A tongue-in-cheek meditation on the Canadian iconographic obsession with landscape. A (literally) washed-up drag queen on the shores of Newfoundland finds herself trapped in a vicious circle.
Filter Films
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A voyeuristic Venetian promotional film for the traveling male homosexual. Shots of hotties spied along Venice’s famed canals are accompanied by a piece of vintage Venetian opera.
Venice for Homosexuals
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An ambient track of evening sounds accompanies rephotographed sketches of the night sky by Jerry Spevak. “The Observatory” turns the heavens on its head: the blackness of space becomes the white of the page, the stars and galaxies precise points of black graphite. The pages of Spevak’s sketchbook are animated to capture the rotation of and movement through a vast, spectacular universe. Selected screenings: Toronto International Film Festival, 2004; Best of the LIFT $99 No Excuses Film Festival, Toronto, 2004
Observatory, The
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“The Finite” lays bare the ephemeral nature of family, home and life on earth through a combination of home movies and archival footage from a science documentary. The two forms of imagery entwine along a common and inescapable course toward destruction, revealing the gravity of personal loss. Selected screenings: Toronto International Film Festival, 2004; CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, 2006
Finite, The
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An Arab-American girl tries to come to terms with her sexuality while balancing the mores of two different cultures. As she faces a series of trials on confrontations, will she shed her passivity, or will her spirit be broken? Arabic/Hebrew with English sub-titles. Selected Screenings: 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah
Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf
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With few childhood memories of her mother’s affection, Mullen mines old home movies for evidence. When she doesn’t find exactly what she’s looking for, she sets out to create a new family movie of her own, starring her surprisingly willing mother. A reflection on memory, loss, reconciliation and love.
you wash my skin with sunshine
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“Gloriously Free” is one of the first documentaries to explore the world of gay immigration, and the desperate search of five young men to find welcoming arms outside their countries of birth – where persecution and hatred of alternative lifestyles may lead to torture or death. What they find is Canada, leading the world as the safest haven for persecuted gays and lesbians. “Gloriously Free” is a powerful profile of gay immigrants to Canada. Among them are Al-Hussein from Jordan; Julian, blackmailed and blacklisted in his homeland of Mexico and a resident of Canada for three years; Bruno, who immigrated from Brazil and now makes his living as a singer; David, a former U.S. Port Captain with a prominent Texas-based drilling company; and Frantz, a graphic artist from Jamaica. Excluded from the opportunity to live freely in their native countries, these resilient young men tell stories of blackmail, torture and violence.
Gloriously Free
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“In this quintessential ‘coming out’ film, a grinding rhythm leads us through a passage of closed doors, as a man struggles to break free from his literal and social confinement.” – Images Festival of Independent Film & Video catalogue, 1995
Closet Case
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“Profile” takes place during a short cab ride through New York City and the subconscious of the passenger. The short conversation between cabbie and passenger is at once mundane, evocative, and unnerving.
Profile
