Three finalists have been selected for the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival’s (VIWIFF) 2018 international screenplay competition.

Jill Taylor’s “I Need A Hero,” Sheri Davenport’s “Sins of the Father” and actor/writer/director Ellie Foumbi’s “Zenith” all will vie for the festival’s Ken Hayward Award for Best Screenplay, handed out during a ceremony on March 11. The contest is open to writers from Canada, the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan, France, Austria and the U.K.

Toronto-based Jill Taylor’s “I Need A Hero” follows a former space hero with a mysterious secret who is called to save the world again with his daughter. The WIFTV selection follows another recent kudo for Taylor, who picked up the award for best sitcom pilot at the 2017 Austin Film Festival for her script “The Big D.”

Meanwhile, Davenport’s “Sins of the Father” tells the story of a single mother who learns the man who raped her has the right to custody of the child she conceived from their encounter. Davenport was previously named a finalist for VIWIFF’s screenplay competition in 2015.

Finally, Cameroon-born actor/writer/director Foumbi’s feature-length screenplay “Zenith” was also selected. Her feature follows an adopted black Mennonite woman who leaves her rural white community to find her biological mother.

Vancouver writer Sophie Naima Caird also received a honourable mention for her first feature script “When He Gets to Her,” a neo-noir about a voyeur who runs a service where he kills people who want to die, who has to make a difficult choice.

The Vancouver-based film fest is organized by not-for-profit Women in Film and Television (WIFTV) to highlight international and local films with women in at least three of the creative roles.

VIWIFF takes place on March 6 to 11 at the VIFF Vancity Theatre.

Image: WIFTV