Film Categories: Childhood

  • Lamúria (Lament)

    Bruno is assigned the task of composing a poem for his literature class. The construction of his verses runs through a journey of self-investigation in an attempt to declare his feelings for his teacher. Portuguese with English subtitles

  • Akin

    “Akin” marks the first creative collaboration between Toronto-based artist Chase Joynt (Everyday to Stay) and NYC-based filmmaker Brooke Sebold (Red Without Blue). With haunting suburban visuals backed by the rich sounds of Toronto based-band Ohbijou, “Akin” powerfully engages in a relationship between an Orthodox Jewish mother and her transgender son as they navigate silent secrets of a shared past. Hauntingly beautiful. Rarely have I watched a film that is such a perfect union of parsimony and punch. It left me breathless. – Michelle Stone Perfectly timed and sequenced, “Akin” is so resolutely personal in it’s detailing. Joynt points to a…

  • 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.

  • Teens Like Phil

    Inspired by the alarming increase in real-life tragedies involving high school bullying and suicide, “Teens Like Phil” tells the story of a gay teen, Phil, and one of his classmates, Adam, who brutally bullies him. The film explores the complicated and painful circumstances surrounding this relationship in an effort to better understand the roots of this epidemic. Phil’s story is ultimately a tale of survival and transcendence from this cycle of abuse.

  • My clothes were dragging me back

    In “My clothes were dragging me back”, I have continued to work with Delia Derbyshire’s radio show for the BBC: ”Inventions for Radio: Dreams” (1964). The stories, which are about being chased and awkward situations, are combined with found footage from a 1968 educational film about a school in Toronto that embraced various types of pedagogical practice. Short edits of children in different states of mind are repeated, like a pickup on a turntable stuck on a track. A superimposed image, a kaleidoscope moves quickly and serves as a white noise on these portraits.

  • Angels

    This film shows the entertaining and joyful experiences of children in a series of creative workshops. With the help of artists, children make kites, poetry, music, movement, dance and film in Toronto schools – both normal and special education classrooms – as well as Scadding House, headquarters for the Inner City Angels in Toronto. The film provides a useful reference guide for alternative teaching methods and techniques for interaction between teachers and students.

  • The Prince’s Sword

    “The Prince’s Sword” is based on the true story of the conflict that arose in the director’s pacifist home when her 5-year old son wanted a toy sword. Reflecting the changing face of family, this film explores how two mothers struggle to guide their son’s masculinity in a peaceful, feminist fashion, while still honouring his boyhood. It puts a contemporary twist on the universal challenge of parenting as a complex process of letting go of what you love the most. When our children challenge our values, when it is right to hold on and when is it right to reconsider?

  • Gay Goth Scene

    For a young boy school is a living hell. He decided to put an end to it. “Gay Goth Scene“ is a mixture of short film & music video, that deals with a worldwide social disease: bullying.

  • 100 Butches #9: Ruby

    A catholic convent schoolgirl remembers her first gay crush.

  • Kissing Drew

    Inside a drab middle school in 1992, a sexually-confused eighth-grader attempts to regain his dignity after being bullied by a sex-obsessed ‘cool kid’ whom he privately fantasizes about.