What’s on: October 19th — Canadian Shorts Program
WORTH and JE SUIS COMME LE ROI headline stacked opening night
Jason Pchajek, staff writer
Day one of the 2020 UWPG Film Festival kicks off with a bang. There will be films that make you cry, some that make you laugh, and some that make your skin crawl. It’s the best of home to start things off.
Shift – Ontario
“During a pandemic, a nurse decides to live in her car to protect her family. The cheesy greeting cards her son sends her in social isolation begin to take on a special importance.”
First on the schedule is a film made to capture the story of our time and is done so masterfully. For the next century, we will have pieces of art to tell the story of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Shift captures a human side. The sacrifices first responders and medical professionals make to keep us safe.
A perfect film to kick off the festival.
anamnesis – Ontario
“A poetic narrative of a man reliving his most traumatic and cherished memories before death.”
With anamnesis, directing duo Ryan Gransden and Mark C. Edwards wanted to create an “emotional and experiential” film, and they have succeeded. Expert use of visuals and performance to tell a sad but cathartic story. Death has never looked so beautiful.
This film is a nominee for Best Canadian Short, and you’ll quickly see why.
Transcension – Manitoba
“This film explores the black body's relationship with space in diaspora but on a very personal level. When I was creating this film I wanted to showcase how we can be easily alienated in this colonial space we currently exist in, it's like we have always been the other. The poem is a call to action to understand our significance in the creation of the white space and how we must address ourselves moving forward, I also see it as the perfect backdrop for this film.”
It is brief, but it is powerful. In a world, a nation, built for the colonizer, where does this leave those who are not? BIPOC bodies are left adrift, unwelcome, even in the lands they call ‘home’. Visually beautiful and expressive, with an overpowering message.
The Sweater – Ontario
“The Sweater blends 16mm hand processed film with found footage and video to explore childhood memories triggered by finding the last thing my deceased father gave me. Using short vignettes, I tell several stories that defined our relationship to each other, and how the world shaped us both.”
A powerful doc about the gulf between man and son. When you grow up the child of an immigrant, there is much you can’t understand. You are socialized into a culture distinct from your parent, with different ideas, wants, and needs. This can force a divide that some may never overcome, and The Sweater captures this perfectly.
Kitchenstacle – New Brunswick
“Jeremias, a young race runner, faces the ultimate challenge of his career. What he doesn’t expect is that by the end of the race, something bigger finds its way to him.”
This cute piece of stop motion animation will be the perfect palette cleanser between the deep and emotionally charged films before, and the heartbreak to come. Maria Nazareth Araujo provides memories of the silly shorts from children’s television past and is sure to leave you smiling.
Fred & Rose – Ontario
“Fred and Rose is a character study of Fred Day, a former drag queen. His alter ego, Rose. Fred recollects on his life, childhood, drag career, and his time serving as Empress XI for TICOT (The Imperial Court of Toronto).”
With the growth of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, the world has been given an inside look at the people who take part in the beautiful and artistic lifestyle and performance. Semi-staged reality television this not, though, as we get a contemplative and intimate look at the life of Fred Day.
Fear of Allure – Manitoba
“She has never been here before and fears what she may encounter, but there is some part of her that yearns to explore.”
The beauty continues with this experimental piece by Manitoba’s Courtney Maetens. Let the dance carry you through the story, exploring emotion, intrigue, and the fear of the unknown we must face to discover what interests us.
Lord, If Thou Hadst Been Here – Manitoba
“In the 1970s, Jeremiah Blackwood, paints and dresses dolls as if they were corpses. Arthur, Jeremiah’s father, is a sickly, conservative, and religious old man. Arthur relies on Jeremiah to take care of him, while Jeremiah resents his father and worries he’ll find out about his disturbing interests.”
Acceptance is difficult. Especially in a conservative household. Evoking some of the most tense and thrilling of Hitchcock, William Klippenstein’s film will be sure to make some squirm. This could be the origin story to some Psycho-level film. A must watch from Friendly Manitoba.
Pizza Panic! – Ontario
“Pepper, a pizza delivery girl, crosses paths with a demon-summoning cult during a delivery.”
Before things get really heavy, let’s have a little fun. With an animation style and vibe that’ll remind you of Powerpuff Girls and Steven Universe, this short is a breath of fresh air coming out of Ontario. It’s breezy, it’s light, and lots of fun.
Dialogue Between Her and Me – Quebec
“Ginette Lafontaine, a 70-year-old painter, presents her different art pieces that helped her go through her troubled past, marked by her mental health disorder’s issues.”
This film is powerful. There’s no escaping Ginette Lafontaine’s gaze, nor her pain, in Simon Roberge’s masterpiece. A nominee for Best Canadian Short, and closing out the first portion of day one, you’ll need the intermission to digest.
INTERMISSION
WORTH – Ontario
“A single father struggles with the heart-wrenching decision to give up his newborn son in exchange for money so he can take his daughter to safety across the border.”
After taking home multiple awards his last time at the festival, Meelad Moaphi is back for more in 2020, and he’s brought his A-game with this Best Canadian Short nominee. A painful look at fatherhood, and the price we pay or our actions. What do your children mean to you? What are they worth? Well…someone is about to find out.
JE SUIS COMME LE ROI – Quebec
“In this allegory against fascism, set inside a neighborhood family home, Charles, a young delinquent, comes back in the dead of night after getting kicked out to avenge himself against his mother, whom he blames for all his troubles.”
In 2020, we needed a film like this. Not because of COVID-19, but because of other things. In a world marred by lies, twisted facts, and where truth is a matter of perspective, Louis St-Pierre holds a mirror up to our society and asks, “do you see it yet?”
A powerhouse nominee for Best Canadian Short, and a must-watch to close day one of the festival and leave you time to think.
Trust us, you’ll need it.
Beginning October 19 at 7:00 PM (CST) on YouTube Live, the UWPG Film Festival premieres the first night of Canadian Shorts that reminds us of home or somewhere fondly travelled.