Film Categories: science/medicine

  • Mr. Edison’s Ear

    “An inventive exploration of the visceral nature of sound and how we learned to capture and reproduce it over time. Anchored by the discovery of the phonograph by the brilliant-and deaf-inventor Thomas Edison, this visual and conceptual collage of rich archival footage and animation playfully traces the birth of technological reproduction and the beginnings of our modern, audio-drenched world.” – Gisèle Gordon (Hot Docs Canadian Spectrum programmer) Selected Screenings: Canadian Spectrum, HotDocs, 2008; DOK Leipzig Festival, 2008

  • Shift

    A low-tech sci-fi story set in a disenfranchised, near-future post-Crash urban sprawl, a violent place with no one in authority. We meet the Switchcocks, an all-girl revenge gang who make their living by taking on vengeance contracts for other Glop residents, and running drugs. One night, Lexi, gang member by night, courier by day, hooks the gang up with the dangerously potent drug called ‘shift.’ They sample it and then they run amok, taking ‘vengeance’ on an Enclave drone – without a contract: for fun. Lexi awakens the following day and must deal with the aftermath and her own role…

  • Broken Tulips

    Edward Porris attends an appointment at a spa that caters to his specific tastes.

  • Broken Telephone

    A surreal short film in which a young woman ponders the relationship she has with her own identity.

  • Trinidad

    “Trinidad” uncovers Trinidad, Colorado’s transformation from Wild West outpost to “sex-change capital of the world,” and follows three transgender women who may steer the rural ranching town toward becoming the “transsexual mecca.”

  • Blue Tide, Black Water

    Through macro-photography, “BLUE TIDE, BLACK WATER” explores the chemical reactions of different liquids to heat. Materials such as paint, India ink, honey and wax are observed boiling and flowering in extreme close up. The resulting microcosm seems a rich primordial soup.

  • Shutter

    “Shutter” tracks the rising sun, the lengthening shadows and the darkening day of a total solar eclipse. “Shutter” is a formal exploration of the phenomenon of the sun eclipsing objects in the natural world. Inspired by footage of friend and amateur astronomer Andreas Gada’s 16mm recording of the 1980 total solar eclipse, this work captures the beauty, complexity and terror of the shifting light that precedes and accompanies a solar eclipse. Shadow, focal variance and illumination of earth-bound nature conspire along the course to the incomparable moment of totality.

  • Bridge Kids

    In the near future there are no adults, a tree house becomes a door to another dimension, and rocks release intuitive powers. Documentary, historiography and mythology collide and transform in a 16mm film showing a world of telepathic children interpreting technologies. A meditation and absurd collage of media, sci-fi cliché, and performance, “Bridge Kids” connects a research documentary on J.B Rhine and the history of ESP/ Parapsychology, with a science fiction drama portraying an adolescent’s connection with the dead.

  • Hens and Chicks

    Raised by her two moms, Hanna has always known that there are all types of families. But she’s never really thought about the logistics of it all until her friend Marco explains the process of creating chicks from eggs. Soon after, an educational trip through cyberspace has Hanna asking, “Who’s MY rooster?” “Hens and Chicks” is a short independent film that explores the meaning of family and the finding of self. Sweet and funny, this coming-of-age story plays with the universal questions we ask ourselves as parents, children, and human beings.

  • I’m Just Anneke

    “I’m Just Anneke” is a portrait of a 12-year-old girl who loves ice hockey and has a loving, close-knit family. Anneke is also a hardcore tomboy and everybody she meets assumes she’s a boy. The onset of puberty has created an identity crisis for Anneke. Does she want to be a boy or a girl when she grows up, or something in between? To give her more time to make a decision, her doctor has put her on Lupron, a hormone blocker that temporarily freezes her body in a pre-pubescent state. Despite rejection by her friends and struggles with suicidal…