Our History and Vision
The Charlottetown Film Society is a non-profit Canadian Charity established in 2012 to support the film community in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
The Charlottetown Film Society is dedicated to celebrating film on Prince Edward Island. We have been the proud owners of City Cinema since 2019 and we love connecting audiences with great movies, supporting local filmmakers, and helping to build a vibrant film community in PEI.
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Our Board
Louise Lalonde is a writer/director/producer of both French and English screen-based content. She is a graduate of the Film and Television Production Program at Trebas Institute and prior to working in the film and television industry, she was an educator and professional chef—all skills that still serve her well. Her work to date includes several short films and documentary projects as well as production of several audio books by Atlantic Canadian writers. In 2006, she initiated and coordinated the popular annual series of workshops: the PEI Screenwriters’ Bootcamp in partnership with Telefilm Canada and FilmPEI until 2021. In 2017 she initiated The Writer’s Edge, an annual screenwriting retreat for women that ran until 2022. She is a founding member of the Charlottetown Film Society and board member, treasurer, and advocacy representative for the Doc Atlantic Chapter of the National Documentary Organization of Canada. Her latest production is a lifestyle series: Here Fishy, Fishy . . . about women who fish and cook their catch. She is presently in post with a French one-hour documentary, Le Frisson de la fripe on the popularity of youth thrifting and combatting the fast fashion threat. Projects in varying stages of development include two TV series, The Starfish Bay Social Club and That’s Life (an Ireland-Canada co-production) as well as three features.
Charlotte Engel is a producer and a former broadcaster with over 30 years of experience in film and television. She recently directed an episode of CBC’s “Land and Sea” about square dancing. While at CBC, she oversaw CBC’s cutting edge documentary strands Firsthand and CBC Docs POV. She specialized in bringing unique voices and unforgettable stories to CBC. Many of these documentaries won multiple awards (“Indictment: The Crimes of Shelley Chartier”, “Nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up” and “The Skin We’re In”).
As a producer of documentaries for Rock Yenta Productions, she brought docs to CBC, TVO and the Documentary Channel. She won a CSA for “My Millennial Life” and a Golden Sheaf award for “Mugshot”. Engel has sat on the boards of Hot Docs, DOC Ontario and imagineNATIVE. She is currently on the board of the Charlottetown Film Festival and is on the Yorkton Film Festival programming committee.
Kathy retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1993 having served as a Nursing Officer in a variety of geographical locations and positions with a specialty of Flight Nursing. She then served as a Pensions Advocate with the Royal Canadian Legion in Ottawa assisting veterans in obtaining disability pension benefits and in 1999 she relocated to Charlottetown as the Legion Appeals Officer.
Her volunteer experience includes event planning and fundraising for a variety of organizations. This includes 20 years with the Friends of Confederation Centre of the Arts Executive ; Chair of the Souris Show Hall; Cancer Relay for Life and currently with the Benevolent Irish Society of PEI as Rental coordinator 200 Year Anniversary Committee.
Kathy is pleased to join the Charlottetown Film Society as a lifelong film lover who wholeheartedly supports independent films and cinemas.
Carol Horne has been managing talented marketing teams over the past 20 years, spending a couple of decades in tourism marketing in PEI and nationally, and ending her paid career in 2018 as Chief Marketing Officer at Confederation Centre of the Arts. Now she works on a few marketing, communications and tourism projects and plays basement mini-hockey with her grandson. She has been on the boards of the Tourism Industry Association of PEI, Meetings & Conventions PEI, the Charlottetown Arts Advisory Board and the Island Nature Trust. She is returning to the Film Society Board after a three-year absence and is excited about the next phase for City Cinema and The Charlottetown Film Festival.
Kevin Yarr has retired from CBC, where he was the morning web journalist for many years, but not from journalism. Since his retirement he has written for Canadian Geographic, Saltscapes and Atlantic Business. Kevin has a long-standing love for independent cinema, going back to high school when was a regular at Wormwood Cinema in Halifax. He was thrilled to find City Cinema when he moved to Charlottetown, and is excited to contribute to its continued success as a member of the board.
A lifelong lover of film, Dawn is a writer/director with three short scripts produced including THE RESIDENT (2026), which she directed. She created the CBC Radio documentaries GIRLS WITH DISABILITIES and STEP DANCE CAMP, serving as writer and producer on both projects. Dawn currently has several feature film adaptations in active development.
Alongside her creative work, Dawn works in the field of Information Technology as a Business Analyst, bringing a practical, analytical approach to complex projects. She is committed to supporting independent film and inclusive cultural programming.
Membership
The Charlottetown Film Society is a member-supported organization. For a small annual fee, anyone can become a member of The Charlottetown Film Society, participate in our work, and enjoy benefits at City Cinema, our repertory cinema in Downtown Charlottetown.
Buy an annual membership for yourself or a fellow film lover today to support independent cinema on Prince Edward Island and enjoy member benefits at City Cinema today!
Our Bylaws
The purpose and objectives of the Society shall be to offer film and live performance in a community-operated setting, and in particular: to act as a vital contributor to Prince Edward Island’s film culture by offering regular presentations of significant and diverse cinematic works; and to provide opportunities in our community for the study, appreciation and celebration of film as culturally significant art form..
Donations
The Charlottetown Film Society is a non-profit organization, and Registered Canadian Charity. Our CRA registration number is 821363702RR0001.
Your donations help support the continued improvement and revitalization of City Cinema. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Charlottetown Film Society today!
Contact Us
You can connect with the Board of The Charlottetown Film Society any time about membership, donations, or opportunities to collaborate.
Please email us at chtownfilm@gmail.com if you want to connect!