Blog Archives

TYS Programmer Julia Shares Her Experience

7/22/2015

This is my third year as a programmer for Toronto Youth Shorts, and at the risk of sounding cliche, I found this year’s films to be the best collection of shorts yet. The programming team and I were very happy to receive over 100 submissions, and we had a difficult time narrowing it down to just two programs. After much deliberating, we are excited to present this year’s line-up, as it offers a diverse range of genres, cultures and perspectives for the audience to enjoy.

When going through the submissions, I noticed that we received quite a few horror and sci-f- films this year. It’s great to see young filmmakers taking the risk of making films in these genres that are not always taken seriously. I was impressed with the sophistication that the filmmakers brought to these genres. For example the Korean Horror film Footprints, directed by Kevin Saychareun, tells a suspenseful story of family and guilt with a seamless blend of the supernatural and the real. The Sci-Fi short Dreaming is a Private Thing by AJ Smith presents a post-apocalyptic world from the unique point of view of a filmmaking robot; in this way, he shows the search for humanity within a futuristic society that any film buff would appreciate.

I was happy to see a good number of films showcasing different cultural backgrounds. FIlms such as Bosniak (directed by Kedj Kuqo) and Blue Eyed Drunks (directed by Abdul Malik) tackle themes that everyone can relate to (survival and acceptance) against the backdrop of the Bosnian War, and from the perspective of Pakistani-Canadian teenagers respectively. With the majority of North American films giving actors of different ethnicities minor roles, it is refreshing to see these young filmmakers showcasing stories and talent from all over the world.

Finally, I was delighted to see many submissions that focused on strong female characters and contemporary gender issues. I am proud to present to our program Who We Are and its collection of films dedicated to empowering women. The documentaries A New Reflection (Pauline Beal & Lindsay Fontatine), Being Tessa (Erin Harris), and Pretty Dangerous (Dan Laera) tell inspiring stories of young women overcoming physical differences and gender stereotypes to pursue their dreams. Phoebe’s Declassified Guide to Unwanted Pick Ups (Rebecca Gao), written and starring Degrassi’s Sara Waisglass, deals with the common issue of unwanted come-ons in a hilarious yet insightful way.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed programming this year’s festival, and can’t wait to share these wonderful films with you all!

-Julia

Paul Shares His Programming Highlights

7/15/2015

First off, I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone whose time, energy and talent went into our submissions. I had the pleasure of working with the Toronto Youth Shorts team in selecting this year's films and we were given an embarrassment of riches to choose from. I can't wait to share these films with everyone at the festival. Before we pull the curtain back on August 8, I'd like to tell you a bit about what went into the programming process.

In February, we put out our open call for shorts from under-30, GTA-based filmmakers—but our work was just getting started. Throughout the spring, TYS sent representatives to nearly every high school, college and university student film showcase around the GTA. For every one film submitted, we saw another three or four. Each event had such a large pool of content that were so strong, we were constantly regrouping to discuss it. We looked for common threads, overarching themes etc. In our downtime, we scoured Vimeo and Youtube, reaching out to young filmmakers outside the academic stream. Perhaps most importantly, the work done by TYS staffers in years past continued to pay off. Many of our submissions came from filmmakers whose work we've showcased or considered before, and the growing strength of the TYS reputation helped us reach new eyeballs.

One of the luxuries of programming a film festival in 2015 is that we didn't touch a single DVD, thanks to the wonders of online submission portals. Technology blessed us in other ways, as well: the ubiquity of HD cameras and professional editing software meant that the production values of our submissions often rivaled those of professional films, allowing filmmakers' talent and vision to come through that much more clearly. And, they certainly delivered on that potential. A number of the selections you'll see on August 8 are BIG films despite their length. From sci-fi epics to animation, the films showcase an incredible amount of ambition, both within and beyond familiar genres. On the human drama and documentary side, our selections for this year contribute meaningfully to some of the most important discourses in 2015. Spoiler alert: we think you'll find these films very relevant.

Lastly, a note about the filmmakers themselves: in a place as diverse as Toronto, it was important to us to present work from as many voices as possible. But, the filmmakers made that job easy. We have stories and perspectives from around the world and around the city, all with one thing in common: they're Toronto Youth Shorts. As for that celluloid ceiling? We think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

We can't wait to share these gems with you at the festival.

-Paul

TYS Programmer Julia Shares Her Experience

Paul Shares His Programming Highlights

Categories

Archives