Film Categories: Sound Art + Music

  • In Heaven There Is No Beer?

    A joyous romp through the dance, food, music, friendship, and even religion of the Polka. The explosive energy and high spirits of the polka subculture are rendered with warmth and dedication to scholarship in this journey through Polish-American celebrations. Polka stars like Jimmy Sturr, Eddie Blazonzyck, and Walt Solek are featured.

  • Innocents Abroad

    A warmly amusing look at a bus-full of American tourists on a whirlwind tour of Europe. The eclectic soundtrack includes Mozart, Bob Dylan, Sandy Denny, Jonathan Richman, and others.

  • J’ai Ete Au Bal

    The definitive film on the history of the toe-tapping, foot-stomping music of French Southwest Louisiana. Includes many Cajun and Zydeco greats, featuring Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Marc and Ann Savoy, D.L. Menard, and many others. DVD includes 30 minutes of bonus footage plus special features.

  • Jazz Film

    One day at the corner of Spadina Avenue and College Street, two musicians (Isaac Applebaum and Lorne Fromer) begin to play the sax and the clarinet in front of the Crest Grill. It’s cool early winter and people are off to work. A teller was killed the day before at the nearby corner bank; a memoriam to her is a series of reactions from the crowd in the jumpy erratic style of an edgy killer/bank robber. A poetic exorcism of violence on the streets.

  • Jimmy Brown the Newsboy

    This visual poem for children utilizes silhouette paper doll cut-outs and characters to follow a young boy and his pet frog on an early morning paper route. The characters dance in time to the music, a traditional American folk tune, from which the film takes its title.

  • Leaving the Poisons Behind

    Animal, fish and bird pictographs struggle to escape the filmic and musical presence of environmental poisons. Primarily an environmental picture, “Leaving the Poisons Behind” can also be seen as a forum for meditation on the idea of leaving behind personal poisons – smoking, drugs, drinking, abusive relationships, and so on. The film may also be of interest to those who are studying aboriginals and their environmental connections, and to those interested in petroglyphs and other figures from neolithic artists. It is a beautiful film as well as an innovative type of music video in film format, making it accessible to…

  • Linear Dreams

    “The sound of a heartbeat pumps life into ‘Linear Dreams’, a scratch animation film that moves from the simple lines of the unconscious to representational realism.” – Toronto International Film Festival, 1997 The word “Linear” is composed of two words: “line,” as in drawing and “ear,” as in hearing. The film was produced by drawing both sound and picture directly onto 35mm motion picture film.

  • Make Some Noise

    “Make Some Noise” is an hour -long documentary that examines the underground rap music scene in Toronto. It focuses on the rappers, disc jockeys, managers, producers, radio annoucers, and personalities who are creating a Canadian hip hop culture.

  • Marc & Ann

    An enchanting portrait of Marc and Ann Savoy, Cajun musicians who are dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Cajun culture. Marc is an irreverent storyteller and accordion maker; his wife Ann is the mother of four, and author of the book “Cajun Music: Reflection of a People.”

  • Mirage

    Typical imagery of a naughty wahine dancing while removing her sarong is looped and superimposed on images associated with Hawaii such as fish, surfers, volcanoes and the Kodak Hula Show. The sound is a loop from the Elvis song “Dreams Come True in Blue Hawaii” and the effect is haunting with a touch of humor. The juxtaposition of these three elements parodies a travel film enticing one to the islands by associating sensuality and sexuality with everything from Kahunas to Pearl Harbor. It is a kind of pop, twisted mantra invoking an exotic space that perhaps only exists in a…