Madeleine Sims-Fewer

Sims-Fewer was born in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada. Her family moved to Bath, England when she was two years old. Sims-Fewer studied filmmaking at York University in Toronto.{{cite web |url=https://fashionmagazine.com/culture/canadian-actors-tiff-2020-rising-stars/ |title=TIFF 2020: These Are the Up-and-Coming Canadian Actors to Know |work=Fashion Magazine |date=September 25, 2020 |first=Pahull |last=Bains |access-date=January 5, 2021}} She returned to England to study acting at the Drama Centre London.{{cite web |url=https://womenandhollywood.com/tiff-2020-women-directors-meet-madeleine-sims-fewer-violation/ |title=TIFF 2020: Women Directors: Meet Madeleine Sims-Fewer - "Violation" |work=Women and Hollywood |date=September 9, 2020 |first=Laura |last=Berger |access-date=April 8, 2021}}

After several shorts, Sims-Fewer made her feature film debut in Operation Avalanche in 2016.

In 2015, Sims-Fewer met Dusty Mancinelli at the 2015 TIFF Talent Lab. Since 2017, the pair has co-directed several short films in their DM Films joint venture. Their films have been shown at Sundance, TIFF, BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival, among others. Their first collaboration, Slap Happy, about a tempestuous relationship, was an official selection at the BFI London Film Festival, Vancouver and Slamdance. Reviewer Ben Robins named it one of the best short films at the BFI Festival, describing it as "like a little less touched-up Blue Valentine, with a much more twisted sense of humour."{{cite web |work=FlickeringMyth |url=https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/10/the-best-short-films-from-the-61st-bfi-london-film-festival/ |title=The Best Short Films from the 61st BFI London Film Festival |first=Ben |last=Robins |date=October 21, 2017 |accessdate=August 7, 2020}} Their second collaboration was Woman in Stall, a "claustrophobic thriller" about an encounter in a public restroom between a man and a woman trapped in a cubicle.{{cite web |url=https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2020/05/01/woman-in-stall/ |title=Woman in Stall |website=shortoftheweek.com |first=Serafima |last=Serapova |date=May 1, 2020}} It won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance festival.{{cite web |url=http://moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff41/eng/director/?id=1872 |title=DUSTY MANCINELLI |website=moscowfilmfestival.ru/ |publisher=Moscow International Film Festival |accessdate=August 7, 2020}} Chubby, their third collaboration, was shown at the 2019 Telluride festival. A study of a 10-year-old's experience with sexual abuse, it was described as "harrowing" and would "stay with you long after its credits roll".{{cite web |publisher=Film Threat |url=https://filmthreat.com/reviews/chubby/ |title=Chubby |first=Alex |last=Saveliev |date=January 30, 2020}}

{{main |Violation (film)}}

A teaser of their debut feature Violation was shown at the Cannes Marché du Film Online in June 2020.{{cite web |url=https://rdvcanada.ca/en/festivals/cannes-2020/programming/ |publisher=RDV Canada |title=Canadian Presence at Cannes 2020}} Violation, which is described as "decidedly dark, potentially dangerous and probably deranged" and "flips the revenge genre on its head", was selected for the "Fantastic 7" genre festival initiative to highlight genre films at seven international film festivals.{{cite news |work=Variety |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/global/fantastic-7-film-festivals-endorse-potential-upcoming-genre-standouts-1234672179/ |title=Fantastic 7 Film Festivals Endorse Potential Upcoming Genre Standouts at Cannes Session |first=Martin |last=Dale|date=June 25, 2020}} Violation premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival in the "Midnight Madness" program.{{cite web |url=https://tiff.net/events/violation |title=Violation |website=tiff.net |publisher=Toronto International Film Festival |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}{{cite web |work=bloodydisgusting.com |title=TIFF's Midnight Madness is Still Going to Get Crazy! |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/indie/3625666/tiffs-midnight-madness-still-going-get-crazy/ |date=July 30, 2020 |accessdate=August 11, 2020 |first=Brad |last=Miska }} Critic Mike Crisolago has named it one of 30 films he is already "excited to see."{{cite web |title=30 Films We're Already Excited to See |first=Mike |last=Crisolago |url=https://www.everythingzoomer.com/arts-entertainment/2020/07/30/tiff-2020-30-films-were-already-excited-about/ |date=July 30, 2020}} Now Toronto critic Norman Wilner called it "a major levelling up of their signature combination of rage and intensity".{{cite web |url=https://nowtoronto.com/movies/tiff-2020/review-violation |title=TIFF review: Violation shows us the horrible cost of revenge |first=Norman |last=Wilner |date=September 14, 2020 |work=Now Toronto |accessdate=September 15, 2020}} The Guardian called it "a brutal and brilliant debut."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/mar/27/violation-review-a-brutal-and-brilliant-debut#:~:text=The%20revenge%20movie%20is,%2C%20it%27s%20effective%2C%20but%20basic.|title='Violation' review |first=Wendy |last=Ide |date=March 27, 2021 |work=Guardian}} According to Variety reviewer Tomris Laffley, "Despite some heavy-handed choices, Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli pack a profound gut-punch with their debut feature."{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/violation-review-1234768256/ |title='Violation' Review: Disturbing Rape-Revenge Thriller Subverts Genre Trappings |first=Tomris |last=Laffley |date=September 13, 2020 |work=Variety |accessdate=September 15, 2020}} Violation was a NY Times Critic's Pick, with critic Lena Wilson writing, 'Sims-Fewer is the standout, a quadruple threat whose fearlessness renders a protagonist devolving from a doe-eyed wisecrack to a woman on the verge. She is at her best opposite Maguire, their sisterly dynamic constantly wavering between devotion and competition.' {{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/movies/violation-review.html |title='Violation" Review |first=Lena |last=Wilson |date=March 25, 2021 |work=New York Times}}

Sims-Fewer won two Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actress and Best Film. She also received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for Best Actress and the John Dunning Best First Feature Award.Brent Furdyk, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210330161247/https://etcanada.com/news/762082/canadian-screen-awards-announces-2021-film-nominations/ "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations"]. ET Canada, March 30, 2021.

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{{cite web |url=https://www.independenttalent.com/directors/madeleine-sims-fewer-and-dusty-mancinelli/ |title=Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli |publisher=Independent Talent |accessdate=August 7, 2020}}

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• {{IMDb name|3025035}}
• [http://www.dmfilms.com dmfilms.com official website]

{{VFCC Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film}}

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Category:Canadian film actresses

Category:Canadian women film directors

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Film directors from Ontario

Category:Actresses from Ontario

Category:People from Kawartha Lakes

Category:Living people

Category:Actresses from Bath, Somerset