Irene Lilienheim Angelico
Director, producer, writer, editor
Irene Angelico is the winner of numerous international awards for directing and producing, as well as a Gemini for best writing in a documentary. Her work was included in The Fifty Greatest Documentaries of all Times at the International Salute to the Documentary and selected for retrospectives in London and France.
In 1980, Angelico and her partner Abbey Neidik produced and directed Dark Lullabies about the effects of the Holocaust on the next generation of Germans and Jews. This highly regarded film has garnered many prestigious international prizes and continues to be shown in special screenings including the inaugural film at the Stratford Festival Forum, the Berlin Arsenal 70th anniversary of the Holocaust, the Inconvenient Films: International Human Rights Festival and Liberation 75 in Toronto in 2021. Angelico went on to direct and write award-winning series including Black Coffee, about the history and social impact of coffee; Inside the Great Magazines, about the first international media; and The Cola Conquest, about Coca-Cola as a metaphor for America and winner, among others, of the Best Documentary Series by an Independent at Hot Docs, the Silver Hugo in Chicago, a Gold Apple in San Francisco and a Gemini Award for Best Writing in a Documentary or Series.
Angelico produced and wrote many other highly successful films including The Love Prophet and the Children of God; She Got Game (Guirlande d’Honneur – Milan, Best Documentary – Temecula Valley, Chris Statuette – Columbus); Vendetta Song (Best Documentary, CIDA Prize, Best Documentary – Quebec Film Critics Association, Best Documentary – Calgary, Best Documentary – Female Eye; Unbreakable Minds, a poignant film that aims to humanize mental illness; Shekinah: the Intimate Lives of Hasidic Women, #1 in the box office for six weeks.
Angelico (with Neidik) is currently in development on Hallelujah, about the mystical roots of Leonard Cohen’s genius; in post-production with Reaching for Zion, a film about prejudice told through music and featuring Bob Marley’s granddaughter Donisha Prendergast, and releasing Shekinah Rising, the second in a sequel about young Hasidic women and First to Stand, a documentary featuring the work of Irwin Cotler and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Abbey Jack Neidik
Director, producer, writer, editor, cinematographer
Abbey Neidik has directed and produced over seventy films, including two Academy Award nominees.
In 1980, Neidik and his partner Irene Angelico formed DLI Productions. Together they produced and directed Dark Lullabies, which has been shown around the world and has garnered critical acclaim and numerous prestigious awards. The film was included in The Fifty Greatest Documentaries of all Times at the international Salute to the Documentary and was selected to represent the best of the NFB at retrospectives in London and France.
Next Neidik produced and directed The Love Prophet and the Children of God, an inside look at one of today’s most controversial religious cults, which was awarded a Gold Plaque in Chicago; Between The Solitudes / Entre Solitudes, which was nominated for two Gemeaux; The Journey Home: A Romanian Adoption, a tender and emotional film about Romanian orphans a decade after the fall of Ceausescu; She Got Game: Coming of Age on the WTA Tour, a unique, behind-the-scenes look at women’s tennis that received four international awards; Unbreakable Minds, a poignant film that aims to de-stigmatize and humanize mental illness; Canadaville, USA, about billionaire Frank Stronach’s bold social experiment in rural Louisiana; Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace; Big Wind, about the effects of industrial wind turbines; and Shekinah Rising, a follow-up to Shekinah: the Intimate Lives of Hasidic Women.
Neidik also produced Song for Tibet (Gemini); Vendetta Song, which examines honour killings within rural Kurdish tribe in Turkey; Inside the Great Magazines, a three-part special about the inner workings of the magazine industry; and The Cola Conquest, a three-part documentary special that garnered Best Documentary Series by an Independent at Hot Docs, a Silver Hugo in Chicago, and a Gold Apple in San Francisco.
Neidik (with Angelico) is currently in development on Hallelujah, about the mystical roots of Leonard Cohen’s genius; in production on Search for God, a quirky film about the finding meaning in a word filled with suffering; and releasing First to Stand, a documentary featuring the work of Irwin Cotler and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Toben Neidik
Sound and additional camera
Toben Neidik is a soundman, artist, jeweler, and rap singer. His work is on permanent display at the Montreal’s Children’s Hospital and has been exhibited in the Grand Chalet on Mont Royal. He has done camera on several music videos and sound and additional camera on documentaries including Search for God, Reaching for Zion and Unbreakable Minds; and sound on Elmyr and Shekinah Rising.
He most recently did sound and additional camera on First to Stand, a documentary featuring the work of Irwin Cotler and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Howard Goldberg
Editor
Howard Goldberg has worked on over 40 feature length documentaries, including I Am Not a Rock Star (Canadian Screen Awards, Best Editing in a Documentary Program or Series); How William Shatner Changed the World (Gemini Awards, Best Editing in a Documentary Program or Series); The Cola Conquest (Gemini Award, Best Writing in a Documentary Series) and Undying Love (Best History Documentary).
“Moulding story through music, rhythm, colour, emotion, and time — how can anyone not love editing?”
Martin Nault
Editor
With over seven years’ experience as an editor and more than fifteen years in the domain of postproduction, Martin Nault has an impressive list of feature films in 35mm and IMAX, documentaires including Reaching for Zion; Shekinah Rising; Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace; Search for God and Big Wind; as well as television series, fiction films and animation including Only in Montreal, Les Cracks du Lab, Madlabs, and Dogs with Jobs.
Philippe Dionne
Original music
A recent master’s graduate from Berklee College of Music, Philippe Dionne scores his first full length documentary in First to Stand. He is however no stranger to music production and composition, having produced music for prominent Montreal artists Minoe and Maky Lavender, as well as scoring countless web series with Further’s “FaceValue” and providing music for the Quebec TV-Show “Qui Sait Chanter”. He is the founder and owner of the sample label Duson Audio, designing, creating, and releasing his sounds on sample packs sold everywhere online.