Toronto filmmaker Roberto Ariganello, the long-serving exec director of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto, drowned in a swimming accident in a remote pond near Halifax on Aug. 13.

Ariganello, described as an avid swimmer, suffered a "medical trauma" that caused him to slip beneath the water and drown, according to police.

Ariganello had just brought a truckload of donated editing equipment from Toronto to the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative in Nova Scotia.

"With his boundless energy and spirit, Roberto encouraged numerous emerging and established artists to pick up a camera and get to work," LIFT said in a statement. "His refusal to accept traditional boundaries and rules inspired us all."