Genres: documentary

  • Riding Along

    “A month’s wandering, hitch-hiking towards Eastern Europe with a few rolls of 16mm film, a microphone and an old Bolex camera. An intuitive recollection of sounds and images from the journey’s chance meetings and landscapes. One conviction leads me on these roads: different forms of assocation between sound and image are possible. The recording device is at the heart of the encounters as the emotional barometer of an atypical journey. From car to car, the film unfolds and finds its way, slowly drawing a self-portrait.” – Sébastien Demeffe

  • Bathers, The

    Three naked bathers gather at the river on a warm day in September. The film was a commission from Ladyfest Ottawa and the Independent Filmmakers Cooperative of Ottawa. Eight women were given the theme of sexuality and two rolls of Super-8 film. I wanted to capture something wild and free, unfettered by society – human sexuality in nature.

  • Ampoule Brulee, L’

    This short film is a poetic meditation on the end of life as represented by the filmmaker’s grandmother. The grandmother, in her rocking chair, reaches out for the single light that illuminates her, expressing her determination and also, as the light goes out, the reconciliation to her own death.

  • Even Flowers Wake Up in the Morning

    “A powerful visual tribute to a lost loved one. Superimposing hand-processed film footage with home movie imagery, director Tara Khalili conveys an eloquent personal message of mourning. Funerary footage mixes with that of a quiet home, resulting in sensitive reflections on loss and remembrance.” – Alex Rogalski, Hot Docs Festival 2010 “Even Flowers Wake Up in the Morning” is a filmic expression of my feelings about the absence and death of my Iranian grandfather. Memories of him flicker in my head as if I were watching a projector shining old film clips in a dark theater. In this film, I…

  • Burning Bush

    “A virtuosic use of video sets this burning bush alight with crimson colour and transcendent allusions. “ – TIFF Wavelengths Series, 2010 “In Eastern Orthodoxy’ a tradition exists that the flame Moses saw was God’s Uncreated Energies / Glory , manifested as light, thus explaining why the bush was not consumed. Hence, it is not interpreted as a miracle in the sense of an event, which only temporarily exists, but is instead viewed as Moses being permitted to see these Uncreated Energies / Glory, which are considered to be eternal things; the Orthodox definition of salvation…” – New World Encyclopedia…

  • Shutter

    “Shutter” tracks the rising sun, the lengthening shadows and the darkening day of a total solar eclipse. “Shutter” is a formal exploration of the phenomenon of the sun eclipsing objects in the natural world. Inspired by footage of friend and amateur astronomer Andreas Gada’s 16mm recording of the 1980 total solar eclipse, this work captures the beauty, complexity and terror of the shifting light that precedes and accompanies a solar eclipse. Shadow, focal variance and illumination of earth-bound nature conspire along the course to the incomparable moment of totality.

  • SEE/SAW

    A film about seeing and having seen. Completely hand-processed and painstakingly edited, ‘SEE/SAW’ is comprised of a series of iris fades – commonly found in silent films to signal the beginning or end of a scene – re-appropriated as a formal approach that frames the desire to see and to remember. Dichotomies surface in the high contrast images – opening/closing, beginning/ending, light/dark – it is also a deeply personal film that faces the imminence of not being.

  • Letters

    “Letters” is a poetic, reflective expression of the filmmaker’s rediscovery of her roots and coming out later in life as a Jewish lesbian. Although this is one person’s story, it poignantly touches the heart of what it means to be Jewish and gay. “Letters” was created as part of the Legacy Video Project, a special multi-generational mentoring program in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival. Three seniors and four youth journeyed together for five months, learning the skills to create short videos that would both challenge and touch us. Selected Screenings:…

  • Blue

    “Blue” serves as the filmmaker’s exploration of the sights, sounds, form, and function of the historical Johnson Street Bridge in Victoria, BC. Built in 1924 as a bascule-style drawbridge, designed by the same company that would later build the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, “Big Blue” is currently at a politically controversial crossroads. After sitting for years in dire need of seismic upgrades and maintenance, Victoria city council pressed forth with an expensive plan for demolition and replacement. While citizens fought back with a petition, which forced a referendum, demolition remains the official course of action. Also presented as…

  • First and Loveliss

    Lloyd and Jackie are best friends, but everyone wonders why they never married each other. Both are semi-retired high school teachers who live in rural Tennessee. Over the last three decades, they have traveled together to 117 countries. Lloyd obsessively collects souvenirs from his travels and objects he finds at rummage sales. “First and Loveliss” choreographs a series of glimpses into Lloyd and Jackie’s lives as they navigate their unusual relationships with each other, their sexuality and the material world–and as they confront their ailing parents’ and their own mortality. Winner of the Outfest 2009 Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding…