Board Members
Dominic Venturo, President
Dom has been a CIFF Director since 1999, and President of its Board of Directors since 2000. He is a noted film lover and lists Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Godfather, The Third Man, The Long Good Friday, and Mediterraneo as five of his top 1000 films. Dom sits on a number of other charitable and cultural boards - most notably he is also the President of the Calgary Italian Sportsman’s Dinner Association. He is very proud of his involvement with CIFF and the strides the festival has made since its inception. Dom is thrilled to work with his fellow directors, CIFF staff, and especially the hundreds of volunteers who have made the Festival the success that it is.
James Pettigrew, Treasurer
One of the newest board members, James is a Partner in the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), and Calgary leader of PwC’s Entertainment and Media practice. A lifelong film enthusiast and supporter of the Calgary arts community, James is excited about working with the staff and board of CIFF as the festival grows.
Peter Wallis, Secretary
Peter is President and CEO of the Van Horne Institute, which is a leader in education and public policy research in the fields of transportation, logistics, supply chain, and regulated industries. He also serves on the Board of Tourism Calgary and the Fort McMurray Airport Authority.
Teresina Bontorin, VP Operations
Teresina Bontorin, LLB, is a long time Director on the CIFF board. Teresina brings exceptional organizational skills and knowledge of board process to her role as VP Operations – where she keeps the board and staff in line and on track! If Teresina were in the film industry she would make an excellent producer, and given her traditional Italian upbringing and love for gangster films, she would surely find a way to cast herself as the first female mob-boss to go down in movie history.
Murray Ord, Director
Murray’s career in film and television spans over 30 years in every aspect of the industry. From 1996 to 2001, Murray was the President of the Alberta Film Commission. During this term he raised the profile of the industry not only in Alberta, but throughout the world. He was responsible for bringing numerous film and television projects to Alberta. Murray’s production credits include films such as Unforgiven and Legends of the Fall. Recently, he co-produced Brokeback Mountain and the Emmy nominated television movie The Ron Clark Story. Murray is a partner in the successful Calgary-based production company Alberta Film Entertainment.
Alex MacWilliam, Director
By day (and often by night), Alex MacWilliam practices environmental law as a Partner with the firm of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. He joined the CIFF Board in March 2007 and is thrilled to be part of this great organization. A devoted film fan, he describes his cinematic epiphany as occurring at a midnight showing of Pink Flamingos at the Plaza in 1975. Raised in Calgary, he is old enough to remember the Capitol, Strand, Tivoli and Palace Theatres and the Sunset, Cinema Park, Corral and 17th Avenue drive-ins – but not old enough to have been allowed in to see the original release of The Exorcist. Alex also sits on the board of Alberta Theatre Projects and is a Past President of the Calgary Bar Association.
Gary Davies, Director
Gary oversees the operations of all RedPoint products and serves on the senior management team. He is also publisher of up! magazine, WestJet’s in-flight publication; and publisher of RedPoint’s various cultural and corporate magazines. In the past, Gary served as president of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association and of the Word on the Street Book and Magazine Fair. He is currently involved with the Communications Committee of the United Way (Calgary) and has recently returned to the board of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association.
Brent Buechler, Director
Brent Buechler is committed to establishing the Calgary International Film Festival’s reputation among Canada’s best and beyond. Brent has extensive arts management experience that includes marketing and publicity support for large-format (IMAX) film. He is currently the Manager, Partnerships and Sponsorship Development at Calgary Public Library where he can dip into the library’s extensive DVD collection which includes many past CIFF films and documentaries. He invites Calgarians to explore the many diverse, quality cultural experiences in their own backyard – CIFF being one of these ‘must do’ activities!
Joe Novak, Director
Joe is founder and owner of Bow River Productions, a television production company and a co-founder and partner of 1400 Months, a company that specializes in digital content and software platform creation. A graduate of Concordia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, Joe has Executive Produced award winning drama, documentary, and performance programming. He is a member of the Alberta Film and Television Advisory Council, Calgary Chamber of Commerce Business and Arts Advisory Committee; Vice President South of the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association; Chair of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Film and Television Advisory Council.
Andrea Cattaneo, Director
While reading up on economics, Andrea entered acting school at the National Theatre of Genoa, his hometown. His university thesis was on financing the movie industry; later he acquired Filmstory, one of the oldest Cineclubs in Italy. His cinematographic career involved working in a series of politically motivated movies, starting as assistant director on the feature movie UNA NOTTE ALLA FINE DI OTTOBRE. After leaving movies, he assisted the curator of the Visual Japanese Arts Exhibition held in Genoa in 1985 and later organized the First Worldwide Exhibition of North Korean Visual Arts. Andrea is currently writing and approaching publication stage of his first book, entitled VERACRUZ, THE TRUE CROSS, a book about the history, whereabouts and fate of the Holy Cross. Given that background, it may come as a surprise that Andrea has worked for years in international banking, currently, in the energy industry.
