Film Categories: Portraits

  • nine + 20

    An extremely simple portrait of one of the most humble and deeply spirited people I’ve ever known. Trained in Ireland as a welder, Michael Dolan preferred dancing so he dropped the torch, put on a black suit and began performing internationally with LaLaLa Human Steps. He is now a member of the Volksopera in Vienna.

  • Snack Pack

    “Snack Pack” plays with the tensions between the director’s Mexican and Canadian identities.

  • december

    One woman’s journey into herself and an embrace of her life.

  • Sisters

    A personal reflection on sisterhood, “Sisters” is a passage of time filled with memories and reflections, giving sense to the bond that sisters have.

  • sIgh

    “sIgh” is a film about the memory of love, or so-called love, and the search for what is expected and what is to be. In essence it is a film about the fairytale myth; it is a search for the truth in relationships.

  • Dead Time

    Innovative and challenging, “Dead Time” is an investigation into the lives of four young people who grapple with drugs, crime, prostitution, family and ultimately hope for their future. Beautifully hand-processed and with an incredible soundtrack, “Dead Time” combines documentary, narrative and experimental elements into a fascinating whole. Selected Screenings: 2006 Rotterdam International Film Festival

  • In Bobcaygeon

    A moving portrait of one boy’s strength of character in the face of challenges associated with having microtia, a birth defect that causes severe hearing loss. “John Morgan, the 10-year-old subject of the short, artful documentary In Bobcaygeon, has microtia, a birth defect that caused him to be born with only one fully developed ear. There’s nothing wrong with John’s mouth, though – he talks a lot, about his microtia, about playing minor hockey and about the camel his family keeps in the backyard. The film’s vaguely avant-garde construction may pose a challenge for younger viewers, but there’s an unpretentious…

  • All the Teachers I Have Known

    Brian Stockton’s series of autobiographical short films continues with this two-minute diversion, which is subtitled “The Epic Story of My Life, Appendix A.” This segment is a tribute to all the teachers Brian has known from kindergarten to university, including cinema legend Jean Oser.

  • Walnut Grove, mon amour

    After the death of his mentally ill father, artist RM Vaughan attempts to come to terms with the event by reconstructing his father’s emotional responses to the maudlin 70’s television program “Little House on the Prairie.” A blackly humourous meditation on death and grief, punctuated by crying scenes from the famously teary, famously cheesy television classic.

  • Hate

    Using his own lumpy body as a template, artist RM Vaughan explores differing reactions by various audiences to the blunt reality of having a non-commodifiable body in the age of supermodels. Alternately scathing and self-deprecating, “Hate” dishes out (and takes) some unhappy truths about “beauty” and art.