School Program Gr. 7-8: Me, Myself, and My Identity

Dec 8 9:30 am to 11:00 am

Location: Ada Slaight Hall, Daniels Spectrum | 585 Dundas St. E., Toronto, ON

Figuring out who you are is no easy feat. This program highlights the journey and the joys of trying to be your authentic self, while on a road to self-discovery. Whether you’re navigating your sexuality, gender, racial identity, or life circumstance, how do you hold space for growth when dealing with external forces such as family, society, or cultural norms?

Our in-person School Program is now full.

The 2022 Online School Program is available for teachers to stream with their students from November 28 -December 9 2022. Teachers can sign up by registering for the School Program in the Google Form HERE.

The deadline to register is Sunday, November 27 at 11:59pm.

Generation Impact: The Coder

Year: 2021
Genre: Documentary
Country: United States
Language: English
Length: 6 min

Jay Jay Patton was only 13 when she designed and built Photo Patch, a mobile app to help kids send photos and letters to parents who are incarcerated. The app was inspired by Jay Jay’s own experience; her dad was in prison for five years and it was difficult to communicate with him.

Directed by

Samantha Knowles

Samantha graduated from Dartmouth College and is a documentary film director in NYC. Her most recent film, Tangled Roots, follows Attica Scott, the only black woman in the Kentucky state legislature, as she fights to dismantle a system of discrimination against black people penalized for something seemingly innocuous – their hair.

it’s a girl!

Year: 2020
Genre: Experimental, documentary
Country: Canada
Language: English, Vietnamese
Length: 3 min

A self-portrait short film on 16mm from a trans male perspective.

Directed by

Andy Nguyen

Andy Nguyen is a visual artist specializing in experimental and documentary filmmaking based in Vietnam and Toronto. As a Southeast Asian trans person, he wishes to continue in creating more projects that reflect on gender and cultural identity, and in portraying themes of vulnerability and memory into his work.

Out There

Year: 2021
Genre: Documentary
Country: Canada
Language: English
Length: 12 min

After Maryam Tsegaye wins a global competition for students to inspire creative scientific thinking, she reflects on family, community and her sense of self as she prepares to leave home and start a new and promising chapter of her life.

Directed by

Sebastian Hill-Esbrand

Sebastian is a director of Caribbean and Australian heritage. Through his international upbringing, he has learnt that there is power in diversity, as well as an importance of having intersectionality portrayed on screen.

The Talk

Year: 2021
Genre: Documentary
Country: Canada
Language: English
Length: 5 min

“The Talk” showcases the experiences of three LGBTQ+ youth learning about sex health under an inadequate Canadian sex-ed curriculum. Each subject opens up about their knowledge surrounding sexual health, gender identity, the not so honest information they were taught in their classrooms and its impact on their self-image.

Directed by

Ella Saini

Ella Saini (she/they) is a Filipino-Indian filmmaker based in Toronto. She is a mixed-media artist that loves to experiment with a variety of art mediums to create a unique experience for the viewer both sonically and visually.

Silence

Year: 2020
Genre: Dance film/Drama
Country: UK/Japan
Language: English
Length: 14 min

A teenage boy in London wanders around the city during the first lockdown. One day, he finds a girl dancing ballet in an abandoned building, sparking a newfound curiosity and desire for dance, much to his father’s utter dismay.

Directed by

TJ O'Grady Peyton

TJ O’Grady-Peyton has directed for clients such as Under Armour, UEFA, BMW and The European Union. In 2020 he became a member of the Director’s Guild of America. Last year his latest short film “Silence” had its world premiere at Tribeca 2021 and TJ was the recipient of the Bingham Ray New Talent Award.

We Are Not Speaking the Same Language

Year: 2021
Genre: Documentary
Country: Canada
Language: English
Length: 8 min

Thinking back on her only phone call with her maternal grandmother, Danika explains her connection to her Indigenous identity (and her grandmother) through beadwork.

Directed by

Danika St-Laurent

Danika St-Laurent is an Ojibwe-Cree (Saulteaux) from Muskowekwan First Nation in Saskatchewan. In 2020, Danika started her small beaded earrings business called Neebageesis Beadwork. She works at Wapikoni Mobile as the Digital Activities Outreach Coordinator and created her first film named “We are not speaking the same language.”