Film Categories: comedy

  • Odyssey in August

    This comedy depicts a troubled young man’s journey towards self-knowledge, his attempts to find his place in the world. In the crazy spirit of Federico Fellini, “Odyssey in August” interweaves flashback, fantasy, and reality. The hero, August Dunlop, is trapped in a line up in a government waiting room; we follow August’s imaginative stream-of-consciousness through a series of ultra-fantastic places and situations.

  • Of Lines and Men… and Some Women

    In this film the artist-animator is shown in conflict with himself. His creations springing from his own befuddled unconscious begin to metamorphosize; initially in his absence and then in full view of their dismayed creator. The battle rages on as he tries to control the images flashing by on the screen. He wants to create something nice for a change. Something beautiful. But alas, his line goes wild and has ideas of its own. Luckily for us his demons, though charged with pain and anger at an unjust world, are also infused with humour, warmth and a great deal of…

  • Oh Dad II

    In this continuation of “Oh Dad!,” a young boy expresses his deep concern about environmental issues in his diary. Arguing with his father, the boy tries to convince him that although he is younger, he has serious opinions. He talks about national security, militarization, and acid rain. The boy grapples with what he sees as the collective responsibility of the adult world as a whole, and the responsibility of his own father, a scientist, for the damaged environment and the resulting disease, hunger and pollution. Despite the seriousness of the issues addressed, “Oh Dad II” is as warmly humorous as…

  • Our Hero: The True Story of Virgil Huffenmeister

    “Our Hero” is a mockudrama chronicling the life and times of Virgil Huffenmeister. The film traces his story from young orphan to international superstar and his eventual downfall. This short comedy touches on such subjects as the death penalty, instant celebrity, and Elvis Presley.

  • Patriotism 1

    Wieland’s kinetic romp casts David Shackman as an overexposed sleeper dogged by a patriotic march of tube steaks that finally refigures him as our most familiar icon of freedom. This pixillated short about hot dogs is the latest of Wieland’s early film works to be restored to circulation.

  • Pearl Mad

    Fantasy is her only refuge as Mae spends the last day of her life at the Gothic Insemination Laboratory, where she works and struggles with her role as a “passive collaborator.” An exoticised portrait of a WASP hunted by Bees. In a private allegory for despair, the protagonist, Mae, unfolds a personal mythology of sex and honey in Pearl and Glitter. Vowing never to return, Mae embarks on an absurd Suicide-Quest with the “good seeds” of man!

  • People Have Their Strife Now and Then

    Less is more, and it’s humorously proven as people are told to “Stand on the X” while the camera records them. Although they’re asked to do nothing, of course they do everything but. Personalities are revealed through a minimalist format.

  • Pleasure Film (Ahmed’s Story)

    “In a compelling narrative, a woman relates the trials of a hungry man who will go to great lengths to be fed. This latest work by Ann Marie Fleming once again demonstrates the artist’s delicious sense of the absurd. Featuring Valerie Buhagiar, Howard and His Doghouse and the off-screen presence of Ahmed, a master of tall tales.” – Images Festival of Independent Film & Video, Toronto, 1995

  • Salma!

    As Hadi is swept into a flood of childhood memories from Lebanon, he steps into the dreamlike whimsical world of Salma Zahore. A creature that encapsulates both the conflicts of his life and his declaration of love to the world. Neither male nor female, neither devout nor an atheist, neither dutiful nor deviant, both sexual yet celibate. Faceless, yet the face of hope for so many around them.

  • The Mysterious Moon Men of Canada

    A filmmaker searches for two Canadians who flew to the moon in 1959, but because they were Canadian, were too modest to tell anybody.