Award includes $250,000 in in-kind sponsorship for her feature project, JUDAS TREE

(December 2025) – Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is proud to announce that Toronto-based filmmaker Susan Bayani, Anahita Films, is receiving the 2025 WIDC Feature Film Award, which includes an impressive $250,000 of in-kind production and post-production services. This award is being presented to Susan on Thursday Dec 4.

Bayani’s feature-length screenplay, JUDAS TREE, is a political psychological drama. The film follows an Iranian-Canadian woman whose quiet life is upended when she must decide whether to testify against her former interrogator, confronting the haunting consequences of exile, justice, and silence.

“To me, this award is not just support for a film, it’s a stand for women who refuse to be silenced,” says Susan Bayani. “Judas Tree was born out of silence and struggle, and this award is a reminder that stories born from pain can bloom into strength when given a voice. My heartfelt thanks to Carol Whiteman, WIDC, and all the partners for helping this story find its voice.”

“We’re delighted to share that Susan Bayani will be this year’s WIDC Feature Film Award recipient,” says Dr. Carol Whiteman, WIDC Co-Creator and Feature Film Award Executive Producer. “Susan attended WIDC Story & Leadership last year, and we’re thrilled that her growth through the program helped shape a submission that rose to the top of the adjudication. Her script, JUDAS TREE, is a timely story of an immigrant woman’s courage and resilience.”

The film is being produced by Understory Films’ Sepehr Samimi (Fairy Creek) and Musubi Arts’ Nach Dudsdeemaytha (Akashi) and is slated for production in and around Vancouver, BC, February 2026.

About Susan Bayani

Susan Bayani is an Iranian Canadian writer, director, producer, and lecturer based in Toronto. She holds an MFA in Film Production from York University and a Diploma in Film and TV Directing from the Luchino Visconti School in Milan. Her work explores political issues, social justice, and rights of minorities, through a deeply personal lens. An alumna of WIDC Story & Leadership, the IFA Directing Workshop with Asghar Farhadi, and the Whistler Screenwriting Lab, Bayani’s films have screened internationally. JUDAS TREE has received support from Telefilm Canada, the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC, WIDC, and the Whistler Film Festival.

About Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC)

Founded in 1996/97, WIDC is an internationally respected Canadian initiative that advances the skills, careers and fiction screen projects of mid-career women and non-binary directors through mentorship, creative development. and production support. Over 375 director alumni living across Canada and around the world earn hundreds of awards and nominations for their work annually. Their work reaches millions of audiences world-wide. Co-created by representatives of ACTRA, GEMS Vancouver (formerly Women In Film and Television Vancouver), and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity which was its home venue for eighteen years, WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada,  and with the participation of Creative BC, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, UBCP/ACTRA, Independent Production Fund, and ACTRA National.

WIDC community collaborators include the National Film Board, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Reelworld Institute Film Festival and Screen Institute, GEMFest, Female Eye Film Festival, DGC, DGC, BC, Crazy 8’s, TIFF, VIFF, the Whistler Film Festival, and GAT PR.

WIDC Feature Film Award is supported by MELS Studios, Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, JAM POST Inc., Rocket Science VFX, Distillery VFX, Sunbelt Film & TV Rentals, Elemental Post, Company3 Vancouver, AA VFX, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., Front Row Insurance Brokers Inc., Descriptive Video Works, Line 21 Media Services, Power of Babel, EP Canada, Portable Electric, Champ & Pepper.

WIDC acknowledges that its programs originate from the traditional and unceded lands of the Coast Salish peoples.