Joslyn Rose nominated for ‘The Listeners’ film at Montreal festival
The Listeners earned selection for the Montreal Independent Film Festival October 2026 edition along with a Best Director nomination for Joslyn Rose. The placement supplies a Canadian milestone for the award-winning filmmaker while she widens her film and television slate through new representation and sustained international festival visibility. The recognition arrives inside a filmmaker spotlight focused on Canadian festival programming.
Storytelling for Rose centers on the humanity beneath surface events, the perspectives that question established norms, and cinema's capacity to bring forward accounts that could remain overlooked.
The Best Director nomination at Montreal for The Listeners coincides with representation secured during the summer, multiple film and television projects now in development, and another feature planned for release this fall. These elements together mark an active new stage in her professional trajectory.
Stand marked Rose's first feature-length studio directorial effort. Released via Showtime and Paramount+, the documentary presents the career of NBA prodigy and activist Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Appearances by Steph Curry, Mahershala Ali, and Ice Cube frame the exploration of his on-court achievements, personal principles, and the repercussions of holding to those principles. The project received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Feature Length Documentary.
Rose's body of work includes scripted features, documentaries, and digital series placed with Showtime, Paramount+, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Starz, and Lionsgate. Festival screenings encompass Sundance, Essence, and Urbanworld. She also reached finalist status for the Academy Gold Women's Fellowship administered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Listeners features Blair Underwood, Vernon Davis, Bechir Sylvain, Simone Leanora, and Cindy Herron in its cast. Original music contributions come from No I.D. and Jon Batiste. After a summer festival circuit that produced multiple awards, including Best Director at the LA Independent Filmmaker Showcase, the short secured its Montreal slot. Earlier narrative honors include Best Short at the American Film Awards, Best Female Director from Top Shorts, and Best Director at the LA Independent Women Film Awards.
Independent cinema supplies Rose an essential arena for testing unconventional narratives, accepting artistic risks, and delivering stories at a level of intimacy that larger-scale productions frequently cannot sustain.
Rose's approach places value on stories that disclose something substantive about human experience. She states: “I’ve always believed in following the light. It’s what leads me to the stories that matter.” The remark captures her conviction that strong narratives can surface from unforeseen locations and that the filmmaker's task is to identify and present them.
Across both documentary and narrative formats Rose examines themes of identity, resilience, cultural influence, and the intricacies of human connection, applying an outlook shaped by empathy and discovery.
Recent credits extend into sports and music storytelling. Off-Season, directed by Rose and streaming on Tubi, includes NFL figures George Kittle and Vernon Davis. For Uninterrupted and SpringHill she directed and executive produced Same Energy, which features Marshawn Lynch and 2 Chainz. She additionally produced the documentary Tale of the Tape, centered on J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
Rose has delivered guest lectures at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and Stanford University Institute for Diversity in the Arts. She has judged entries for the Emmy Awards and the Webby Awards, taken part in the Academy Gold Rising program, and holds membership in the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
The Montreal nomination, paired with new representation and an expanding development slate, illustrates the continued progress of a filmmaker whose projects connect independent cinema, studio documentaries, music, sports, and culturally focused narratives.
