What’s on: October 22nd — The frights come later
Deep and impactful films set stage for horror in part two of Canadian program
Sophie and Jacob (dir. Max Shoham) | Ontario
Jason Pchajek, staff writer
With a night of animation behind us, let’s get ready for day four of the UWPG Film Festival, and more Canadian talent. Get ready to laugh, cry, and in the Halloween spirit, get spooked with these Made in Canada marvels.
Sophie and Jacob – Ontario
“Inspired by the true story of family, and finding home, no matter the circumstance. Sometimes home cannot be a place, and becomes simply a memory, a mindset.”
After last night’s showcase, we aren’t done with animation just yet, as Max Shoham is here with a beautiful and emotional film. With this you may be reminded of the quote “Our home is where we are. Our place of origin is not relevant, only where we choose to go together.”
A wonderful way to start the night.
How it Ends – Ontario
“What does storytelling have in common with foreplay?”
This film is very millennial, and in a good way. Oh the life of a young creative, trying to find your way through life and love in the 21st century. Many of us have been in that place, enthralling someone, or being enthralled ourselves, but leaving them wanting more. The logline perfectly explains this comedy by Chen Sing Yap, and you’ll be thinking about it long after the credits roll.
Mold City – Ontario and Nova Scotia
“After being accidentally killed by a rat, a bird wants to be buried in mold city.”
Back to the animations! This film is an odd one, and hard to describe. The art style and animation will make you feel whimsy, and the story is strange enough to keep you enthralled. A wonderful piece from the East Coast, and Omneya Tollar deserves so much credit.
The First Day – Manitoba
“The first morning of the first day of school for a heroine addict and the battle in his head and the voices of discouragement he must beat to walk out the door.”
How often people forget how universal the feelings experienced by recovering addicts are. Whether your experiencing addiction, mental health problems, heartbreak, abuse, or the crushing monotony of life, we have all felt this same sensation. The dread that comes with starting afresh. The wonder of possibility is more paralyzing than the feeling of freedom. The First Day casts an empathetic light on recovering addicts, and the struggles they face each day.
I Dream of Vancouver – Ontario
“While focusing on Vancouver as a case study, this documentary explores issues that are relevant to the world at large, such as the link between corporate technologies and gentrification and the erasure of those who don’t fit within Google’s agenda.”
This is film to make you think. Entrancing visuals carry you along the 7-minute runtime, feeling effortless, and almost hypnotic. A harsh critique of gentrification and the erasure of people outside the bounds of our modern capitalistic world. In a city like Vancouver, where housing prices skyrocket, and the city hands over property to developers for pennies for them to flip into condos worth millions, human lives are sacrificed for dollars.
A round of applause for Warren Chan who mixes experimental and documentary for a moving film.
Pretty – Ontario
“An haunting tale about a women trapped in an abusive relationship.”
Another experimental film, and another story told in an amazing way. In truth, abuse leaves you trapped, isolated, and in a world of your own – but a world you yourself did not create. The way Camille Lortie explores the concept of isolation in abusive relationships is masterful. Every frame shows this. The set is immaculately designed, the camera work superb, and the performances grand. This fill will make an impact, and you need to see it.
Rising from Refuge – Manitoba
“A family of Laotian refugees find refuge in southern Manitoba in 1980, only to be challenged by the idea of safety and belonging. Rising from Refuge documents this family's experience as refugees and their lives up to the present.”
From one amazingly told story to the next, we have Sidney Phommarath’s documentary Rising from Refuge. The mixture of documentary footage with decades of family photos allows Phommarath to track to arc of history so well. Many of us know about Vietnam, but what of Laos? Cambodia? The nations surrounding one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent memory. This film is beautiful, heartbreaking, but also hopeful.
The way it explores the refugee life, and how experiences of trauma and conflict carry through, even to generations born in the safest country in the world. This film bares out cleanly, what countries like Canada mean to refugees, and the freedom from terror they provide.
Das Ist Komisch – Quebec
“Experimental documentary film on the exploitation of author Franz Kafka's heritage, against his will.”
Upon his death in 1924, writer Franz Kafka had one request, that all “diaries, manuscripts, and letters of my own should be burned completely and unread.” Yet like many great writers and thinkers of the past, their unpublished and secret works were too tempting to be destroyed. Like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, Kafka’s work was preserved, and he is now held in as high esteem as ever.
Everyone knows his name, and his work, and Louis St-Pierre’s documentary explores how far we’ve strayed from the wishes the man laid out so clearly.
Encontrarnos (The Encounter) – Canada
“Ana’s monotonous, and vapid romantic life takes an unexpected turn when she finds a photo album, seemingly addressed to her.”
This film is as whimsical as it is eye opening. A nominee for Best Canadian Short, Marie-Magdeleine Levy’s work shines more prescient than ever before. In a world where our lives have stagnated – locked down in our homes, wearing sweats everyday as we pop between endless Zoom calls and pots of coffee – a film like this will strike a chord. The ending of this film alone makes it a must-watch, and it will leave you all warm and fuzzy.
Sit in that feeling because we’ve got some deeply unsettling stuff to end the night.
August Long – Manitoba
“Franklin's rural retreat comes to a halt when his car breaks down, forcing him to spend the night with a family of locals.”
Trust me, this film is more than it appears on the surface. Capturing the wide open Manitoba prairies and with a sharp tongue toward the rural-urban divide, Ethan Billard-Dooley and Graham Boyd have created a horror experience that feels like a proof of concept for something larger to come.
Blumhouse, we may have found your next feature.
Murderman – Manitoba
“The sun hasn’t risen in fifteen days. Everyone is advised to stay in their homes, but a group of friends decide to have a party and are soon to meet their fate.”
Does the “everyone is advised to stay in their homes” part of the logline strike anyone differently in 2020? Just me? Ok. Finishing off the night we have a mixture of horror and comedy that is sure to entertain. Drawing from a favourite childhood game, director Jacob Markham has come up with an interesting and fun spin on the horror genre.
Filmed in black-and-white with an aspect ratio reminiscent of classic horror cinema, Murderman is a great film to close out night four at the UWPG Film Festival.