Location: Ada Slaight Hall | 585 Dundas St. E., Toronto, ON
This shorts program introduces us to characters navigating changes in their communities and personal lives. “How We Used to Live” focuses on themes of loss, memories, climate change and shows us how these issues impact our connection to our culture.
A psychotherapist struggling with climate anxiety explores what it means to live in a dying world.
Chen Sing Yap (he/him) is a Singaporean-born filmmaker living in Oakville, Ontario. Before moving to Canada he was a picture editor working primarily in long form factual television for Singaporean and international markets. In recent years, he has focused on directing and editing in the short form.
Tiny is a contemplative stop motion film which tells the story of ‘Nakwaxda’xw Elder Colleen Hemphill’s childhood. The film portrays modern day Colleen as she reflects on her past, and re-enacts the stories she tells of her youth, as a young girl growing up on a float-house in the wild and unpredictable Pacific Northwest.
Ritchie Hemphill and Ryan Haché co-founded the award winning stop motion animation film studio Bronfree Films in 2015. Since then they’ve produced a number of short films that include Indigenous legends and Elder storytelling. Their latest film ‘Tiny’ recently won the Best Short Documentary Award and Elevate Award at DOXA.
Ritchie Hemphill and Ryan Haché co-founded the award winning stop motion animation film studio Bronfree Films in 2015. Since then they’ve produced a number of short films that include Indigenous legends and Elder storytelling. Their latest film ‘Tiny’ recently won the Best Short Documentary Award and Elevate Award at DOXA.
Myriam explores the importance of the W8linaktegw River (Bécancour River) to her family and her nation through her memories and the stories of her father. The film also bears witness to this river which has been transformed over the generations.
Myriam Landry was born in Trois-Rivières and has lived in Tiohti:áke (Montréal) for the past six years. She is a member of the W8banaki (Abenaki) First Nation in the community of Wôlinak. Her film seeks to showcase Ndakinna, the ancestral territory of the W8banakiak, and the Abenaki language, which she is slowly learning.
Legend says, folding a thousand paper cranes will give a person one wish. For young Celeste, it was for her dying father to be there on her birthday. Using the power of imagination and the art of origami, she grapples with the reality of losing her father in the hospice.
Vivian Cheung is an emerging Chinese-Canadian filmmaker. She made her award-winning debut through VAFF’s Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon. She was a finalist in Regent Park Film Festival’s 2022 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition, and was selected in Doc BC’s 2022 Science & Nature Filmmaking Workshop and VIFF’s 2023 Catalyst Mentorship Program.
When a recently arrived Iranian immigrant in Montreal returns to her former profession as a beautician, her husband faces the challenge of adapting to a changing narrative around gender roles.
Leila Khalilzadeh, an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, showcased her short films at international festivals. A Berlinale Talents 2021 alumna, she holds an MFA in Film Production from Concordia University. Currently, she’s developing her debut feature, a short documentary, and a short fiction, funded by Telefilm Canada, NFB, and SODEC, respectively.
This documentary highlights the journey of Gerrard India Bazaar (Little India), the South Asian community of Toronto that was born because of a cinema hall – Naaz Theatre (1970s). Even though the theatre doesn’t exist today, the businesses and people still thrive on the street and the community still remains strong.
Rimsha Minocha is an independent filmmaker. Originally from Mumbai, India, she assisted renowned creators & filmmakers in the Indian ads & film industry. She came to Toronto to pursue an education in Documentary Filmmaking, thereby shedding light on the communities of the city through her short documentaries.
