Film Categories: Portraits

  • Playtime

    As a member of Canada’s Painters 11, the late Jack MacDonald painted in both worlds: figurative and the abstract. PLAYTIME pays homage to his dedication, spirit and wonderful subject matter–both real and imaginary. In Cinemascope. Nominated in the category of best animation at the 2010 Jutra Awards (Quebec). Honourable Mention for The Canadian Film Institute (CFI) Award for Best Canadian Animation at the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival. Part of the TAIS Eleven in Motion program.

  • Song of the Suicide’s Daughter

    Kaja Johnson was one of the few female beat poets who managed to become known to the general public. In this film, Johnson’s poem Song of the Suicide’s Daughter (1964) is articulated and reanimated using stills and animation. “I met Kay by accident in Athens and we talked a lot over coffee-we tried to start a little poetry magazine. She came back to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury. I think she became a kind of street guru. This animation is based on a poem in her book. Very loose style: photos Xeroxed and hand-coloured, bits of coloured cels and a few drawings.”…

  • Punchlines

    The filmmaker considers an early motivation to become an artist. Shot entirely on an iPhone, with original music by Doug Organ.

  • Post Card

    “POST CARD” is a love letter in black-and-white film. It was shot over a five-year period during which time Beatriz and I made several moves before separating. While living in a studio apartment in Chicago over a year later I began to write letters to her I would never send. The film represents my ongoing effort to come to terms with her loss. I was partly inspired by Jacques Derrida’s book, “Post Card”, in which he presents philosophical reflections as though they took the form of lover letters written on post cards that get lost along the way, expressing the…

  • One, two, three, dusk

    “ONE, TWO, THREE, DUSK” is a visual and auditory exploration of one woman’s life and relationships in three parts from birth to motherhood to death.

  • Milchwolken Liebe (Milky Clouds Love)

    “My balcony is my boat. Today is the 1st of May and it’s pretty loud in Kreuzberg. And hot. Shit helicopters. Get off! Now the summer can begin.” So starts Dagie Brundert’s evocation of languorous summer days. Puffy white clouds pass by in a blue sky, and milky clouds of cream in her coffee trigger memories of childhood. Past and present converge.

  • View From Here, The

    Travel is often the ultimate test of a relationship. In “The View From Here”, the filmmaker combines travel footage of picturesque Europe with journal entries, to provide insight into a relationship that’s on a seemingly downward spiral. Winner of Alabama Shout Film Festival award for Excellence in Storytelling.

  • All That Sheltering Emptiness

    “All That Sheltering Emptiness” is a meditation on elevators, hotel lobbies, hundred dollar bills, the bathroom, a cab, chandeliers, cocktails, the receptionist, arousal, and other routines in the life of a New York City callboy. Gorgeously hand-processed in full 16mm glory, this film is a collaboration between Gina Carducci (Stone Welcome Mat) and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (author of So Many Ways to Sleep Badly; editor of That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation). “All That Sheltering Emptiness” explodes the typical narratives of desire, escape and intimacy to evoke something more honest.

  • Uncle Denis?

    Director Adrian Goycoolea looks back on the life of his great-uncle Denis Pratt, a.k.a. Quentin Crisp, the notorious artist, writer and raconteur. Interviews with the extended Pratt family, Super 8 footage, and letters and essays by Crisp reveal the dual personae of the man who penned “The Naked Civil Servant” and other literary works that unapologetically revealed his sexuality. “Uncle Denis?” is a fascinating personal portrait of one of the most significant queer icons of the 20th century.

  • At Home With David Hoyle

    The “divine” David Hoyle invites us into his humble abode to share his thoughts on domesticity, creativity and mortality. A funny and poignant glimpse into the mind and the habitat of a maverick UK queer performance artist.