top of page

FILM PROGRAM​

SATURDAY, JULY 29

​DAY FOUR

World Premiere (WP), North American Premiere (NAP); Canadian Premiere (CP), Ontario Premiere (OP), Toronto Premiere (TP).

SHORT INDIGENOUS DOCUMENTARIES

WITH CAUSE
FOREIGN SHORT & NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS DOCUMENTARIES

 SATURDAY - JULY 29
10 AM - 12 PM

Total running time: 67 minutes

​

Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by Leslie-Ann Coles

WHAT THEY 
LEFT BEHIND

Directed by Vicky Xingyu Gu

 

Ontario Premiere (OP)

​

 Several years after the death of her grandfathers, a young woman recollects her memories of them.

 

(OP, Animation, 6:49, 2022, China/USA)

SHKOZIN

Directed by Bridget Dockstader, Cathie Jamieson, Nishina Esqiega, Presley Owl Meawasige, and tUkU

 

Toronto Premiere (TP)

​

Five Indigenous and Black women are called together by Mother Earth to embark on a journey to reclaim their power, their stories, their voices and walk on the road to healing themselves and each other. Awakening happens for each woman as they collaborate, through exploration, spirituality, and ceremony – a redefining of the word “reconciliation.” Produced by Weengushk Film Institute in partnership with FeFF.  

 

(TP, Indigenous Documentary, 22:30, 2022, Canada).

​

COMING SOON

THE BIG IDEA: INDIGENOUS ROBOTICS

Directed by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason

 

World Premiere (WP)

​

After Ojibwe student Danielle Boyer joined the robotics team in high school, she realized how out of reach robotics are for low-income families. Since then, she’s made it her mission to create free robot kits to connect other Indigenous youth to the tech skills that will shape their futures.

 

(WP, Indigenous Documentary, 19:23, 2023, Canada)

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL INTERNATIONAL SHORTS

 SATURDAY, JULY 29
1 PM - 2.30 PM

Total running time: 79 minutes.

​

Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by Naomi McCormack.

BEHIND THE LOOM

Directed by Heejoo Kim

 

Toronto Premiere (TP)

​

An experimental animated short about the impact of war on women, underscoring rape as a war crime. Told from the perspective of one family during the siege of Berlin in 1945. Heejoo’s films and installations have been presented at festivals and galleries internationally, including at FeFF.  

 

(TP, Animation/Documentary/Experimental, 11:00, 2021, USA)

​

​

I WAS BORN IN 1988

Directed by Yasaman Baghban

 

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

This experimental documentary is a personal essay based on the executions of Iranian political prisoners that began in the summer of 1988, following the end of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq. The relatives of these prisoners, called the Mothers of Khavaran, are a symbol of resistance and freedom.

 

(CP, Experimental, 8:43, 2022, Iran)

​

​

TOUCH

Directed by Ragda Alazizi

 

North American Premiere (NAP)

​

During the Arab Spring, Ragda Alazizi was active in the protests against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. She collected stories about other women engaged in the fight and incorporated these into her first short film, Touch, the story of a young woman imprisoned in the notorious Saydnaya Prison. The young woman’s memory of her lover emerges when an image of what has happened begins to take shape. In 2013, Alazizi fled Syria for Berlin.

 

(NAP, Experimental Drama, 20:20, 2023, Germany/Syria)

THE GHOST 
UNDER MY BED

Directed by Sara Caldwell

 

Toronto Premiere (TP)

​

On the brink of the US Civil War, a lonely young girl moves to a southern plantation. She befriends a ghost under her bed, only to discover there are much greater human horrors in store.

 

(TP, Stop Motion Animation, 13:28, 2022, USA)

MEDEA

Directed by Riffy Ahmed

 

North American Premiere (NAP)

​

Euripides’s tragedy is reinterpreted through a BIPOC lens. After escaping from her homeland and now abandoned by the man she loves, Medea must find strength from within to fight against growing injustice. How far is she willing to go?

​

Ahmed looks to tell stories of “unlikely heroes” we don’t always see on the big screen at turning points in their lives, particularly framed around women and diaspora identities, crossing and blending genres through visceral forms of storytelling. 

 

(NAP, Experimental/Dance on Film, 13:00, 2022, UK)

​

LAS IRREVERENTES FEMINISTAS
The Irreverent Feminists

Directed by María Del Carmen De Lara Rangel and Tabatta Salinas Caballero.

 

North American Premiere (NAP)

 

Day by day, women live with the risk of violence that plagues Mexico. The overwhelming daily report of the disappearances of women, and the violence, is shown in the mass media: the brutal reality that women face travelling on public transport, the daily intimidation, the vulnerability of walking through the streets to reach work spaces, where they are constantly at risk.

 

(NAP, Experimental Documentary, 12:40, 2022, Mexico)

INTERNATIONAL VAW SHORTS

EXCAVATING TRUTHS
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: INTERNATIONAL SHORTS

 SATURDAY, JULY 29
3.30 PM - 5.30 PM

Total running time: 86 minutes.

​

Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by Edie Steiner.

GEFILTE FISH

Directed by Yuliya Lanina

​

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

A family meal in the Bronx serves up past trauma, silenced truths, and a fish stuffed with secrets.

 

(CP, Animation/Experimental, 6:36, 2021, Austria/USA) 

 

​

CUDDLE

Directed by Margot Reumont

 

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

At her father’s request, Coline returns to her childhood bedroom to sort through her belongings. Objects from her childhood plunge her into the memories that have marked her to this day.

 

(Animation 2D, 15:00, 2022, Belgium) 

​

​

FIRST KISS

Directed by Marika Engelhardt

 

World Premiere (WP)

​

Sometimes a kiss is not just a kiss.

 

(WP, Drama, 4:44, 2022, USA)

ESMERALDA

Directed by Jennifer Greco

 

World Premiere (WP)

​

When a young woman, Esmeralda, returns to her native land to confront her mother about a traumatic childhood memory, she discovers an unbreakable bond through a shared experience.

 

(WP, Drama, 18:27, 2023, Colombia/USA)

​

​

TELL ME YOU LOVE ME

Directed by Paulette Randall

 

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

Based on a true story. At a rooftop party for two, a brother and sister celebrate their love. She has escaped from a violent husband but her scars run deep. She makes the ultimate choice.

 

(CP, Drama, 11:24, 2023, UK)

THE SILENT CANARY

Directed by Vera Graziadei

 

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

 Joy (12), a talented cellist and adoptee from China with selective mutism, forms an unlikely bond with rebellious Kat (15). Joy’s concerned white British mother is delighted to see her daughter happy. However, when Joy discovers that her new friend’s secret “boyfriend” is in fact Kat’s stepfather, Stuart, her own trauma resurfaces. Joy finally finds the strength to speak out, at her music school’s recital, exposing Stuart, who had previously molested her.

 

(CP, Drama, 18:35, 2022, UK)

​

​

NORTH AMERICAN SHORTS & FEATURE

LOST
NORTH AMERICAN SHORTS
& FEATURE

 SATURDAY,  JULY 29
6.30 PM - 8.45 PM

Total running time: 104 minutes.

​

Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by Leslie-Ann Coles

SHORTS

LITTLE T

Directed by Masha Ellsworth

 

Ontario Premiere (OP)

​

Follow Alexis, a recent college graduate, on the most stressful day of her life – her dream job interview. She’s armed with a resumé, design portfolio, and two trusted companions: her “inner critic” and “inner child.” Alexis journeys through the origins of comfort food as she uncovers new depths within herself and finds the courage to be her own advocate. Will this be enough to land her dream job?

 

(OP, Animation, 5:44, 2023, USA)

 

​

smokeBreak

Directed by Lisa Robertson

 

Toronto Premiere (TP)

​

Starring Elizabeth Saunders and Pegah Ghafoori (both in MGM+’s hit show From), SmokeBreak tells the story of a mother’s uncomfortable reunion with her daughter, exposing how their deep bond broke and why it may remain forever in pieces.

 

(TP, Drama, 9:55, 2023, Canada)

​

FEATURE 

MY HOME UNKNOWN

Directed by Yaz Canli

 

Canadian Premiere (CP)

​

After “Mina” (Yaz Canli), a gifted artist experiencing homelessness, loses the last thing she loves, her adorable dog “Burrito,” she is forced to battle through the downward spiraling journey of a mental health crisis to find HOME. Lost between fragments of her Muslim past and harsh realities of her present—from substance abuse and the loss of faith to abusive voices in her head—Mina must find a way to reconcile with deep grief and accept the kindness of others so she can start life anew. A raw and unflinching story of mental illness, life on the streets and the courage it takes to find a way home. 

 

(CP, Drama/Mental Health, 01:28:00, 2022, USA)

LATE NIGHT THRILLS & CHILLS

LATE NIGHT THRILLS & CHILLS
NORTH AMERICAN SHORT & FEATURE 

 SATURDAY, JULY 29
9.45 PM - 11.30 PM

Total running time: 98 minutes.

​

Followed by audience Q & A. Hosted by Byron Martin.

SHORT

LAUNDROMONSTER

Directed by Mikayla Trainor

 

World Premiere (WP)

 

On her first visit to the laundromat to wash her teddy, Little Daisy learns that everything filthy needs to get washed …

 

(WP Animated Comedy/Suspense, 5:05, 2022, Canada) 

FEATURE

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR

Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan

 

Toronto Premiere (TP)

​

A disturbed babysitter experiences a sexual awakening while using LSD to alternatively treat a seemingly “sick” child from a family with dark secrets of their own.
Mercedes Bryce Morgan is an award-winning queer Latina director and screenwriter. Her feature debut (Fixation) premiered at TIFF. Morgan has directed a variety of episodic series for different studios. Her script B1 made Tracking Board/Launch Pad’s 2017 Hit List and was runner-up at the 2018 Script Pipeline competition and BET’s Project Create. Her script ESC was a 2022 Script Pipeline finalist and a Nichols finalist. Her narrative music video “Happier” (Bastille and Marshmello) was nominated in 2019 for a Video Music Award and was #1 trending on YouTube globally the day of its release. Her work collectively has more than 1.5 billion views. 

 

(TP, Erotic Horror/Drama, 1:33:53, 2022, USA)

​

SUNDAY, JULY 30

​DAY FIVE

FROM 12 PM - 11 PM

bottom of page