Butterflies in the stomach, boxing and babes on the brain.
Filter Films
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A funky examination of cultural appropriation, sweatshop labour and what you can do about it.
Burning Down the Dream
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A documentary about Palestinian refugees, Israelis, and dreams of homes beyond borders. This film deals with the seemingly intractable problem of Palestinian refugees.
On the Borders of Gardens (Part 1)
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Roman, a troubled painter, has difficulty producing new work for himself and his wife Luba, a gallery owner. He has unresolved issues from the past. When he was a boy he witnessed the suicide of his mother, which haunts him to this day. Not being able to forget and go on, Roman creates a wall between himself, his wife, and the rest of the world. A few turns of events will help Roman realize that he has to face life and what it offers.
Full Frontal
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Contrafacta is a collage animation made by Toronto filmmakers Roberto Ariganello and Chris Gehman. Using images from medieval artworks, and quotations from the writings of medieval mystics and poets, Contrafacta creates a web of related images and events without a simple connective narrative. “This painstakingly crafted medievalist tale… conjure[s] a dreamland of floating royals and waltzing unicorns. Birth, death, plague and the farming of souls all rub shoulders in this episodic surrealist fable. In a dance of grace and punishment where miracles are commonplace, we follow the descent of a royal egg which hatches the changing shape of the world.” – Mike Hoolboom, Images Festival, 2000 “Every work here is characterized by a rare modesty (of means and/or of ego), but it would be wrong to equate this with a lack of ambition. To wit: Contrafacta. The horror of an incomprehensible world ruled by an unfathomable God is expressed through sublime cutout animation; medieval art moves to a creepy and funny soundtrack, inadvertently inventing a new genre: spiritual slapstick.” – Daniel Cockburn, “Cinema Naivete,” 2006
Contrafacta
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“Chong brings queer chops into new sightlines with this elegant mini-essay on desire… A series of peek-a-boo mattes admit moments glimpsed in passing. Scars of seeing. The throbbing, hand-processed emulsion begins with clouds then descends through traffic to arrive at the aching towards some new moment of release.” – Mike Hoolboom, Images Festival of Independent Film & Video, Toronto, 2000
Music Might Have Deceived Us
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Two films on one tape. In September 1998, Kerr released “never confuse movement with action,” a post-modern biography of Patrick Hemingway (a grandson of Ernest Hemingway). July 1999 was the centenary of Ernest Hemingway. There would be the publication of yet another posthumous novel. The Hemingway family hired a merchandising agent – Ernest Hemingway was now a brand name. The trust fund was secured for future generations.1999 was Ernest Hemingway’s year. But when Patrick Hemingway saw “never confuse movement with action,” he was less than pleased. Worried about his father’s reaction, a lawyer was hired and injunction threatened against the work. In negotiations with the Hemingway lawyer, director Richard Kerr agreed to produce an alternative version, with no promises to cut the objectionable material. Out of the experience of “never confuse movement with action,” comes “human tragedy on a grand scale.” About working with the Hemingways, Kerr says: “because of a deteriorating relationship with Patrick, which went from a breakdown of communication to threats of a lawsuit, the central dilemma of the project became Hemingwayesque themes of fact vs. fiction/self-fictionalization, and biography vs. autobiography. The more you know about your subject, the harder it is to make definitive statements, let alone judgements, and it became questionable whether moral judgements have any place at all in biography.” “human tragedy on a grand scale” is a response to “never confuse movement with action” and the struggle of dealing with the Hemingway family. What results is a piece very different from its predecessor – a visual poem, episodic in nature, made up of travel diaries compiled while working with Patrick. The issue now is the reconciliation and cathartic transformation from a Hemingway biography to a re-consideration of autobiography. The biographer takes us on a journey away from Patrick Hemingway – the cool, controlled persona – to East Vancouver, documenting lives stripped bare of pretension. The scope is broadened. Patrick Hemingway and all things Hemingway become insignificant.
human tragedy on a grand scale/never confuse movement with action
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What’s sexier than a dyke caressing the edge of her glass? A bevy of local ladies lining up to take theirs off!
I Make Passes at Girls Who Wear Glasses
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“Seduce Her with Dessert” Guest Chef Lex Vaughn talks with Host Nina Levitt about how to pick up ladies with her specialty “Poached Pears on Puff Pastry.” What starts out as a suave preparation begins to deteriorate as Lex gets more excited — with hilarious results!
Baking with Butch, Episode 1
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“In a media age dominated by rapid-fire imagery and pounding sound tracks, it is rejuvenating to encounter a film that invites the viewer to find rapture and meaning in the details of a single quiet frame. Veteran experimental filmmaker James Benning extends such an invitation as he turns his meditative gaze toward California’s Great Central Valley in his exceptionally beautiful film, ‘El Valley Centro.’ Employing natural sound and contemplative proscenium shots, Benning skillfully composes a series of pure and majestic images that at once evoke a sense of nostalgic splendor as well as deliver a subtle, yet penetrating, political commentary. “…Benning tells the story of how water irrigates this valley and how the produce is carted away in boxcars for the nation’s consumption. He shows the lifestyle of a modest and growing rural community, whose concerns are often drowned out by the powerful railroads, oil companies and insurance conglomerates which own the farms and ranches and benefit from undocumented immigrant labor while insisting on imprisoning an American population of color. Skillful positioning of the camera creates a sweeping sense of place that often engulfs the viewer inside the valley’s massive geography. Benning achieves a simpwle, powerful poetry of movements, stasis, and intonation that often crystallizes the enormity of the landscape into one single action or sound. ‘El Valley Centro’ is the work of a master filmmaker at the top of his craft.” – Shari Frilot, Sundance Film Festival, 2000
El Valley Centro
