Behind a white picket fence, on an unremarkable suburban street, we discover Eli Timoner, who founded Air Florida, the fastest growing airline in the world in the 1970's. During his final days, we discover his extraordinary life filled with incredible success and devastating setbacks, and most importantly, an innate goodness which won him the enduring love and support of his family. Through stunning verité footage recorded by his middle child, LAST FLIGHT HOME takes audiences on a heart-wrenching ride through Timoner’s life, illustrating a modern day success story built on the power of human connection.
Johanna Schneller is one of North America’s leading freelance journalists specializing in entertainment features.
Her third book, The Last Doctor: Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying, co-written with Dr Jean Marmoreo, was a finalist for the $60,000 2022 Writers’ Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
Schneller took the American Film Institute’s script analysis course in Los Angeles, and the inaugural television writing course at the Canadian Film Centre. She and her husband, the writer and broadcaster Ian Brown, live in Toronto.
Ondi Timoner is an internationally-acclaimed filmmaker, who was Shortlisted for the Academy Award for her 2022 film, LAST FLIGHT HOME, and who is the only person to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice: for DIG! (2004), a film about the collision of art and commerce through the love/hate relationship between the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols, and for WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, a film about a social experiment which proves the loss of intimacy and privacy with the advent of the Internet (2009). Both films were acquired by New York’s MoMA for its permanent collection.
Since then, Ondi has created award-winning films and series such as JOIN US, about mind control; COOL IT about solutions to climate change; BRAND: A Second Coming, about the transformation of comedian disruptor Russell Brand; the 10-hour series JUNGLETOWN, about “the world’s most sustainable modern town in remote Panama; COMING CLEAN, about solutions to the opioid crisis; and the dramatic feature MAPPLETHORPE starring Matt Smith, which she also wrote, produced, and edited.
Her most personal film, LAST FLIGHT HOME, about her father Eli Timoner’s extraordinary life and intentional death, premiered at Sundance & Telluride in 2022, winning Best Documentary at Woodstock and Dallas Int’l FF, the Critics Award at Key West FF, before making the Oscar Shortlist and receiving a nomination from the Writers Guild of America for Best Documentary Screenplay. Ondi was also awarded the prestigious Visionary Award for Documentary Excellence at DOC NYC in 2022 and the Impact Award at Hamptons DocFest that same year.
Her newest film THE NEW AMERICANS: Gaming a Revolution takes audiences into the intersection of finance, media, and extremism, uncovering the connection between the January 6th Insurrection and the Gamestop Squeeze to explore the explosive ramifications of our digital future. It premiered at SXSW in 2023, garnering rave reviews. Ondi is an active member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, The Television Academy, the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, the International Documentary Association, Film Independent, Women in Film, and Film Fatales.
Born in NYC, Dr. Nuala Patricia Kenny entered the Sisters of Charity of Halifax. Five years later, she received her B.A, and her M.D.from two Halifax universities. She specialized in paediatrics in Halifax and Boston,
In 1993 she completed a Fellowship in Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown Universit.
Among her many positions in medicine, Doctor Kenny was the Director of Medical Education at U of T and at the Hospital for Sick Children. In 1995 she became the founding Chair of the Department of Bioethics of Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine. In 1999, Dr. Kenny was seconded as Deputy Minister of Health for the Province of Nova Scotia.
Past President of both the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Bioethics Society, she was Chair of the Values Committee of the 1997 Prime Minister of Canada’s National Forum on Health; is past President of both the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Bioethics Society.
Among many awards, she has received seven Honorary Doctorates for her work in child health, medical education and health policy.
In 2009 she turned formally to faith-based ethics and served till 2014 as the Ethics and Health Policy Advisor.
Author of over one hundred and eighty papers and five books, Dr. Kenny is nationally recognized as an educator and physician ethicist.
Her book, The Art of Dying and the Paschal Mystery: A Compassionate Vision of End of Life Care (2017 Novalis) received the 2018 Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada first place award in the category of pastoral ministry.
Ella Gladstone Martin has a passion for healing and uplifting communities of all ages through music. She has a Masters in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College and received her Bachelor of Music in jazz voice at the University of Toronto. Ella serves as cantorial intern at Temple Shaaray Tefila on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. She also co-leads services regularly with Rabbi Elyse Goldstein at Toronto’s City Shul. Ella studied Clinical Pastoral Education at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City. In July, Cantor Gladstone Martin is joining the clergy team at Community Synagogue on Long Island.
(Imam) Abu Noman Tarek has been serving as an Imam, Teacher, Chaplain, Educator and Consultant in Canada for over 15 years.
He holds three Bachelor Degrees and two Master’s degrees in Islamic Theology and Spiritual Care & Psychotherapy.
Currently, Imam Tarek is secretary of Canadian Council of Imams (CCI), serves Syeda Khadija Centre (SKC) as an Imam, works as the lead counselor at Centre for Emotional Health & Healing (CEHH), teaches at Wilfrid Laurier University and serves as as a chaplain at different correctional institutions and hospitals.
Under his leadership, 90 refugee families from 7 different ethnic backgrounds have come to Canada and settled in 16 cities since 2016. Imam Tarek is a proud recipient of YMCA Peace Medal 2022 & the Grand Erie District School Board - Learn, Lead & Inspire Award 2023.
