Film Categories: Activism + Protest

  • Shelter

    “Shelter” is a multi-layered experimental film that cleverly weaves archival social commentary and recent political activism in a playful analysis of our culture’s misplaced priorities. The film blends a variety of appropriated material – including a homeless demonstration during the gala premiere of an Atom Egoyan film at the Toronto Film Festival – with archival footage of circuses, westerns, and Pierre Burton discussing the pros and cons of building a bomb shelter. “Shelter” also celebrates the inherent qualities of the film medium, qualities that have quickly become marginalized through the current obsession with digital technology.

  • Prom Fight: The Marc Hall Story

    Over the years conventional wisdom on Homosexuality has changed dramatically and a more liberal attitude of acceptance and tolerance has evolved. But no one seems to have told the Durham Catholic School Board in the province of Ontario.. “I am writing to request that the school board reverse the policy taken to deny me the opportunity to attend my school prom with the person of my choice, my boyfriend. That’s all I want: to go to the prom with my date, like everybody else, and to make sure that no other student of the Durham Catholic School Board will never…

  • Underfoot & Overstory

    The Friends of Hickory Hill Park work to protect nearly 200 acres of unique urban parkland in Iowa City, IA. The organization’s mission statement must be produced, the inaugural calendar approaches. Nature images run parallel, collide and drift beside the demands of group writing and open space. “A film at once playful and thoughtful, visually deep and linguistically complex (and funny!). ‘Under Foot & Overstory’ weaves together a commmitment to activism with a love of looking at the natural world. The Friends of Hickory Hill Park, an Iowa City-based environmental group, work to protect a unique urban space and to…

  • Citizen Lobbyist

    Do you ever feel like you want to take action against the government but feel overwhelmed by where to start? Enter ‘Citizen Lobbyist’: a new documentary about political activism against the odds; an informative do-it-yourself guide on how to organize your community and make things happen. Every year more than 20 transgendered Americans are murdered. Because there is no prevision in present legislation for transgendered people, these murders go as unreported as hate crimes against the transgendered. It is time for trans people to take matters into their own hands. During the divisive 2004 U.S. Presidential campaign, a group of…

  • Not That Kind of Christian!!

    “Not That Kind of Christian!!” is a feature documentary that explores gay and lesbian Christians’ struggle for acceptance in the Episcopal Church, the “schism” their activism threatens to bring to worldwide Anglicanism, and the ways in which activists such as these can shape our personal liberties at the highest institutional levels. While the film celebrates the achievements made by queer Anglicans as they fight to transform an oppressive Christian tradition into a modern force of liberation, it never excuses the prejudices and abuses of organized religion, particularly in an era when the word “faith” is merely code for the nationalistic…

  • Stubblejumper

    In the fall of 1975, while attending the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, Doug Wilson placed an ad in the student’s newspaper, seeking to start a campus gay group. This seemingly benign action would serve as the catalyst for a dramatic unfolding of events, shaping the future of Wilson’s life. “Stubblejumper” is a 48-minute biographical docudrama on the life and work of gay activist Doug Wilson – a story filled with activism, poetry, performance, politics, and a touching yet tragic love story.

  • Happy Hour

    Set in a bar in 1960, two women share a look that launches a fantasy encounter. An homage to the women who had the courage to explore their sexuality in the mid 20th century, and a lament for those who could not. Set to the song, “Oh Regret” by singer/songwriter Mary Lorson.

  • Putting the “I” in Trans

    On June 27, 2011, the Toronto Star newspaper ran an article titled “Gay Activism Makes Comeback.” They just didn’t exactly proofread it. Filmed on location at the 2011 Trans Pride March in Toronto, Canada.

  • Transforming FAMILY

    “Transforming FAMILY” jumps directly into an ongoing conversation among trans people about parenting. It’s a beautiful snapshot of current issues, struggles and strengths of transexual, transgender and gender fluid parents (and parents-to-be) in North American society today.

  • Kiss

    An experimental reinterpretation of Andy Warhol’s 1963 silent short film of the same name, “Kiss” recontextualizes his protest against the Hays Code’s time restriction of onscreen kissing as an impassioned indictment of laws that prohibit and punish homosexuality in certain countries. Featuring a cast of performers hailing from countries where these laws exist transforming an expression of love and desire into a political protest, “Kiss” artfully challenges and resists the sanctioned condemnation and persecution LGBTQ persons confront. Selected screenings: Sicilia Queer Film Festival (2012); Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg – Freiburg International Gay Film Festival (2012); Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and…