In an age dominated by the moving image, what would it feel like to never see an image of the place that you came from? The Palestinian Film Archive contained over 100 films showing the daily life and struggle of the Palestinian people. It was lost in the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982. Here interviewees describe from memory key moments from the history of Palestinian cinema. These scenes are drawn and animated. Where film survives, the artist’s impressions are corroborated. This is a film about reconstruction and the idea that cinema is an expression of cultural identity – that cinema fuels memory.
Filter Films
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A nightmarish animated short about a young couple who come to the aid of a troubled bear and unknowingly release its innermost demons.
Hang in There
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A young woman experiences heavy nostalgic trauma, as she purges herself from the materiality of her past. “FAIR TRADE” is a story of one woman’s quest for a psychedelic transformation.
Fair Trade
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A young boy endures a tragic, yet much needed, event when a small misunderstanding occurs between himself and a hungry little bird. No Dialogue
Small Misunderstanding, A
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A stop-motion animated tribute to Jeff Krulik and John Heyn’s 1986 video documentary classic, “HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT”. Remaining faithful to no-budget filmmaking, Supnet reconstructs her favorite scenes using cut-out characters made of aged paper, glue and ink.
Animated Heavy Metal Parking Lot, The
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Kaja Johnson was one of the few female beat poets who managed to become known to the general public. In this film, Johnson’s poem Song of the Suicide’s Daughter (1964) is articulated and reanimated using stills and animation. “I met Kay by accident in Athens and we talked a lot over coffee-we tried to start a little poetry magazine. She came back to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. I think she became a kind of street guru. This animation is based on a poem in her book. Very loose style: photos Xeroxed and hand-coloured, bits of coloured cels and a few drawings.” – Rick Raxlen Screenings: Art Gallery of Victoria, Antimatter Underground Film Festival (Victoria, BC)
Song of the Suicide’s Daughter
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This provocative meditation reflects the inner mind of a woman looking back on the incidents of trauma and isolation from her childhood. A stream-of -consciousness narration and fluid imagery allude to sexual abuse, and to emotional withdrawal as a way of coping with the absence of support and understanding.
Do Not Feed This Child
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The forest and river awaken to a new day; the hum of the highway is constant. This is a boom town. An oil town. But what of it? An environmental scourge, or an economic miracle? … Just look. And listen. Selected Screenings: Hot Docs 2010 (Toronto, ON); Inside Out LGBT Festival, 2010 (Toronto, ON); Out on Screen, 2010 (Vancouver, BC)
Basin
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Two million tonnes of waste inhabit the landfill known as Smokey Mountain in Manila, Philippines. A squatter community of more than 30,000 people live in the slums around the landfill, and make their living by picking through the decomposing mountain of trash, looking for rare valuables. This is the setting for director Mateo Guez’s raw, ethereal first feature film. “Off World” follows a young Toronto man, Lucky, as he returns to Smokey Mountain for the first time since his adoption by Canadian parents when he was just a year old. Aided by NGO worker, Julia, Lucky tracks down his surviving brother, who lives and works as a transsexual hustler. Confronted for the first time with the realities of Smokey Mountain, Lucky struggles to reconcile his desire to reclaim his past with the truth about where he came from. Wrought with rich photography and lyrical narration, “Off World” is a stunning and complex portrait of the rare beauty that exists in even the most squalid corners of the world. As Lucky uncovers the truth about his family, this powerful feature unveils the majesty and strength of the human spirit. – Inside Out LGBT Film and Video Festival (Toronto) World Premiere at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival, 2009 Best Canadian Film Award Reel World Film Festival, 2010
Off World
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Clint Eastwood whistles with Kyle. “The most engaging work in the program, creating such a heightened sense of awareness and connection to the screen…” – Marilyn Brakhage (Edges Fest, Victoria) Screenings: Antimatter Film Festival (Victoria, BC, 2009), Toronto Animated Image Society Showcase, 2009
Frottage/Dommage/Fromage 2 Vous
