Tonight's opening night screening will be Community Stories: Youth Media Arts Program, a collection of short films by local filmmakers. The short films include My Brothers Keeper (Ally Rheaume), Love and Defiance (Jeffrey W. Pike), The Queen (Christina Chloe), Stories from the Inner City – Assumptions (Sheena D. Robertson, Peter Wanyenya), Stories from the Inner City – Responsibility (Sheena D. Robertson, Piregashni Chandrakumar), Is That Me (Elijah Hasan), Relativity (Elijah Grenier, Angeline Blattenbauer, and Ellen Vickrey), I Want It (Murray Toews), In Bubble Trouble (Iain Kew Lee) and Girls' Talk (Mayye Zayed). Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance.
The closing night screening will be the feature film Bang Bang by Byron Q. The director and the cast members will be in attendance.
The festival states the following:
Regent Park is an area in transition, largely populated by new immigrants and Aboriginal Peoples. Created in 2003, Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF) is Toronto's ONLY free-of-charge community film festival dedicated to showcasing local and international independent works relevant to residents of the largest and oldest public housing in Canada. The films we present reflect key themes such as, immigration, inner city issues, cultural identity and multicultural relationships. RPFF’s principle activity is to organize an annual festival along with year-round school and community screenings, panel discussions, performances and professional training at no cost. The festival aims to reach isolated communities throughout Regent Park and beyond and provide a forum for them to engage in critical dialogue on social issues and to enjoy films from all over the world.All events take place at Lord Dufferin Public School, 350 Parliament St. The festival continues until Saturday, November 5.
http://www.regentparkfilmfestival.com/
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2011 REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL, FILM SYNOPSIS AND BIOS
Wednesday November 2, 2011 @ 7pm – 9:30pm
Community Stories: Youth Media Arts Program
Community Stories: Youth Media Arts Program is a program intended to broadcast diverse opinions and perspectives of youths. This year's selections showcased a variety of different genres including animation, fiction, to documentaries with real-life stories. The "Stories from the Inner City" showcases the works of two Regent Park youths in a personal lens. With great relevance to Regent Park films such as "My Brother's Keeper", and "Love and Defiance" they display hardships in a tasteful manner. In "The Queen" and "Relativity", the exploration of sexuality is presented in comical and engaging forms with the hopes of creating discussions among youths. "I Want It", "Is That Me", "In Bubble Trouble", and "Girls' Talk" close out the program with insights to social issues, self-awareness, and laughter. With such a variety of different films Community Stories: Youth Media Arts Program is definitely a must see!
My Brothers Keeper
Dir: Ally Rheaume
Documentary | 9:24 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Jermaine Hamilton, 21, is a rising star in the Toronto music scene, as part of the popular nation-wide band Nights and Weekends. Growing up in New Orleans, Jermaine became accustomed to a dangerous lifestyle, as he was a young, black thug trying to survive in a tough neighbourhood. After moving to Toronto, he was faced with the temptation of living a similar lifestyle. But with the burden of being the eldest brother of two, Jermaine was placed with the responsibility of being his brothers' keeper. This documentary tells his story of success and struggle, both of which have made him who he is today.
Bio: Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Ally Rheaume has worked in the film and television industry from a very young age. Starting her career as an actress under ACTRA Toronto, she then channeled her passion into a career in production in her teenage years. Today, Ally is an enthusiastic filmmaker with an investigative personality. Her latest documentary, My Brother's Keeper, was the perfect opportunity for Ally to write, direct and co-produce a subject matter that was personal to her. Ally has also produced 8 minute short drama Self-Portrait, a production in association with Humber College shot on super 16mm film.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Love and Defiance
Dir: Jeffrey W. Pike
Drama | 17:00 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Love and Defiance chronicles the stories of Fredo and Chantelle, two people who live on the same street in a rough neighborhood. Fredo is a teenager with his mom and abusive stepfather. Chantelle is in a relationship with her abusive boyfriend Niko, a gun-toting thug who won't take no for an answer.
Bio: Jeffrey W. Pike was born and raised on the multicultural community of Brampton, Ontario. He has a strong passion for film and has been making short films since the age of 12. Pike is a graduate of Humber College's Film Program.
Filmmaker in Attendance
The Queen
Dir: Christina Chloe
Drama | 7:23 min | USA | 2009
Synopsis: Bobby, a Korean-American teenage outcast, is working at his parents' dry cleaning business on prom weekend. When the prom queen and her boyfriend stop by with their dress and tuxedo, Bobby creates his own night to remember.
Bio: Christina Choe is a writer and director. She began her career as a documentary filmmaker and has screened her short documentary films,Turmeric Border Marks and United Nations of Hip Hop at numerous film festivals worldwide. Her first narrative short, The Queen, was selected as "Best of Fest" at Palm Springs International Short Fest, Telluride Film Festival, Aspen ShortsFest, Seattle International Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated for the Iris Prize (UK Film Council).
Stories from the Inner City – Assumptions
Dir: Sheena D. Robertson | Writer: Peter Wanyenya
Documentary | 3:53 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Assumptions - A digital story using recorded voice and photography, recounts the negative impact of police assumptions on one young black man from Regent Park.
Bio: Sheena D. Robertson is a director and photographer, and a former teacher who has created with youth in Regent Park for over 15 years. She is in demand as a facilitator, and revels in working in diverse settings – with inner city youth, teachers, and artists. She is particularly interested in providing creative opportunities which access the soul and story of the participants involved - using collaborative techniques to empower the participants, enabling them to access their voice. Much of her artistic work centers on addressing issues of social justice via projects created through her company www.Whimsical Productions.com
Filmmaker in Attendance
Stories from the Inner City – Responsibility
Dir: Sheena D. Robertson | Writer: Piregashni Chandrakumar
Documentary | 4:42 min | 2011
Synopsis: Responsibility – 'Becoming the parent' at age 11 can be a complicated experience. This digital storytelling project eloquently explores the experience of one young woman from Regent Park.
Bio: Sheena D. Robertson is a director and photographer, and a former teacher who has created with youth in Regent Park for over 15 years. She is in demand as a facilitator, and revels in working in diverse settings – with inner city youth, teachers, and artists. She is particularly interested in providing creative opportunities which access the soul and story of the participants involved - using collaborative techniques to empower the participants, enabling them to access their voice. Much of her artistic work centers on addressing issues of social justice via projects created through her company www.Whimsical Productions.com
Filmmaker in Attendance
Is That Me
Dir: Elijah Hasan
Still Motion | 5:28 min | USA | 2009
Synopsis: Kenneth Turan, LA Times & National Public Radio film critic describedIs That Me as "An effortless blend of experiment and social consciousness."
Bio: Elijah Hasan is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, composer and producer. For the past 20 years he's produced an array of documentaries including One Woman's Journey, and A Muslim Catholic Meal. For 15 years he produced the T.V. Show Real Sessions.
Relativity
Dir: Elijah Grenier, Angeline Blattenbauer, and Ellen Vickrey
Documentary | 4:45 min | USA | 2011
Synopsis: A documentary exploring gender and gender norms.
Bio: Reel Grrls is a non-profit after-school program teaching film-making and media literacy to teenage girls.
I Want It
Dir: Murray Toews
Animation | 4:00 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: I Want It is a hyper-minimal image-toon that strips away the consumerist facade. It is a summative short story of human activity on earth in the 21st century and its inevitable end.
Bio: Murray Toews is a multidisciplinary artist; his creative work spans the media of drawing, video, computer-animation, audio and the production of Blender TV, a public television series showcasing Manitoba video artists. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts first class Honours degree from the University of Manitoba in 1992 with a thesis in advanced Drawing. Recently, he has focused his energies on animation, audio-art music and the development of digital interactive environments.
In Bubble Trouble
Dir: Iain Kew Lee
Animation | 2:30 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Ian discovers a clever way to escape detention by means of a sticky route.
Bio: Iain Lew Kee is a budding artist who has recently graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Animation from Sheridan College. Her internship was at Smiley Guy Studios, a Flash-based Animation Studio located in the heart of Toronto. Iain is also the film's illustrator.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Girls' Talk
Dir: Mayye Zayed
Fiction | 4:10 min | Egypt | 2010
Synopsis: When two teenage girls who are complete strangers communicate on the door of a bathroom stall in their high school, they discover that friendship can find its way in the weirdest places.
Bio: Mayye Zayed is an independent filmmaker and a video artist from Alexandria, Egypt. She studied Communications & Electronics Engineering and graduated from Alexandria University in 2008. She then attended many filmmaking workshops for fiction, documentary and animated films. In 2009/10 She attended the one-year independent filmmaking workshop held at Jesuits Cultural Centre in Alexandria. She was part of the crew of Hawi, a feature length film for the Egyptian filmmaker Ibrahim El Batout in 2010. She had a one-month artist residency by ZINC in Marseille, France in 2010. She works now as a freelance videographer and editor.
Thursday November 3, 2011 –@ 6pm – 9pm
Questioning Canada
Two narratives – from two different points in time – peer into Canada's history-making policies and their effect on immigrant families determined to establish familial roots and contribute to the building of the country. One documentary,Beyond the Garden's Wall, presents yesterday's xenophobia in Tod Inlet, B.C., directed at migrant workers from China and India. The other, My Father the Terrorist? is one filmmaker's intimate exploration into Canada's treatment of its Muslim citizens, bolstered by a meandering war on terror.
Panel Discussion to Follow After the Screening – Filming the history that Canada's fear built
Beyond the Gardens' Wall
Dir: David R. Gray, Grayhound Productions
Documentary | 30:00 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Beyond the Gardens' Wall is a compelling story of the Chinese and Sikh immigrants who arrived in Canada to work at the now-vanished community near Victoria, British Columbia, in the early 1900s. Funded by the Community Historical Recognition Program of the Canadian Department of Citizenship and Immigration, the film vividly demonstrates the harsh impact of Canada's restrictive "Head Tax" and "Continuous Journey" laws and other restrictive immigration regulations. Through a narrator, archival film, voices of the workers from the past, and new interviews with descendants of these workers, the full story is uncovered.
Bio: David R. Gray is an independent researcher, writer, and filmmaker, specializing in arctic ecology and history. He has written three books and created several museum and virtual museum exhibitions. David has completed three documentaries and is working on four new films on Arctic exploration and early immigration from India to Canada.
My Father the Terrorist?
Dir: Safiya Randera
Documentary | 41:10 min| Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Filmmaker Safiya Randera worries about the safety of her Muslim father in Canada's continually shifting legal system, where anybody can become a suspect. A highly personal and experimental documentary about civil liberties in the Land of the Free.
Bio: Safiya Randera is an award-winning filmmaker and editor who has enjoyed international acclaim for her short films Jangri, Health Status Survey, and My Girl2012. She is a first generation South Asian-Canadian whose work reflects a sensitive fascination with the interplay between sexuality, culture and religion. In 2007(and again in 2008), she was a bursary recipient of the Quebecor Documentary Fellowship and was awarded "best pitch" at Hot Docs Rendezvous. Over the past ten years she has been active in the Canadian arts community and has juried for the Reel World, Real Heart and Inside Out Film Festivals.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Friday November 4, 2011 @ 6pm – 7:30pm
Hankering For A High
Music. The sound, the beat, the words—they seduce us. Once pulled into its fold's some of us may retreat into a private world, while others may be compelled to bust out moves charged with new creativity. These three films share how youth experience music while engaging us with unique stories of life values and life styles that just might inspire your own hankering for a high.
Pop/Lock
Dir: Kathleen Smith
Documentary | 17:26 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Young Toronto dancers kick popping and locking street dance styles in Toronto. With glorious cinematic dance scenes and insightful and honest interviews with some of the city's best dance advocates, Pop/Lock offers a glimpse of the commitment behind the hype, and the passion behind the flash.
Bio: Kathleen Smith is the co-founder of the Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film and Video. Since 2006, Smith has been with Hellhound Productions where she collaborated with Alison Murray on CARNEY, an award-winning documentary about carnival workers. In 2007, Smith directed her own first documentary, the 20-minute short Arts in the hood for the City of Toronto. In 2008, Smith won a Trinity Square Video themes commission for a short experimental film inspired by Werner Herzog called boil fire/stop fish.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Yabai
Dir: Matthew Johnson
Documentary | 11:00 min | Canada | 2009
Synopsis: From jazzy scratch turntablism and ear-deafening electro breakdowns to contemporary fashion and articulate androids, Yabai features four of the most influential Asian-North American artists in the scene today, including Canadian marsupial turntablist Kid Koala and more.
Bio: Matthew Johnson is a half Chinese, Canadian filmmaker and DJ from Vancouver. In 2009 he graduated from the Emily Carr University film program.
Wapawekka
Dir: Danis Goulet
Fictional Drama | 16:10 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Josh, a hip hop artist, would rather be anywhere than with his dad on a final trip to their isolated cabin on their family's traditional Cree territory in northern Saskatchewan. As the inter-generational gap between them becomes more apparent, so does the pull of a much greater force.
Bio: Danis Goulet (Métis) was born in La Ronge, in northern Saskatchewan. Her first short film spin screened at numerous festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Cinematheque in Copenhagen. Her second short film, Divided by Zero premiered at the Message Sticks film festival at the Sydney Opera House and was also selected for the Smithsonian's Native American Film + Video Festival in New York and the Calgary International Film Festival. Danis currently resides in Toronto.
Friday November 4, 2011 @ 8-9:30pm
Featured Program
Ghetto Millionnaires
Dir: Gilles Remiche
Documentary | 54:00 min | Belgium | 2010
Synopsis: The Sapeur is a "Congolese Jet Setter". He may never go unnoticed, always showing off his general elegance and designer labels. The Sapeurs love to proclaim their superior elegance in televised jousts eagerly watched by Kinshasa youth. They embody success and access to the riches of the West. But how do you come across as wealthy when in fact you're living in poverty? Ghetto Millionaires throws us into a world of make-believe, where the dreams of a notoriety built up in Europe through artifice and sacrifice, come into conflict with the so-often disappointing and difficult return to Kinshasa.
Bio: Gilles Remiche was born in 1979 and graduated from the Video Arts program at the University of East London. He first worked as assistant director before turning to directing in 2006 with his first film Marchands de Miracles("Miracle Merchants").
Saturday November 5, 2011 @ 12-2:30pm
Featured Program
Working To Help My Mom
Dir: Leuten Rojas
Documentary | 46:00 min | Canada | 2005
Synopsis: Like it or not, child labour is an indisputable reality in today's world. This documentary looks at the boys, girls, and adolescents who have no other option but to work for their survival in Santiago, Chile-a modern metropolis and showpiece of the free market.
Bio: Leuten Rojas was born in Santiago, Chile on March 17th, 1948. In Chile, he began his filmmaker career as documentary producer for Chile Films, the state-owned film company (1969-1973). Soon after the coup d'état, Leuten Rojas was arrested, like many other artists.
Urban Roots
Documentary | 93 min | USA | 2010
Synopsis: URBAN ROOTS is the next documentary from Tree Media. Produced by Leila Conners (The 11th Hour) and Mathew Schmid and directed by Mark MacInnis, the film follows the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit. Urban Roots is a timely, moving and inspiring film that speaks to a nation grappling with collapsed industrial towns and the need to forge a sustainable and prosperous future.
Saturday November 5, 2011 @ 3-4:30pm
To Fly and Fade Away (Afternoon Short Shorts Program)
An Aboriginal man arrives at self-actualization. A French-Canadian girl tries to soar away from an abusive father. An indigenous family disintegrates in stop motion animation. Old northern folklore flickers under the dimming firelight. A bluebird paints a tribute to the whitewashing of a murdered native woman. And the new young voices of Regent Park blaze brightly with anticipation as the Regent Park of old vanishes into memory. The films in this program use various forms of animation, experimental and live action with animation.
Growing Up Regent
Dir: Cecile Brenton
Digital Story-Telling | 3:48 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: This is a film for all ages. It is a personal film about growing up in the 60s in Regent Park - a public housing area in Toronto, Ontario, that is now being torn down and redeveloped. This film captures a time and place that will be no more.
Bio: This is Cecile Brenton's first film. She and her family moved into South Regent Park in May, 1958. They were one of the first families to move into this new development. Cecile Brenton lived in Regent (South & North) for over 20 years.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Choke
Dir: Michelle Latimer & Terril Calder
Animation | 5:31 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: First Nations graffiti artist Jimmy Linklater decides to leave his northern home for the city, but quickly realizes that urban life isn't what he'd imagined. He meets a homeless man who sells art on the sidewalk, an encounter that reminds him of the stark fate that befalls many First Nations people living in urban centres. Jimmy attempts to hang onto the only thing he knows and, literally, paints himself another existence. Inspired by the late, contemporary, First Nations artist Kyle Morrisseau, Choke uses stop-motion animation to explores urban isolation and the individual search for identity within modern society.
Biographies:
Director's Bio, Michelle Latimer: Michelle Latimer (Métis) is a producer, director, actor, activist, and festival programmer. Most recently, she produced the award-winning documentary Jackpot (Global/CanWest). She is currently developing a dramatic television series that she co-created with HBO Canada/The Movie Network, as well as a feature documentary that she will be producing and co-directing (in development with Canwest Media), and producing/co-directing a limited series based on John Ralston Saul's bestselling novel A Fair Country (White Pine Pictures).
Animator's Bio, Terril Calder: Terril Calder (Métis) is currently tackling the challenge of making experimental stop-motion animated narrative shorts that express her rural experiences and encompass a performance art feel. She became a member of Winnipeg's Video Pool and was accepted for their "First Video Fund". In Toronto, she joined the Shake Well performance art collective and the 7a*11d International Performance Art festival. She has lectured and taught art for the National Ballet School of Canada, the Art in the Park program and the University of Manitoba. After receiving training in computer animation she decided to explore the fusion of various disciplines.
Warchild
Dir: Caroline Monnet
Fiction | 2:00 min | Canada | 2008
Synopsis: On a solitary portage between the barren wilderness and a desolate city, a young man reflects on his troubled past and hopeful future. Honest, thoughtful and personal narration illuminates a survivor's state of mind that seeks serenity, while a background drumbeat accelerates the pace of this starkly resilient, black and white cinematic portrait. (Alex Rogalski, TIFF)
Bio:Caroline Monnet (Algonquin/French), born in Ottawa, is a self-taught award winning filmmaker and artist. She completed a B.A in Communication and Sociology at the University of Ottawa and in Granada, Spain. She uses video, photography, and installation to explore the dualities of her social, political, and spiritual identity, developing a critical framework influenced by history, community, and unconventional memory.
Me, Masi, and Mr. Clean
Dir: Nina Sudra & Patrick McLaughlin
Fiction | 8:00 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Seema has issues with her skin colour. Surrounded by the white kids of her Canadian community, and inundated by her masi's (aunt's) opinion that fair skin is better, Seema resorts to drastic measures in order to bleach her skin. When Seema ends up in the hospital, she comes to realize that skin isn't what defines the person - it's what is beneath the skin that counts. Me, Masi & Mr. Clean is a short, bittersweet comedy about accepting the things you cannot change, and focusing on the things that can make a difference.
Bio: Nina Sudra grew up on an Indian island in the homogenized suburbs of South Calgary. Although at home she had a traditional Indian upbringing, she was not immune to the influences of the Canadian cultural landscape, some of which led her to the world of film. She is an award-winning filmmaker and her directing career focuses on creating films that dwell on societal issues using satire and humour. Nina's films have screened internationally in several renowned film festivals around the world and have won numerous awards in countries including the United States, India, and Canada.
Spirit of the Bluebird
Dir: Xtine Cook & Jesse Gouchey
Stop Motion/ Digital Storytelling | 5:45 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Using spray paint on a fence and garage where Aboriginal mother and grandmother Gloria Black Plume was brutally murdered in 1999, Cree artist Jesse Gouchey paints a large scale animation of a bluebird in flight. The beauty and freedom of the bluebird's motion is contrasted with remembrances of Gloria's surviving family members, who give an emotional glimpse of a woman lost to violence and the injustice of the legal system.
Bio: Jesse Gouchey is a Calgary-based mural artist. He has directed the short films The Art on War and Spirit of the Bluebird. Xstine Cook is a filmmaker and visual artist living in Calgary. She has directed the short films Dead Boyfriends, Tar Sand Pudding, Suckathumb, and Spirit of the Bluebird.
Sainte-Cecile: Lou
Dir: Alexandre Dostie
Fiction | 4:10 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: The streets of Sainte-Cecile are the playground of Lou. In these places, after leaving school, the baby-faced teenager turns into something else. Running at full speed through the alleys, she follows strange birds to an uncertain migration. And then one day, at the other end of the lane, a gap in the fence. A door to the vacant lot. A new adventure and nothing that can stop her.
Bio: Alexandre Dostie is a short film director from Quebec, Canada. Self-taught, he managed to unite his passions for words and images in many creative projects, ranging from TV programs to documentaries. In 2010, he won a creation fund provided by TV5 for his first short film, the project Sainte-Cecile, a series of experimental shorts that mix poetry, photos, animation, and video.
The Dimming
Dir: Ippiksaut Friesen
Animation | 5:23 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: An Inuit woman tries to find the identity of her lover in the dimming festival, resulting in the creation of the sun and the moon.
Bio: Ippiksaut Friesen has spent her life mediating between Manitoba and Nunavut. In Nunavut she has worked with the Department of Education in illustrating children's books in the Inuktitut language.
Filmmaker in Attendance
Regent Park Film Festival Workshop Films
Two wonderful films came out of the Regent Park Film Festival workshop this past year. Held in partnership with Yonge Street Mission, located at the Christian Community Centre on Gerrard Street East, 10 Regent Park youths completed the workshop and tonight you will see their films!
Filmmakers in Attendance
Saturday November 5, 2011 5-6:30pm
Migration Stories
Migration is often accompanied by the hope of prosperity and the promise of new and better opportunities. Why else do people uproot themselves and their families to leave the village for the city, or one country for another? The films in this program address the promises and perils of migration in three distinct contexts: rapidly urbanizing India, Senegal en route to Spain, and a small apartment in urban Canada. The documentary film DILLI profiles a few of the 250,000 people who migrate each year to Delhi, India in hope of a better life. For some, Delhi is the "city of dreams" because "even the poorest of the poor can survive there." For others, displaced by the building of a new stadium for the Commonwealth Games, it is not. In Atlantiques, a short fictional film from Senegal, we witness the stories of migrants who have braved the sea in small boats called "pirogues" in order to sail to what they feel is a better life in Spain. Diaspora, a short fictional film without dialogue, tells the increasingly common story of a middle class immigrant's failure to find work in his field.
Diaspora
Dir: Aadhi Vive
Drama | 6:30 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Hard work, a good education and a big dream sound like the ingredients for success in starting a better life in a new country. But are they? Diaspora is a visual piece that gleans over the lifespan of an immigrant family, witnessing their struggles, joys and departures over the passing years. Nasser Younis Khan has a degree from a top English school and a blossoming career. Filled with optimism for a better future, he moves his family to Canada, only to realize that starting a life in a foreign country demands more than a good degree and a big dream.
Bio: Aadhi Vive was born in Ceylon and began writing and making films when he moved to Toronto, at the age of 12. In 2006 he co-created Just Another Wave, a TV5 distributed documentary on the devastating 2004 tsunami. In 2009, he graduated from Vancouver Film School's Visual Arts and Design studies. He has been working as an Editor and Motion Designer in both Toronto and Vancouver. Some of his work can presently be seen on Unscripted, a biography show on Vision TV and on his website, www.aadhivive.com. He is currently producing his first feature film Merchants and Beggars.
Filmmakers in Attendance (to be confirmed)
Atlantiques
Dir: Mati Diop
Fiction | 15:00 min | France, Senegal | 2009
Synopsis: Sitting by the campfire, Serigne, a young man from Dakar, tells his two friends the story of his sea voyage as a stowaway. "Melancholic and mysterious, the film urgently and elegantly addresses the perils of illegal migration" (Andréa Picard, TIFF Wavelengths).
Bio: Mati Diop was born in Paris and is an actor and filmmaker. She joined the Pavillon artistic laboratory of the Palais de Tokyo in 2006 and the National Studio of Contemporary Arts Fresnoy in 2007. Her short films include Last Night and 1000 suns.
DILLI
Dir: Sushmit Gosh & Rintu Thomas
Documentary | 25:00 min | India | 2011
Synopsis: DILLI is a moving collection of heartfelt interviews with Delhi slum dwellers, bringing to life the untold story of mass exodus of thousands who were bulldozed from their homes and transferred to a makeshift facade in Bawana without water, shelter or drainage, while the city was being beautified for Commonwealth Games 2010. DILLI holds up a mirror not only to India, but to every nation around the world, whose poor live forgotten under bridges, children go hungry, and fathers work thousands of miles from their families to provide.
Bio: Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh are award-winning filmmakers based in New Delhi, India. They run an independent media company, Black Ticket Films, under which they have produced and directed documentaries, ad-films, multimedia projects and corporate films.
Closing Night Gala
Bang Bang
Dir: Byron Q
Fiction | 101:00 min | USA | 2011
Synopsis: Justin is a troubled teen looking for a way out of the gang life. His best friend Charlie is a rich Taiwanese kid who lives in the nice part of town. Justin runs away from home after a fight with his Mom and takes refuge at Charlie's house while Charlie's parents are away on a prolonged business trip. The murder of a fellow gang member avalanches into a full-blown war with a rival gang. Caught in the midst of teenage angst, gang life, and alienation, the two friends find themselves heading down two different paths of life.
Bio: Byron Q is a filmmaker residing in Los Angeles, CA. He studied under renowned French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin while attending school at UCSD. Bang Bang is his debut feature film, financed by family, friends, and a lot of credit cards.
Filmmaker and Cast in Attendance
School Program Films
Wednesday November 2, 2011 @ 9:30-11am
& Thursday November 3, 2011 1:30-3pm
Grades 1-3 Program
Wednesday November 2, 2011 @ 1:30-3pm
& Thursday November 3, 2011 9:30-11am
Grades 4-6 Program
Grades 1-3 & 4-6 Program
DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROJECT – "CANADIAN NIGHTS"
As part of Luminato's 2011 Education & Community Outreach Program, Luminato partnered with Digital Storytelling Toronto, storyteller Dan Yashinsky and the TDSB Model Schools for Inner Cities program to explore the art of storytelling. During this intensive 15-week project students in grades 4-5 from Lord Dufferin PS in Regent Park and Queen Victoria PS in Parkdale crafted and told their own stories, reflecting neighbourhood and community, through the digital storytelling medium. These collective digital stories will be screened at the Regent Park Film Festival school programming and were originally screened as part of the Luminato Reel film series at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The Luminato Education & Community Outreach Programs are supported by: The Ontario Trillium Foundation and KIA
Student filmmakers will be available for a post-screening Q & A PLUS live storytelling pre- and post-screenings with renowned storyteller Dan Yashinsky.
Selected students in the audience will also be invited to share THEIR stories
Friday November 4, 2011 @ 9:30-11am & 1:30-3pm
Grades 7-8 Program
This year's program deals with identity - films like Olivia's Puzzle and Me, Masi, and Mr. Clean delve into cultural identity, whereas issues of self-identity are explored in Tashina. All the films in this program will leave you thinking "What if?"
Paper World
Dir: Blair Fukumura
Animation | 5:55 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Set to Debussey's Claire de Lune, a child's art project comes to life. A little boy made of bits of paper, with sequins for eyes, falls from the refrigerator door onto the kitchen floor. As the paper boy begins his wordless journey through the kitchen, he begins to fall apart, and winds up in the deepest recesses of the junk drawer. There, he encounters a little Japanese paper doll who has been buried under a tsunami of forgotten and outdated technology. In helping her escape, he is rewarded with a gift to help him return home.
Bio: Originally from Winnipeg Manitoba, Blair Fukumura studied theatre design at the University of Winnipeg, and opera at the University of Manitoba before moving to Toronto in 1995. After a decade as a pastry chef, constructing whimsical and sardonic creations (such as his Saddam Hussein and George Bush gingerbread men), Blair made the leap into media by writing, pitching, and successfully producing a pilot episode for his own cooking show on Food Network Canada with Westwind Pictures.
Tashina
Dir: Caroline Monnet
Fiction | 4:40 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: A young Aboriginal girl's hopes and dreams are re-negotiated within the walls and tunnels of the institution of education.
Bio: Caroline Monnet (Algonquin/French), born in Ottawa, is a self-taught award-winning filmmaker and artist. She completed a B.A in Communication and Sociology at the University of Ottawa and in Granada, Spain. She uses video, photography, and installation to explore the dualities of her social, political, and spiritual identity, developing a critical framework influenced by history, community, and unconventional memory.
Two Scoops
Dir: Jackie Traverse
Animation | 2:00 min | Canada | 2008
Synopsis: Hand-drawn animation punctuates this personal story about the 60's "scoop" of Aboriginal children into the Canadian child-welfare system.
Bio: Jackie Traverse, an Anishinabe from Lake St. Martin, First Nations, is a recent graduate from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba. Working in all mediums including sculpture, mixed media, and video she expresses her ideas and opinions while striving to inspire dialogue on addressing her people's social issues. Her happiest moments are when she is painting.
Olivia's Puzzle
Dir: Jason DaSilva
Short Documentary | 12:00 min | Canada | 2001
Synopsis: Olivia's Puzzle explores a day-in-the-life of Reshma and Olivia, two seven-year old girls. Reshma was born in and raised in Goa, India. Olivia was born and raised in British Columbia. Although both are of Goanese heritage, they lead distinctly separate lives.
Bio: Jason DaSilva's first collaborative feature film was Cuba Dreams, shot in Havana in 1999 and screened at the Latin America Film Festival in Cuba later that year. His next film, Olivia's Puzzle, screened at more than 30 festivals including Sundance.
In Bubble Trouble
Dir: Iain Kew Lee
Animation | 2:30 min | Canada | 2011
Synopsis: Ian discovers a clever way to escape detention by means of a sticky route.
Bio: Iain Lew Kee is a budding artist who has recently graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Animation from Sheridan College. Her internship was at Smiley Guy Studios, a Flash-based Animation Studio located in the heart of Toronto. Iain is also the film's illustrator.
Me, Masi, and Mr. Clean
Dir: Nina Sudra & Patrick McLaughlin
Fiction | 8:00 min | Canada | 2010
Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Seema has issues with her skin colour. Surrounded by the white kids of her Canadian community, and inundated by her masi's (aunt's) opinion that fair skin is better, Seema resorts to drastic measures in order to bleach her skin. When Seema ends up in the hospital, she comes to realize that skin isn't what defines the person - it's what is beneath the skin that counts. Me, Masi & Mr. Clean is a short, bittersweet comedy about accepting the things you cannot change, and focusing on the things that can make a difference.
Bio: Nina Sudra grew up on an Indian island in the homogenized suburbs of South Calgary. Although at home she had a traditional Indian upbringing, she was not immune to the influences of the Canadian cultural landscape, some of which led her to the world of film. She is an award-winning filmmaker and her directing career focuses on creating films that dwell on societal issues using satire and humour. Nina's films have screened internationally in several renowned film festivals around the world and have won numerous awards in countries including the United States, India, and Canada.
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