the CRAVE feature documentary Post-Natural (Director: Ben Travers, 2023).
Henderson has worked as the creative consultant for an A-list Hollywood actress, features editor at PopMatters.com, section editor at Exclaim.ca, and a syndicated Pop Culture columnist with CBC Radio One.
Henderson has previously worked as a professor of cultural history at several top research institutions. He has a PhD from Queen’s University, and has held postdoctoral fellowships at York and McMaster Universities. His doctoral thesis was awarded the John Bullen prize from the Canadian Historical Association for best dissertation of the year, 2009. He is the author of the multiple award-winning book Making the Scene: Yorkville and Hip Toronto in the 1960s.
Chrisann Hessing
Chrisann Hessing is a documentary filmmaker and impact producer based in Toronto. She has produced award-winning short films that have screened at Hot Docs, RIDM, Global Impact Film Festival and the London Asian Film Festival. Her work has been supported by the Ontario Arts Council, Inspirit Foundation, BravoFACT! Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent and Telefilm Canada. Chrisann’s latest film, Turning Tables, won Best Short Documentary at the 43rd American Indian Film Festival, and has screened in over 30 film festivals internationally. She is passionate about using visual storytelling as a tool to educate, raise awareness, and inspire positive change, and has collaborated with a number of community arts organizations including TIFF, JAYU, Reel Asian, and This is Worldtown, an online magazine featuring art and first person expression of women of colour storytellers. She previously worked as Festival Manager at Breakthroughs Film Festival, the only festival in Canada devoted exclusively to short films made by emerging women & non binary directors. Currently, Chrisann works as an Associate Impact Producer at Ring Five Impact Docs, a boutique impact producing and grassroots distribution company based in Toronto.
Aisha Jamal
Aisha Jamal is a director/writer, film programmer and college professor. She is Canadian film programmer at Hot Docs Documentary Festival and previously worked for TIFF and Syria Film Festival Toronto, amongst others.
Her feature documentary “A Kandahar Away” is on CBC Gem and her 7-part documentary web series “How We Die: the Future of End-of-Life” is now streaming online. Her previous short films have played at various international festivals worldwide.
Currently, Aisha teaches film theory and criticism at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. She joined POV magazine in 2020, bringing her knowledge and love of festival culture and all things documentary to the board.