Jane Schoettle

Jane Schoettle was born in Edmonton and studied theatre and literature at colleges in Vancouver, New York City and upstate New York. The first twenty years of her career were spent as a director, actress and writer for theatre, film and television, including a stint at Toronto’s Second City, and she spent several years as a film columnist for The Globe and Mail’s Broadcast Week magazine. She founded, and for ten years was Director of, the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children. Jane is also the founding Director of the John VanDuzer International Children’s Film Collection and she co-programs the series Reel Talk. This is her sixth year as an International Programmer for TIFF, where her areas of responsibility include American independent, Australian, New Zealand and Israeli cinema. She has served on numerous international juries, and her travels on behalf of TIFF this year took her to Sundance in Utah, SXSW in Texas, and festivals in Australia, New Zealand and Cannes. She lives in Toronto.