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Torch Narrows – Simon Garez (SK)

Simon Garez is a Saskatoon-based actor and director who works in French and English. Raised in Saskatchewan, he holds a BFA in theatre performance from Simon Fraser University, a diploma in acting from the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts, and is a recipient of the RBC YFF Mentorship Program. His directorial debut, Torch Narrows, won the Saskatchewan Independent Film Awards for Best Short Film and Best Technical Achievement. His films examines themes of rural life and humanity’s interactivity to its ecological environment. Alongside his art practice, Simon works with bees and honey production.

Website - Instagram

Two small-town friends revisit a traumatic memory they shared on the Saskatchewan River.

We are excited to be able to include Torch Narrows in our program this year! Simon has another short, The Gentle Hum of Spring, that is currently taking the festival circuit by storm. You may also recognize the name of Torch Narrows' producer, Nathan Douglas who won our very first Audience Choice Award in 2015 with his short Son in the Barbershop, which screened again virtually as part of our Choice Cuts program in 2021!

Tickets available for our hybrid event here!

Santa’s Homophobic – Michelle Tran (AB)

Michelle Tran graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She has been drawing since she was four years old. Nowadays she draws a bunch of little consecutive pictures in the hope that it makes something that sort of looks like an animated short film. When she’s not animating, she loves being with her friends and hamsters.

Vimeo - Instagram - Art Instagram - Youtube - Website

Animated Music Video of Left at London's comedic single; "Santa's Homophobic", made with express permission of the musical artist. The music video details the story of Nat (Stage Name: Left at London) coming to a troubling conclusion about Santa Clause after not receiving gifts on Christmas Eve.

2023 marks the second year Michelle has screened work with us and the first time we get to present it in person! Our virtual fest in 2021 gave us the opportunity to program another animated piece of Michelle's, voice memo 9.

See this film in-person or virtually! Get your tickets here!

Worst Day Ever – Karl Franzen Kimmel, Nils Kimmel (BC)

Nils and Karl are Canadian filmmaking brothers with a passion for both horror and comedy. They have always been drawn to the art of storytelling, and have honed their skills through years of hard work and dedication. They have created several films that explore the intersection of horror and comedy, showcasing their unique perspectives and innovative approach to filmmaking spanning an array of DIY projects and funded budgets.

A young man's mind reels as he attempts to make it through the last five minutes of a dreaded workday without his anxiety-inducing secret being discovered by his co-workers. As time ticks away and tension mounts, he begins to suspect betrayal.

We love a good local comedy short and Worst Day Ever certainly delivers! Catch it in-person at our screening March 26th and streaming online March 27th-April 1st!

Get your tickets here!

Halves and Doubles – Adam Mbowe (QC)

Adam Mbowe is a Gambian/Canadian, Montreal-based filmmaker. Recently a graduate from Concordia University, creating art through moving images has given her the means to describe experiences that may otherwise be forgotten or rarely explained. It has given her the power to illustrate blackness and queerness through film as reclamation. With her work, she is inspired by the inherent value of simple memories and how these tiny poignant moments almost escape description yet say so much. She hopes to continue to create entertaining films that resonate and keep viewers subtly reflecting.

Despite the close bond between Adam and her sibling Khadija there is trauma unspoken between them. In this short documentary, the two hold a conversation where they attempt to find mutual understanding through the winding road of expressing emotions.

We're so pleased to have the opportunity to screen Adam's work at this year's festival. Halves and Doubles is a documentary that sits with its subjects and steps into the familiar intimacy of sibling relationships and the complexities of mental health.

Virtual and in-person tickets available here!

Forgotten – Mawrgan Shaw (ON)

Mawrgan Shaw BA (Media&Comm), M (DigFilm), is a visual artist and animator based in Toronto, Canada, originally from Melbourne, Australia. Mawrgan’s art is inspired by our sense of self and the intersection with our physical reality, and how we move through and make meaning

in the world. Mawrgan creates 2D frame- by-frame animation traditionally using mixed media; ink, marker, charcoal and watercolour, and digitally to explore texture and feel. Recently, Mawrgan has had her animated work featured in festivals in Canada and the United States, and has upcoming programming in South Korea and China.

Website - Instagram

Forgotten (Mawrgan Shaw, 2021) - Poster (2)

Forgotten is an animated short film that offers a window into the isolation the elderly face when living alone. Drawn using traditional and digital media, the film presents and explores one person’s loneliness, sorrow, and deteriorating grip on reality.

2023-02-18 23_33_58-8_Forgotten_MawrganShaw.mp4 - VLC media player

Forgotten marks Mawrgan's second time appearing in our festival program! In 2021 we had the pleasure of (virtually) screening another lovely, textural animated short Days Like These!

Tickets? You want 'em, we got 'em!

After the Rain – David K Greene, Nate Kelly, Parker Thompson (BC)

Dealing with the weight of the world, a gardener takes solace in tending to his plot.

Nate Kelly and Parker Thompson are part of Gritzmore, the art collective and production company led by David K Greene. Together, over the years, these three and many more have produced comedy, music videos, and many experimental films. Production company for hire and arts collective for fun, Gritzmore is here to stay.

David K. Greene: Instagram - D. Greene's Egregious Guitar

Nate Kelly: Instagram

Parker James Thompson: Instagram

Gritzmore: Instagram

If you're tapped into Vancouver's local film and comedy scene at all, you'll know Gritzmore! We're really excited to be able to include After the Rain in our program this year!

Grab your tickets while they're hot!

MARTY – Mike McKinlay (BC)

During his 20 years as a Director of Photography Mike McKinlay has carved out a respectable niche as a multi award winning Cinematographer in the Canadian documentary scene - taking part in some of the top documentary stories spanning the west coast. Some of his most recent clients have included CBC, National Geographic, Netflix, National Film Board of Canada, Knowledge Network, and APTN.

Website - Instagram

This 7 minute documentary titled MARTY follows an 11 year old 80's obsessed skate punk - stuck in the past while struggling to navigate the present.

This is the second time we've had the pleasure of presenting Mike's work at the festival. We showed a trailer for his short The Perfect State in 2016 at Cinema Spectacular 3! You an also peep more of his recent work as cinematographer with Part of the Pack, which has been doing great things in the festival circuit!

Get your tickets now!

Wish You Were Here – Shiun Okada, Yuko Masaki (BC)

Shiun Okada graduated from the Film Production program at the University of British Columbia. He is an emerging filmmaker with an eye for cinematography. For over a decade, his goal is to be a Director of Photography with a small interest in Directing. His background, however, began from the technical side of film—learning the specifics of camera and lighting technologies, as well as visual effects. Through the creations in visual effects work, he continued to try and refine the art of visually capturing and creating an image to learn to be a better storyteller. Shiun is a 2nd-generation Japanese Canadian who now works to investigate the human psyche and its influences it has on our mental health while using this non-western lens in his body of works.

Instagram

Yuko Masaki graduated in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. As a second-generation Japanese Canadian, she focuses her studies on aspects of Japanese culture in order to better understand herself and her heritage. Her interests specifically lie in food and how traditions around food are formed and maintained. “Wish You Were Here” is her directorial and screenwriting debut.

Instagram

Wish You Were Here: Facebook - Instagram

After planning their trip to Japan, Miya and Haru discover that they are no longer able to go due to the pandemic. Miya decides to recreate the Japanese experience from the comfort of their home and drags Haru along with her.

Wish You Were Here was produced as part of the Mighty Asian Movie Marathon and we're so happy to have the opportunity to screen it this year!

Get your tickets here!

BOSSBABE – Teresa Alfeld (BC)

Nikki Newstead gets sucked into the slippery world of multi-level marketing, and is about to get more than she bargained for.

Teresa Alfeld (she/her) is an award-winning writer/director from Vancouver. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, and the Documentary Organization of Canada.

Directing credits include the feature documentaries DOUG AND THE SLUGS AND ME (Closing Night Gala film at DOXA 2022, premiered on CBC January 2023), and THE RANKIN FILE: LEGACY OF A RADICAL (opening night film at DOXA 2018, broadcast premiere on Knowledge Network 2019), the short documentary JEAN SWANSON: WE NEED A NEW MAP (Hot Docs 2021, VIFF 2021) and short dramatic films ROADKILL (Canadian Film Fest 2013), CHARLIE GAUVIN (Female Eye Film Festival 2012), and BUNKY THE VAMPIRE KILLER (Toronto Independent Film Festival 2010).

Teresa recently premiered the short comedy DAVID FOSTER’S EGGGPAA (NFB 2022) starring David Foster and Katharine McPhee at the Governor General Awards ceremony in Ottawa.

Teresa holds a BFA in film production (SFU 2010), a Master’s in Dispute Resolution (UVic 2017), is fluent in French, and – as a teenager - once helped build a pirate TV tower, successfully knocking out the national broadcaster’s signal for nearly ten minutes to broadcast her and her colleagues’ content (Teresa’s program was a dirtbag dating show called Hookin’ It Up: East Van Style).

Website - Instagram - Twitter

You may have seen Teresa's feature doc Doug and the Slugs and Me on CBC and CBC Gem recently, and it was recently nominated by the Vancouver Critics Circle for best BC film and best BC director! We're excited to be premiering BOSSBABE at our final festival!

Tickets are on sale now! In-person and virtual event details can be found here!

Romantics – Jamie Lam (BC)

After a surprise date with her thoughtful boyfriend, Olivia goes on a quest to make her first-generation parents embrace their romantic instincts.

Hailing from Richmond, BC, Jamie Lam is an emerging director, writer, and filmmaker of Hong Kong descent. Her latest short film, "The Mess We're In" won awards at the 17th Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon, including Best Film. Her short films have played at various festivals, including the Vancouver Asian Film Festival and DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon. As a writer, Jamie is an alumni of the Arts Club’s LEAP Playwriting Intensive and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre's MSG Lab. Jamie's work aims to explore the nuances in how human connection is pursued, built, or undone. She strives to contribute to the landscape of media as a woman of colour focused on fostering empathy and understanding.

Jamie Lam: Instagram

Jackie Wong: Instagram