Film Categories: Work by Women

  • Observatory, The

    An ambient track of evening sounds accompanies rephotographed sketches of the night sky by Jerry Spevak. “The Observatory” turns the heavens on its head: the blackness of space becomes the white of the page, the stars and galaxies precise points of black graphite. The pages of Spevak’s sketchbook are animated to capture the rotation of and movement through a vast, spectacular universe. Selected screenings: Toronto International Film Festival, 2004; Best of the LIFT $99 No Excuses Film Festival, Toronto, 2004

  • Living Space

    “Living Space” is a film about the relationship between architecture and illness which follows the construction of a new cancer care centre designed by architect Frank Gehry. It traces the process of creating a space specially designed for people affected by cancer, a patient-centred approach which attempts to counter the alienating atmosphere of the hospital. This was Gehry’s first commission since the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and his first building in the U.K.

  • Miracle

    The risks and complications of postponing pregnancy are the starting point for this 36-year-old’s anxious journey down the long road to reproduction. In seven jam-packed minutes, our intrepid filmmaker falls in love, struggles with infertility, gets pregnant, worries about miscarriage, takes a holiday, tries to be a good pregnant person and inevitably goes into labour. Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster ride in the lo-fi, heartfelt, high stakes tale of the miracle of life.

  • Coconut/Cane & Cutlass

    The title of “Coconut/Cane & Cutlass” represents the psyche behind the collective memory, history and imagination of Indo-Caribbean people. The film is a mythic/poetic rumination on exile, displacement, and nationhood from the perspective of an Indo-Caribbean lesbian who migrated to Canada twenty years ago. Intersections of the autobiographical voice (in the realm of mythic/memory and the personal) co-mingle with the historical, to produce a film that is neither an “official historical document” nor a “personal history.” Instead, “Coconut/Cane & Cutlass” is a hybrid fusion of the autobiographical, historical and experiential, in an episodic structure that is richly textured and layered…

  • Working Portraits

    A document in the form of a portrait. Shot in June 2000 at Philip Hoffman’s Independent Imaging Retreat in Mount Forest, Ontario, this films stays close to the participants and the film medium itself as they work on their projects. With Becka Barker, Helen Hill, Deirdre Logue, Kelly Krotine, Alexis Rubenstein (1975-2002) and Karyn Sandlos. Thanks to Phil Hoffman, Sabastjan Henrickson of Niagara Custom Lab in Toronto, and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto. “Process must not be viewed as a goal or an end in itself, nor must it be confused with an infinite perpetuation of itself.” –…

  • Solo

    A single gal venturing into a bar finds a groove all on her own.

  • Still to Go

    “Still to Go” depicts an existential roadblock. An animated character finds himself in an immobile walk cycle while attempting to cross the street. The ‘don’t walk’ signal is relentless and takes on a life of its own. The character seems fated to an unmoving walk cycle when his environment revolves to reveal the layers of his movements. Jack is exposed as a series of images at different stages in time. Still to go deals with cycles, layers transformation and rebirth. Selected screenings: Montreal World Film Festival 2005; Vancouver International Film Festival 2005; Los Angeles International Short Film Festival 2005.

  • Swing

    “Swing” was rotoscoped from a 16mm print of the filmmaker’s son on a swing. The drawings were then scanned and assembled digitally.

  • Boy

    The visual poetics of Vancouver are brought to light as the filmmaker reflects on the cities she has lived in, motherhood and the birth of her first son. Image description: A blurry and rain-soaked streetscape as viewed through a car windshield.

  • Birdlings Two

    In this experimental documentary, an animation the filmmaker’s father made with Norman McLaren decades ago becomes a meditation on art, invention, fathers and daughters. “A delightfully personal short documentary.” – Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun “Sweet and observant, with a lovely conclusion.” – Eye Weekly, Toronto Selected screenings & awards: CBC Zed (broadcast); Toronto International Film Festival; Honorable Mention, Best Short Doc, Slamdance; Silverdocs Documentary Festival; Moving Pictures: MadCat Women’s International Film Festival. For more information: www.birdlings.com