Yesterday the TYS team visited Hart House to attend the 13th Annual University of Toronto Film Fest, and saw 17 short films, as well as a few film installations housed in a separate room. The films ranged from 40 seconds to 20 minutes long, and took many forms. The night started off with a music video by Sean van Wert, set to the song "Angelitos Negros" by Victoria Falana, and ended with the Annual Farm Project 2014 - a 2-minute film created in 48 hours by the Hart House Film Board on a summer visit to the Hart House Farm.
One of the main trends we noticed was the reflective documentary. The three films in particular along this theme, were: Loving Large directed by Theresa Bonello, Return to Narbutta Street directed by Ottie Lockey, and Gentle Giant directed by Fatan AlFaraj. Loving Large was a short doc that took us through the life of a woman who went through a drastic gastric band surgery, lost 150 lbs., and experienced issues managing her relationships as her appearance changed. The second in this group of films, was Return to Narbutta Street - a reflective, biographical piece which followed Eve Zaremba as she revisited her childhood home in Warsaw for the first time in 75 years. This film touched on what it might be like to have to abandon your home during war, and how bittersweet it would be to return to a changed city. Gentle Giant directed by Fatan AlFaraj was a melancholy, yet hopeful look at a family marking the 9th anniversary of their husband and father's death. This film acted as a video memorial to a much-loved family member, and was especially poignant because of the openness of the three family members, who didn't shy away from discussing the experience.
Overall, we were especially impressed with Satan's Dolls, a 20-minute epic about a con-woman who escapes the police by hiding in a convent. Director Carlo Schefter included many callbacks to other horror films, and injected humour throughout, making this the film with the best audience response. It was also the most stylistically unique and consistent.
In the coming weeks, our team will be visiting more film screenings and seeing what each school has to offer!
Our final submission deadline is May 1 - reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter with any questions or comments! We'd love to hear from you.
-Alex
One of the main trends we noticed was the reflective documentary. The three films in particular along this theme, were: Loving Large directed by Theresa Bonello, Return to Narbutta Street directed by Ottie Lockey, and Gentle Giant directed by Fatan AlFaraj. Loving Large was a short doc that took us through the life of a woman who went through a drastic gastric band surgery, lost 150 lbs., and experienced issues managing her relationships as her appearance changed. The second in this group of films, was Return to Narbutta Street - a reflective, biographical piece which followed Eve Zaremba as she revisited her childhood home in Warsaw for the first time in 75 years. This film touched on what it might be like to have to abandon your home during war, and how bittersweet it would be to return to a changed city. Gentle Giant directed by Fatan AlFaraj was a melancholy, yet hopeful look at a family marking the 9th anniversary of their husband and father's death. This film acted as a video memorial to a much-loved family member, and was especially poignant because of the openness of the three family members, who didn't shy away from discussing the experience.
Overall, we were especially impressed with Satan's Dolls, a 20-minute epic about a con-woman who escapes the police by hiding in a convent. Director Carlo Schefter included many callbacks to other horror films, and injected humour throughout, making this the film with the best audience response. It was also the most stylistically unique and consistent.
In the coming weeks, our team will be visiting more film screenings and seeing what each school has to offer!
Our final submission deadline is May 1 - reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter with any questions or comments! We'd love to hear from you.
-Alex
RSS Feed