Film Categories: Race + Ethnicity

  • Dark

    In this film, Winkler confronts the subject of the Australian aborigine through the intercutting of footage from a contemporary aborigine political demonstration with images of the past: cave drawings, the sacred Ayers Rock and the head of an old warrior. Through assertive zoom and pan shots of the rally, Winkler achieves a sense of extraordinary energy, of a generation of people coming out of oppression.

  • Gesture

    As for the two films made with Hidalgo, Ariganello assumes a role more traditionally defined as “cinematographer,” and his aptitude for composition, lighting and camera movement is skillfully in display throughout. Both works with Hidalgo are to “the real” what the films with Gehman are to “the fantastical,” and are keenly aware of the cinematic traditions from which they emerge. Each draws extensively, in style and structure, from neo-realism and observational documentary, while the function of Hidalgo’s narrator in Gesture operates to construct a story of a not-so-distant future-present, not unlike in Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962). — James Missen

  • Lunch with Fela

    “Lunch with Fela” is the filmmaker’s response to the passing of his last parent, Fela Ravett. Utilizing a combination of DV footage shot during her stay at a nearby nursing facility, excerpts from previously made 16mm films, animation sequences, plus remaining family memorabilia, the film renders the presence and absence of a much loved parent. “Lunch with Fela” is the eighth film in a series that addresses the complexities of family history and Jewish cultural identity.

  • Hello, My Name Is Herman

    “Hello, My Name Is Herman” poignantly and humorously describes the relationship between a 91-year-old Jewish man, his lesbian granddaughter and her girlfriend. This ten-minute documentary explores intergenerational and interracial relationships, coming out, aging, and the process of accepting difference and love. Awards: Audience Award for Best Short Film (Tie), Fairy Tales Festival, Calgary, AB, 2009; Mikey/Schmkey Award for Best Short Film or Video at the 2007 Toronto Inside Out Film Festival. Honourable Mention for Best Up-and-Coming Toronto Film or Video Maker Award at the 2007 Inside Out Film Festival. Special Mention at the Iris Prize Festival 2007 in Wales.

  • Berated Woman

    An Orthodox Jewish woman finds herself strangely attracted to the Aryan Supermom bent on converting her to Christianity. Both women want something from the other, but what is each willing to sacrifice to achieve her goals?

  • 3 X 16

    These three short films consist of perceptive depictions of a public square in Lima, the view from his mother’s rooftop, and work at the Toronto Film Festival revision department. The filmmaker used 16 mm as documentary format. Each film in this series is almost three-minutes long, which is the length of one roll of 16 mm film. The entire film uses in-camera editing, therefore all the editing decisions were made on location.

  • Dark Sun; Bright Shade

    “Dark Sun; Bright Shade” is a one-hour dramatic film which explores the cultural, social and political fabrics between two gay Chinese men living under parallel traditions within the Chinese social structure. Through the unfolding of events following the 1989 T’ien An Men Square Massacre in Beijing, the film focuses on Paul, a young Chinese-Canadian artist, and Kai, a foreign student in exile from mainland China, as they confront the differences in their politics, sexuality, cultural upbringing and family relationships. As they are drawn closer together it becomes obvious that, for the many displaced Chinese around the world, there lies ahead…

  • 10th Avatar

    Television’s influence is so great that it has left us completely mesmerized and has become our new form of worship. Our faith in the divine power has been challenged several times, through the ages. According to Hindu mythology an avatar appeared who relieved man’s distress and re-established the belief in God and the avatar. Nine incarnations of God or avatars have appeared thus far and the 10th avatar appeared with the fusion of mass media and formal worship. This is the story about the challenge divine worship faced as cable TV encroached our “idle” time.

  • Turumba

    “Set in a tiny Phillipine village, ‘Turumba’ focues on one family who traditionally made papier-mache animals to sell during the Turumba religious festivities. One year, a German department store buyer shows up and purchases all their stock. When she returns with an order for 500 more (this time with the word ‘Oktoberfest’ painted on them), the family’s seasonal occupation becomes year-round alienated labor. Increased production, however, creates inflated needs. Soon, virtually the entire village has gone to work on a jungle assembly line, turning out papier-maches mascots for the Munich Olympics. “Long before the town band learns to play ‘Deutschland…

  • Stone Time Touch

    “Stone Time Touch”, starring and narrated by Arsinée Khanjian, is a documentary essay which builds a layered and elusive image of Armenian identity. It is an extended meditation on the traces of Armenia as they are lived out in the homeland of imagination, in the real Armenia of today, in the Diaspora, beyond Genocide. “Award-winning Armenian-Canadian experimental filmmaker Gariné Torossian weaves together a poetic collage of memory, loss and expectation in this essay documentary of a real and imagined Armenia. Interwoven with a young woman’s journey to her homeland are the photographs and reflections of Arsinée Khanjian. As Khanjian recounts…