Film Categories: media studies

  • Stop Darlington

    Through the use of found footage of a TV image, the practical and moral imperatives of the title are momentarily suspended in a problematic of representation. In affirming the density of the material objecthood at the basis of its “message,” the film foregrounds the question: “What are some of the difficulties encountered in the appropriation of media – particularly those of the mainstream – by and for the pedagogical interest of the Left?”

  • Brakhage

    Stan Brakhage is a legend, possibly the most important filmmaker of the avant-garde, and one of the greatest artists of our time. Since 1952, at the age of nineteen, Brakhage has created over 300 films, ranging from several seconds to several hours, constantly and consistently redefining the shape of film art. “Brakhage” explores the depth and breadth of the filmmaker’s genius, the exquisite splendour of his films, his magical personal charm, his aesthetic fellow travellers, and the influence his work has had on generations of other creators. ‘“Excellent! A reverent, hagiographic, even mystical portrait of the canonical avant-gardist.” – Ed…

  • Where Lies the Homo?

    “Where Lies the Homo?” is a film diary that explores the construction of gay identities through an analysis of media clips and coming-out tales. The narrative’s focus is on demystifying stereotypical representations of queerness in film while offering a pesonal view of growing up queer in a heterosexist culture. From Disney to underground gay cinema, from Hollywood divas to grainy home movies, this experimental collage juxtaposes and reinterprets many of our iconographic images of sexuality and family.

  • Book of Lies

    An Air Canada commercial is broken into single frames and then reconstructed to show the movement of the body and the movement of the exotic coming together in a spectacular free fall.

  • Collage d’Hollywood

    “Assembled from a shoebox of movie trailers found at a dilapidated Saskatchewan drive-in… ‘Collage d’Hollywood’ unravels and reorganizes the tight grammar of Hollywood cinema into a multi-formed pastiche that fuses film and visual art sensibilities.” – Brett Kashmere “A mesmerizing film that demands to be watched again and again.” – Matthew Hays, Montreal Mirror “…histrionic horror and action movie trailers distilled into pure panic.” – Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly Selected screenings: Festival du nouveau cinéma, nouveaux médias, Montreal, QC, 2003; Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporaneo de la Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, 2004; Nemo Festival, Paris, France, 2004; Images Festival,…

  • removed

    Using a piece of 1970’s porn film, nail polish and bleach, the filmmaker has created a new pornography, one in which the woman exists only as a hole – an empty, animated space.

  • Does this mean we’re going together?

    Part two of the artist’s trilogy exploring the depiction of sexuality in teen films of the 1980s, in which a scene from “Valley Girl” is re-worked.

  • To the Happy Few

    “A mind-expanding image jam that uses decades’ worth of found footage. The visuals of croaking frogs, 1950s’ housewives, fake suns and much more are structured around a mystical mandala and perfectly set to a Bollywood beat.” – Images Festival, 2004 “A punchy, satirical ride that mixes food, sex and violence in perverse Kuleshevian suggestions, all with great comedic timing. A great example of film giving birth to itself in hybrid, mutated forms.” – Genevieve Yue, What the Eye Sees, 2003 Awards: Hessian Film Prize for Best Short Film, 2003; Honourable Mention, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 2004

  • Late

    Radio evangelist Sister Agnes Phillips dispenses wisdom and hope to lost souls against a late-night urban landscape of seedy hotels and dial-a-saviour billboards. Awards: Detroit Film Center Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 2004

  • Behind the Music: Destiny’s Neighbour

    A behind-the-scenes look into the smash sensation “Destiny’s Neighbour” – the dancing, the dreams and the donuts. “There just aren’t any sexy fat boys in girl drag on T.V.” – Behynde “Destiny’s Child is just a slimmed down version of us. They ripped off our moves, they ripped off our songs.” – Mass-Assey “We had to kick her out because she was eating all the donuts.” – K-Kremey