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2021 Regent Park Film Festival

19th Annual Festival

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Faces of Resistance

What does resistance mean to you? Is there a single definition or method we can look to within BIPOC communities? This collection of films reflects on the journeys of people who, either deliberately or unintentionally, defy the expectations and limitations placed on them by oppressive systems.

DEFUND

  • Year: 2021
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Length: 14 min
  • Advisory: G
  • Watch Trailer

Brother and Sister are millennial twins trying to navigate their own, and each other’s, complex responses to both the lockdown and the fight for racial justice during the long hot summer of 2020.

Directed by

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah is an actor, filmmaker, and co-owner of 2Skins Entertainment – home to Black femme horror review podcast, Ghoulz n Gyaldem and the short film, Rooted Imagination, which debuted as part of the National Arts Centre’s Transformations Project. Her work aims to challenge standards of visibility and inclusivity.

Araya Mengesha

Araya Mengesha is a Toronto born actor/filmmaker. His work is motivated by the intersectional narratives of 1st-Gen diaspora across the globe. DEFUND is the flagship production for Incognito Ave. Currently in-development: feature film based on the short piece Tef that came from Araya’s residency at the Canadian Film Centre.

Kamayan

  • Year: 2021
  • Genre: Documentary, Experimental
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Length: 3 min
  • Advisory: G
  • Watch Trailer

A documentary showcasing the traditional Filipino way of eating, through a foreign, outdated lens.

Directed by

Minerva Navasca

Minerva Navasca is an emerging director and producer, and is currently studying film at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. She was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada at 9 years old. Her filmmaking is intimately connected from her personal life, focusing on stories of girlhood and cultural dysphoria.

SMOKEYSWRLD

  • Year: 2020
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Length: 7 min
  • Advisory: PG

Kymahni Bent, a Toronto basketball player, opens up about his path forward after the murder of his brother Jahvante Smart , also known as rapper Smoke Dawg, who was a Regent Park Resident during the sumer of 2018 and how COVID-19 has impacted the trajectory of his basketball career and ability to persevere past obstacles that have come his way.

Directed by

Luke Galati

Luke Galati is the director of the award-winning documentary, Eastern, which chronicles the final chapter of the Eastern Commerce Saints, Canada’s most historic high school basketball program. Eastern was screened at five theatres in Toronto, including the Regent Park Film Festival in 2016, and was broadcasted nationally on TSN.

Rejoice Resist

  • Year: 2020
  • Genre: Drama
  • Country: UK
  • Language: English
  • Length: 5 min
  • Advisory: G
  • Watch Trailer

Rejoice Resist is a film that celebrates Black Joy and Black pleasure as the ultimate form of resistance. Highlighting the importance of allowing yourself to feel joy especially in the face of adversity, The film, depicts a woman on a quest to discover this truth.

Directed by

Elisha Smith-Leverock

Filmmaker Elisha Smith-Leverock has built an award-winning portfolio, redefining her cinematic style with every job she takes on. Fearless when it comes to her films, Smith-Leverock tackles topics like diversity and gender stereotypes with maturity and softness. Her passion for art direction and cinematography is evident as each project is considered yet highly stylised.

This Body

  • Year: 2020
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: US
  • Language: English
  • Length: 14 min
  • Advisory: G

This Body explores the perilous relationship between Black Americans and the medical industry. As Sydney Hall voluntarily participates in an experimental coronavirus vaccine trial, she grapples with opposing perspectives as she navigates historical and contemporary abuses upon Black bodies, while remaining hopeful that her participation will help save lives in her community.

Directed by

Zac Manuel

Zac Manuel is an award–winning, New Orleans bred-and-based filmmaker, and the son of a touring jazz musician and a community builder at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. His work in documentary and music video explores intimacy, Black masculinity, class, identity and inheritance.

To the Girl that Looks Like Me

  • Year: 2019
  • Genre: Drama, Experimental
  • Country: US
  • Language: English
  • Length: 5 min
  • Advisory: G

An experimental poetry piece celebrating Black women who continue to thrive in a system that was not built for them. A study of culture, self-love and self-discovery through a string of vignettes that combine dance, folklore, modern culture and spirituality.

Directed by

Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah

A passionate writer and director, Ewurakua recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. During her time there, she noticed disparities in representation on and off-screen and in 2020 she launched The Melacast Network, a platform focused on connecting BIPOC actors, directors, and crew of color with the opportunities to tell culturally rich & diverse stories in film.

Frozen Out

  • Year: 2021
  • Genre: Expermental
  • Country: China, US
  • Language: Sichuanese, English
  • Length: 5 min
  • Advisory: PG
  • Watch Trailer

An immigrant artist retreats to frozen prairies and forests, hoping to escape the anxieties of dislocation and find a meaningful story. Delivered as a film-letter to the protagonist’s sister in rural China, the film meditates on self-exile, home, family, and identity.

Directed by

Hao Zhou

Hao Zhou is a filmmaker from southwest China. Zhou’s films often center on resisting structural oppression. Zhou’s work has screened at numerous festivals including the Berlinale. He is an alum of Cinéfondation’s La Résidence, Berlinale Talents, and Talents Tokyo.

Rules to be a Rebel by a Cockney Sikh

  • Year: 2020
  • Genre: Documentary
  • Country: UK
  • Language: English
  • Length: 6 min
  • Advisory: G

Set in the beautiful city London, England where many cultures coexist and have their own voice, Suresh Singh discovered his unique identity and path. Through the mixing of his Indian spiritual background and the rebellious English punk style Suresh distinguishes himself as rebel spirit with his Cockney Sikh style.

Directed by

Estefani Gonzalez

Estefani works across disciplines to create awareness around subjects that connect us to our natural state of wellbeing. Through writing, travelling, and meeting people across the world, she hopes to share the transformative power of creating from the heart.

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Co-presenters

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