After another spring of university and college screenings, I’d like to report the obvious: student filmmakers love fake blood. And it’s easy to see why. From Psycho (in which chocolate syrup was used – since it popped better on black and white film stock) to Carrie, fake blood has been ingrained in the visual grammar of film since the end of the Hays Code era. But is it always worth the mess?

One of the questions that comes up again and again among the TYS programming staff is, “Was it necessary?” The “it” in this case isn’t always the blood itself, but rather the on-screen violence.

As a rule, we don’t shy away from including graphic imagery in the TYS programmes, but we do consider depictions of strong violence through the lens of whether or not they serve their films in an artistic way. Admittedly, as with the rest of film criticism, that’s a vague criterion, but we apply it with the best of intentions. Some of the questions we ask are:

• Does it make narrative sense? Is it a logical development to the story, or is it merely an easy (though messy) way to wrap things up?
• Does it have an emotional purpose beyond shock value?
• Does it fetishize a particular type of violence? Who is on the receiving end, and how does the film ask us to feel about that?

These are all difficult questions for us as programmers to address, so we nearly always err on the side of giving filmmakers the benefit of the doubt.

But, before your next climactic scene turns into a bloodbath, ask yourself whether all the corn syrup is necessary. Your actors will thank you.  
 
-Paul

iOne of the perks of being a Festival Director for a youth-based film festival is gaining access to a lot of work made by students over the past year. Myself along with our programming team have been attending different screenings these last few weeks to see what we can expect to come our way for this year's festival. It’s always interesting to see the distinct styles that those from each school employ. Here are some thoughts based on the screenings I've been to this year.

University of Toronto
The film community at U of T is thriving thanks to the Hart House Film Board and the Raindance on Campus groups. Though they may not have the same resources as their film school counterparts, their productions have no lack of heart. While the premise is a bit out of left field, there was chemistry in Edy Garfinkel's Blowdryin' Sunday. Carla Veldman's Uncle Antlers memorized audiences despite some faulty playback on the Hart House computers. I was hoping to see more from those in Mississauga due to their partnership with Sheridan College. Perhaps at Toronto Youth Shorts this year!
 
York University
I attended three screenings at York and some of these films really made that trek on the Finch bus worth it. From their second year, I found the documentaries to be strongest with The Friendly Giant by Mariah Enarson, Yes I Can by Lalo Nixon-Pasten, and Salamander by Aidan Cheeatow being exceptionally notable for presenting engaging characters with a vulnerability that audiences can empathize with. Same goes for Last Step by Rachel D’Ercole, produced from the third year group. Salmonella by Michele DesLauriers showed a lot of charm with its art direction, colour palette, and kooky characters.
 
The content coming out of 4th year truly impressed me, with Tidal Waves by Kristina Wang being amongst one of my favourite dramas across all the film screenings I’ve attended so far. Emmerek Van Leur’s Tinder Dad rightfully solicited laughs from the crowd and it was crazy to see how much they were able to get away with. And despite being 18 minutes long, there was no lull in the bittersweet story of Christian Harrison's Moods Like Jazz.
 
Humber College
I had the pleasure to see work from the graduating classes of both their Film and Television Production diploma program and their Film and Media Production degree program at the Bloor Cinema. This is the first time in years that I was able to directly compare the work between the two. Some of the best films from both programs are stories based on being an outsider or being different. Both Stall by Ramon Lapshin and Distance by Roya Edalatmand are effective relationship dramas that hit the right emotional notes. Interestingly enough, both programs ended on films about someone who is terminally ill. Both Jacob is Ready by Tatevik Galstyan and Severance by Katie Hill feature beautiful landscape photography to parallel the inner character conflict.
 
OCAD University
Event organizers and filmmaking collaborators, Sanchita Mitra, Jessica Sinopoli, and Molly Shears produced the Next Exit Film Festival, giving me a taste of OCAD's Integrated Media program. In addition to three narrative films that they collaborated on in different roles, the screening featured a lot of video art. Stylistically speaking, they stand out from the rest of the film schools due to the differences in their curriculum and resources. Father’s Story by Sook Jung features still images that are hauntingly beautiful, with a direction that is very different compared to the work seen in industry-based animation schools. As expected of OCAD, a lot of the work do not adhere to traditional formats and artists are more free to experiment. Now that our good friend, Jamie McMillan, is back from overseas to run Augmented Cinema again, I can’t wait to see what other OCAD U projects are out there.
 
I’ll be going to RUFF this week as well and they definitely have some shoes to fill when it comes to my expectations. But if the quality of past content is any indication, I’m sure it’ll be just as amazing. Hopefully we can show some of these films to you at Toronto Youth Shorts this year!

-Henry

The Bloor Cinema is one of my favourite spots in the city to catch a movie. Inside and out, it feels like the kind of authentic, old-school cinema that is becoming increasingly rare. It’s definitely a throwback, which, as it turns out, unexpectedly made it the perfect home for this year’s Spotlight Charity Film Festival.

Now in its third year, Spotlight celebrates the best of local high school filmmaking, handing out awards in the categories of documentary, narrative, and experimental. Spotlight also has some serious philanthropic heft, with this year’s festival raising $8000 for Sketch.

Apart from the social good aspect, though, Spotlight also has a lot of artistic merit to offer. This year’s award winners – picked by a judging panel of industry professionals – were all maturely executed and high-quality offerings from such young filmmakers.

I’m not sure exactly what I expected when I walked into a screening of films made by high school students, but it definitely wasn’t an experimental animated documentary about vintage Hollywood starlet Eartha Kitt. But indeed, James Perry’s You Must Think About That One Again was a standout of the night, bringing Kitt’s fiery and still-relevant monologue on female independence to life through elegant typography and an arresting animation style.

Elsewhere, I saw films that prominently featured Super 8 home movies, old family photographs, and even an old stereo receiver with magical time-traveling abilities. Maybe I’m just a jaded 20-something who will soon be rambling about “the good old days”, but I did find it heartening to see a lot of these young filmmakers looking back and celebrating technology and art that is several decades older than they are.

However, the night wasn’t all about odes to analog technology. One of the other highlights was Carol Nguyen’s This Home is Not Empty, a stunningly filmed examination of intricate 3D paper models that rightfully won the experimental category. Elsewhere, Tristan Surman’s stylish A Dying Man Named Steve tied for first in the narrative category and proved to be an audience favourite thanks to its biting, blackly comic story of a terminally ill young man who just wants to find a home for his unlikeable dog once he’s gone.

In terms of raising money for a great cause and celebrating the next wave of Toronto filmmakers, the night was all-around fun and hopeful. It’s always great to see so much young talent on display.

-Colleen

​After school on Monday, I left right at 3:30 to rush over to The Big Screen Student Film Festival put on by the Etobicoke School of the Arts at a Cineplex in Etobicoke. This festival was created to showcase student work in front of classmates and industry professionals, and was funded by Scotiabank. I was a couple minutes late, so I didn’t get the chance to pick up any popcorn!

The large theatre was practically full (it was a really popular event) so I took a seat in the very front row and craned my neck up to see the huge screen. Each film shown began with a title slide with the director’s name and grade, which I found provided a nice division between films and helped me to keep track of different directors.

I can say in all honesty that I truly enjoyed each film; it was a very well programmed event, with varying themes and styles. I especially enjoyed A Dying Man Names Steve by Tristan Surman, which is about a man who “after finding out that he is going to die, … realizes that he has to find a new home for his dog before he goes”. It’s humorous, has a cast of great actors, and there was a beautiful atmosphere throughout the film evoked through the use of music and cool colours.

Another favourite is Petrichor by Carol Nguyen; described as “a guide to love and loss”, which features earthworms and graceful poetry.

After all the films were shown, there was a brief awards ceremony. Some of the awards included Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound Design. It was great to see films get recognition and to hear the support everyone had for each other. It was a wonderful festival with amazing films and filmmakers!

-Avondale

There was no better way to end a week off of school than seeing what the Toronto university film community had to offer. 

I had never been to this type of event before, so I was very excited. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. Having never been in Hart House before, I was immediately captured by it's charm, and beauty. When I met with the rest of the Youth Shorts programming team, we climbed a set of stairs and entered a small room, filled with rows of chairs. I knew that I was going to have a good night when I saw what was at the back of the room - free food. My compliments to the U of T Film Festival organizers for not only understanding the importance of food at these types of events, but for providing such a wide and enjoyable selection of snacks. The baked brie was a particular favourite. Anyway, I digress. It was very interesting for me to see what caliber of diverse films the youth film community was producing.

I had a few favourites from the night:

Kicking things off was a brief animated piece by Carla Veldman titled Uncle Antlers. Centered around a girl and her imaginary friend, Uncle Antlers, this film told an emotional and relevant story as to how our imaginations change as we age, and how the things we once held dear can be cast aside as we grow up (or at least that was how I interpreted it). The charming hand-drawn style and beautiful musical accompaniment made this my favourite short of the first part of the program.

The Blood Royal by Carlo Schefter instantly drew my attention with it's energetic, and driving soundtrack. The grungy and experimental film noir stylings were something that really differentiated it from any other film seen that night. 

Although the two films above stood out the most to me, I would to say that all the films were very different, and did something to set themselves apart from the others. This wide range of vastly different pieces is what made my first film festival one that I will always remember.

-Christian