This was the inaugural year for the Gen Zed Film Festival, organized by students of Ryerson’s Creative Industries program and for a first-year festival prepared by students, there was quite the turnout. Almost a hundred people were munching on free pizza, candy, popcorn and snacks, and purchasing glasses of wine and beer from the cash bar. The addition of the cash bar had everyone mingling and networking before and after the films were screened.

There were nine films screened at the event and most of the filmmakers took part in a little Q&A afterward where they discussed inspirations for their work. All the filmmakers delivered intelligent answers that offered some more insight into each of their films.

Jonny Micay’s brilliant short documentary Life Via Rail was one of the standout short films screened at the festival. The film mixed live action and animation seamlessly, while telling a true and charming Canadian story. Other notable films of the night included The North Woods by Adam Bartley, a short documentary about alleged alien abductions in northern New Hampshire; Your Mileage May Vary by Hollie Olenik, a touching LGBTQ+ story that isn’t often seen depicted on screen and handled with such maturity.

The only award of the night, the People’s Choice Award voted by the audience, was given to the raunchy comedy The Heirloom by A.J. Franchi and Vincent Martino.

Overall, the Gen Zed Film Festival was a resounding success and I look forward to attending the festival again in the future. Congratulations to all the filmmakers and organizers for a memorable night!

- Vincent

The 2019 University of Toronto Film Festival exhibited a line up of short films with a truly wide variety of genres and forms, showing a broad stylistic range. The short films spanned from drama, sci-fi, and horror to comedies and experimental films. Filmmakers were a mix of U of T students, alumni, and Hart House Film Board members.

Overall a very entertaining festival, there were quite a few films that stood out. In particular, Mother’s Day directed by Alexander DeSouza, was very well executed and the plot was truly heart-warming, depicting the story of a 12 year old boy and 2 younger neighbourhood brothers as they try to make pancakes for their mother on Mother’s Day.

Another stand out was the thirteen-minute short documentary Road to Colombo by Jillian and Ben Sprenger. It showed how drought, flooding, and coastal erosion affect the people of Sri Lanka, forcing them to leave their ancestral lands to inhabit urban areas. The documentary addressed relevant issues such as climate change, urbanization, and social dilemmas.

The sci-fi drama Mnemosyne by Paul Cassar was very compelling and told the story of a moral dilemma: a teenage girl requests an unusual procedure from a doctor, and he must decide whether to go ahead with it. This was the longest short of the festival, clocking in at 17 minutes. On a lighter note, the comedy An Underdog Story directed by U of T student Kenn Kao was a true audience pleaser. The film brought in a lot of laughs from the crowd, showing the story of a comical showdown between a math professor and a young teaching assistant.

Overall, the U of T Film Fest had a very interesting line up of short films showing a great range of styles. Congratulations to all the filmmakers!

-Lynn

*still from Mother's Day by ​Alexander DeSouza

This is my 8th year being on the jury for the Zoom Student Film Festival, which makes me the longest standing juror (unless someone proves me otherwise) for this event held at Earl Haig Secondary for the past 23 years. Every year I get asked by the current slate of students producing the event and despite the age gap between myself and the filmmakers growing each passing year, I love being a part of it. It's where I discover gems like Phoebe's Declassified Guide To Unwanted Pickups along with some great talent like Kassy Gascho, Max Shoham, Dylan Vogel, just to name a few.

Each year, the jury has to decide on some awards such as Best Director, Most Promising Filmmaker (one each for junior and senior grades), and so forth with a lot of contenders in the major categories. It was great to see Max Shoham receive Best Animation for Hearth, which is a strong contrast narratively and stylistically to his other piece, The Giant and the Moon, also featured at Zoom. Max Freeman is barely through halfway his high school journey but he made the audience laugh with his punchline piece, Survival.

The heavy hitter of the night goes to Cole London's My Fair Robot, picking up Best Cinematography, Best Picture, and Audience Choice for being a charming, hilarious, and one of the few well-produced shorts that featured a traditional story with a beginning, middle, and end.

Not everyone could make it out to North York on a week night to take in a high school screening of student films but if any of the above titles interest you, keep your eyes peeled because you never know what could end up screening at Toronto Youth Shorts 2019.

-Henry

*still from My Fair Robot by Cole London