Official Selections
ripples and pools
A small team filmed this buoyant documentary in just seven days, oftentimes completely submerged in the 92 degree saltwater. The film effortlessly guides us through the pool, into the shared experiences of pain from which you can’t look away, woven with immersive perspectives of kicking feet, cannonballs, and slow, supported movements.
Giggles and squeals echo as babies and toddlers learn to swim with their caregivers in the shallow end. The patient and firm voice of swim teacher, BJ, is intersected by an exuberant group of elders, who have become dear friends. They move gracefully alongside each other as we listen to them talk about how they’ve healed physically, how their bodies are changing because of the water, and how happy they are to have found hope and renewed health.
Fighting back tears, Abby’s dad Jeff speaks about his daughter’s autism diagnosis, his transformational journey of loving her, and their shared tender moments of play in the pool. Immersive underwater photography captures an elderly man exercising with barbells. We track a young girl walking with assistance and join Darryl, who is blind. Physical therapist, Mickey, is explaining her movements as she guides Darryl through therapeutic exercises to help him heal from a car accident. They both agree his walking has gotten much better.
ripples and pools features an original music score by four-time grammy winner Eugene Friesen and performances from Carly Johnson, Elizabeth Cotten, and Elizabeth Rogers. Integrated with environmental sounds and water recordings, the music encourages us to breathe, grieve, and bear witness. ripples and pools embraces the hopeful and refreshed possibilities for healing ourselves, each other, and the world we occupy.
2022, U.S., DCP, 32 minutes. Recommended for all ages.
Only Child
The film chronicles her 20-year journey navigating the hypocrisy of a society that prohibited access to birth control while condemning unwed mothers and their children. The mothers were institutionalized, and the children sold to other countries, largely North America, by the church and state.
Records were hushed, kept secret.
With only her birth mothers name and place of birth in hand, Marise navigates a series of roadblocks and dead ends.
An insider’s view regarding Ireland’s shameful backstory and current political landscape is revealed through Marise’s journey combined with stories and revelations by many others affected by the church-controlled state.
Philomena Lee (the inspiration behind the Oscar nominated film Philomena) sets the stage of what it’s like to have a child adopted from you against your will. Politicians, historians, a show-band leader, as well as a little-known woman’s rights movement called The Contraceptive Train illuminate how Ireland’s misogynistic history came to be. Some stories are heartbreaking, some humorous.
Eventually, an agency locates Marise’s birth mother, but is denied access.
A year goes by as Marise tries to find her father in Canada. No luck. Marise gives up.
Ten years later, while on Google, Marise discovers that she has cousins in Dublin. She decides on one last ditch effort.
After an emotional connection, she then finds out that her parents married and had five children in Canada. Marise nervously agrees to call.
After the initial shock has settled, 3 of her new sisters travel to Ireland to find an exuberant meeting full of unconditional love.
Marise's story is one of joy and struggle, good versus evil,
and ultimately a story of hope.
Al son de Beno
Beno's Son
chaotic, creative life and tragic death of his father, Beno Lieberman, a pioneer of folklore research in Mexico. Confronting the mystery and pain behind Beno’s suicide, Ilan comes to terms with his feelings about his father by opening up to his children and sharing Beno’s enduring musical legacy.
There Goes The Neighborhood
The Anxiety of Laughing
A Call to Action: The Freedom Budget of 1966
Little Bird
Anniversary
Incorrigible - A film about Velma Demerson
Choices
A Midsummer Night's Dream In Prison
I AM NOT OK
HIGHTAIL
What makes our film special?
- A female driven project, with a predominantly female-identifying crew
- A timely piece spreading awareness on a societal issue, domestic abuse and gender-based violence
- Donated a portion of its funds to a Women's Center, assisting our community and those recovering from domestic violence
Identity
This film was made in collaboration with middle and high school aged LGBTQ+ youth, to tell their stories for social change.
Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops
Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops is a series of five short films, featuring twelve leading climate scientists, that explores how human-caused emissions are triggering nature’s own warming loops.
The film series had its official launch with the Dalai Lama, Greta Thunberg, and world-renowned scientists in a webcast, “The Dalai Lama with Greta Thunberg and Leading Scientists: A Conversation on the Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9GXgOMMeTg
While scientists stay up worrying about this most dangerous aspect of climate change, the public has little awareness or understanding of feedback loops. Climate change discussion at all levels of society largely leaves out the most critical dynamic of climate change itself. It is urgent we remedy this.
The first film in the series, Introduction (13:09), provides an overview of the feedback loop problem. The four other short films explore important climate feedback mechanisms: Forests (14:10), Permafrost (10:55), Atmosphere (8:45), and Albedo (10:35).
Greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are warming the planet. This warming is then setting in motion dozens of feedback mechanisms, which then feed upon themselves, as well as interact with each other and spiral further out of control. These processes are rapidly accelerating climate change.
An example of a climate feedback loop is the melting of the permafrost. In the Northern Hemisphere, permafrost makes up nearly 25% of the landmass. As heat-trapping emissions warm the Earth, this frozen tundra is melting. As it does, large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane are released, which further warm the planet, melting more permafrost in a self-perpetuating loop.
Human activity kicks off these feedback loops, but once set in motion, they become self-sustaining. The danger is that this process reaches a tipping point beyond which it is extremely difficult to recover. This is why it is urgent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so we can slow, halt and even reverse these feedbacks and cool the planet.
Earthshine
It's Spring...
Private View
I Walked With Heroes
Bendix: Site Unseen
Kapinalliset
Rebels with a cause
The themes of the film are civil disobedience, the activist's trauma and the role of the authorities as the protector of society in Finland that is said to be the world’s safest country and country that has one of the most trusted police force in the world. What feelings does the activist have to go through in the action and who should the officials eventually protect and from whom?
The summer and autumn rebellions in the film were one of the biggest media events of the 2021 in Finland, in the country where the demonstration culture has traditionally been very restrained and authorities used to be deeply respected. The film paints a hopeful and sympathetic picture of awake contemporary youth who are ready to fight the climate crisis, even by resolutely breaking the law.
Asfalt
Asphalt
After Fred
Okefenokee Destiny
Tabla
Ctrl+Z
We begin to exchange life experiences, words, videos, photos, in a period in which I am constantly wondering and feeling those expectations that everyone, at a certain point in life, feels, because, like M rightly says, “by your 30s, something HAS to happen”.
They propose to me to try to live like them, to better understand why they have decided to isolate themselves. We got closer and closer, and I end up becoming almost obsessed with their presence/absence and their life choices. Theirs is a refusal, it is a resounding NO they scream silently from their rooms, where they lock themselves up because they cannot bear the performance anxiety that social standards make us feel, thus demonstrating a sort of “resistance”.
“Say Their Names”
N Ap Boule
Through the Barricades
PULLING THE GOALIE
Still A Revolutionary - Albert Einstein
The Count
Raised/Razed
The PRATT in the HAT
Finding The Light
Pills
Black Man Black Masterpiece
Azúcar
Azúcar (Sugar)
What Flowers They Bloom
The experience of racism has become a central focus of the COVID-19 global pandemic. From Black Lives Matter to Stop Asian Hate, citizens across the world are mobilizing to condemn active and institutionalized injustices that continue to perpetuate discrimination, blame and violence against people of colour. But while communities raise their voices to dismantle these biased structures, portrayals and policies, there remain systems that continue to benefit if not outright profit from these inequities.
While Canada has an often-untold history of anti-Asian racism, and COVID-19 is marked by familiar patterns of blaming marginalized communities, the film reveals that when our common shared humanity is translated in simple acts of kindness, a movement against discrimination will bloom.
A Lake of Ashes
The Metabolic Connection®
Ever, Rêve, Hélène Cixous
With friends like the philosopher Jacques Derrida, the artist Adel Abdessemed, the theatrical legend Ariane Mnouchkine and her cosmopolitan company, this road movie allows us to hear the cry of literature.
A poetic and musical film, Ever, Rêve, Hélène Cixous wanders with a genius who shows us the paths to emancipation through creative writing, theatre and activism. Cixous’s artistic endeavors embody untold and unrealized historical possibilities as they give voice to those who conspire with Cixous, saved from the death camps, from the wars of decolonization, from the horrors of oppression endured by women, everywhere.
Every dream is the dream of a prisoner who escapes.
Sugar Coated: The Truth About Eating Disorders
The story first introduces mental health issues by showing its history. Then, we show how it evolved over the pandemic. The segments included are different perspectives from a healthcare professional and a mental health advocate, interviews from individuals with personal experiences with eating disorders and mental health diagnoses. We also feature anonymous stories and how social media has an effect on teen mental health. Within our film we profile our classmate, Dulce as she talks about her struggle with an eating disorder. We also created an anonymous survey so everyone can share their story as this topic is not often wanted to be disclosed. One of our interviewees is therapist Laura Van Wyk who also had a personal experience battling her own mental health issues. We present statistics on mental health for our audience to see how important this topic is.
When watching this documentary people will get a deeper understanding about how mental health correlates with eating disorders. People will know that they’re not alone and mental health should be normalized. Our hope is that this documentary helps others seek help for their mental health disorders. Eating disorders are a real life issue, and people can use this documentary as an example to find support. While this documentary is generally for everybody, it is mostly for teenagers who feel like they’ve been ignored, parents whose children have been struggling with eating disorders , and people who haven’t been through mental health issues to understand others who have. People are going to be interested in seeing this documentary because it includes personal stories and is created by students.
Division
Donuts
Frank is a white male with decades of experience, and biases based on anger, fear and guilt. Frank’s previous partner has just shot and killed a black youth, and the shooting is being investigated.
Jamala, an earnest young African American woman, endures personal insults from Frank as she strives to be a good cop. The tension builds as Frank's prejudices are unleashed and Jamala reveals that her brother, a bright young student, was shot and killed by a police officer two years ago.
We Are Here Too
Yellowstone 88 - Song of Fire
Song of Fire, a narrative poem, guides the animation of YELLOWSTONE 88 telling the story of this conflagration that raged unabated for months until a snow of such intense severity extinguished the flames. That winter surviving Fauna, exhausted from fire and weakened by hunger, die in greater numbers than those claimed by the fire. The cosmos turns from one season to another and another and life in the park begins anew.
Au vent mauvais
Au Vent Mauvais
LOVE WITHOUT PAROLE
Living Years
Way to Go!
“Leave No Trace.” “Way to Go!” tells the story of Mt. Shasta’s sun-powered composting toilet and the local volunteers who maintain it, keeping poop invisible and sweet at 7,900 feet. Shot on location, “Way to Go” brings whimsy to an environmental threat we don’t like to think about: human waste.
Common Thread
The Common Thread project joins global filmmakers speaking with children worldwide about their concerns for the planet and future ...
These children and filmmakers are not celebrities or activists, but they have a Common Thread ... They all want a sustainable and livable planet and future for their generation.
Thanks to all contributing global filmmakers, their commitment to this film, and for sharing this journey with me.
My sincere gratitude,
Filmmaker, Director, and Producer
Frank Fazzio
Sabor Ártico: Latinos en Alaska (Arctic Flavor: Latinos in Alaska)
Maya Land: Listening to the Bees
Sister
Farm to Families
Q Guy
TRIBU
TRIBE
Shopping Cart People
Short Synopsis: Shopping Cart People presents an unflinching exploration of people living in today’s world as homeless and those advocating for them. Stories are told, lives are shared, as a filmmaker delves into a community’s efforts to help those without a voice and protect their belongings. You’ll see interviews with community members and activists as they grapple with this controversial issue.
The Renegade Legacy of Bleecker and MacDougal
This Mortal Plastik
Unlocking the Doors of Opportunity
Thanks to Jim Crow, North Carolina ignored its constitutional responsibility and woefully underfunded schools for African American children in the early 20th century. A scheme hatched by Booker T. Washington, the nation's best-known Black educator, and Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck, helped break Jim Crow's grip on school funding practices. As a result, nearly 800 schools for Black children were built in the Tar Heel State, mostly in rural areas. Nearly 5,000 Rosenwald Schools were constructed in 15 states, mainly in the South. Rosenwald Schools changed the fortunes of hundreds of thousands of African American youth, including some of North Carolina's most famous Black citizens.
The Fellowship
for a college fellowship. Their desire to win the Fellowship and beat out the competition brings out another side of them which forever alters their relationship with one another, and with themselves.
CROSSING THE BLUE
Maka
Ruth & Safiya
Gen Z Mental Health: Climate Stories
They deal with the duality of feeling young and sometimes powerless, whilst being empowered by community action and the chance for real change. These young people share about their tools for emotional resilience in the face of climate change and the power of stories to deal with climate anxiety.