Genres: Animation

  • Why Must The Sun Go Down?

    When a little nightingale wonders to herself why the sun must go down at night, she decides to embark upon a journey. She first meets the Sunkeeper, and asks him why he sets the sun at night. The Sunkeeper explains that it is so the Starmaker knows when it’s time to put stars in the sky. The Nightingale’s journey then leads her to the Starmaker, the Flowermaker, and other celestial creatures of our world… At last she discovers that the sun must go down so that it can rise again in the morning, and that, just like everything else in…

  • Sky Room

    Someone is missing. Plants grow, but at what cost? Technology threatens and seduces as humans attempt to solve a mystery through telepathy and mirrors. Stainless steel and broken glass strewn about an intergalactic discotheque.  Commissioned by the Chicago Film Archives and made in collaboration with sound artist Brian Kirkbride, with footage and sound from the archive chopped, manipulated and arpeggiated into a fertile mix of anthem and narrative.

  • Violet and June

    You know that feeling when you realize that everyone you know is going to die and so nothing you do will ever be of consequence in comparison to the movements of the universe and then you accidentally fall in love with your best friend? …Yeah, me neither. Rescued from the depths of an existential crisis by a butt joke, Violet falls in love with her best friend June. Violet tries to confess, but it’s never the right time: June’s boyfriend is there, June stands her up, Violet’s away for a month animating bug fights—but her feelings keep coming back. And…

  • Open Recess

    This short and sweet animation charmingly depicts the true story of a childhood romance between two girls.

  • RUPTURE

    By and large humans tend to create narratives about themselves, then often make great effort to conform reality to that narrative. This was not a threat to planetary survival 10,000 years ago when we were scattered in small bands worshipping local deities and relying on nearby gathered foodstuffs with only stone tools. It is quite an other thing when we are packed into mega-cities with nuclear weapons and ambiguous connectivities, along with relationships imbued in instruments that far exceed an individual’s capacity to fully comprehend or to realibly navigate our various systems. Sequence in order of appearance: Secret Bunker –…

  • Catalyst

    Being natural born pattern seekers, we are forever looking for this or that clue to help explain what otherwise might appear unfathomable. Fundamentally Catalyst represents a type of diary without dates, of memories reconstructed to formulate my story. A story that takes place in time and space, shaped by the earth and sky Merging super 8 mm footage that I filmed many years ago with some of my more recent DSLR/HDV tape footage, Catalyst investigates how each medium shaped my story as well as the gaps in time when each sequence was filmed. Filmed on location by Kent Tate: Toronto,…

  • FU377

    Basic dignity of queer people in India is under attack, yet again. The scorching IPC Section 377 is re-unleashed to police to criminalise “gay sex” in India. While the law and the Supreme Court dated themselves back a few hundred years, an adorable Indian mother has her knowledge of “gay sex” in mint condition, wheeling out a tidbit or two for her heartbroken queer daughter in an effort to cheer her up. The pair are shocked into action by the Supreme Court’s latest rejection.

  • Whatever Happened to Jackie Shane?

    Toronto, 1963. Jackie Shane – a black, queer, soul-singing, flamboyant Nashville-born, Toronto-based musician – had a hit song on the charts. The song was a sensation, and with the lyrics “Tell her that I’m happy, tell her that’s I’m gay; tell her I wouldn’t have it any other way”, it was also an underground gay anthem. But before being able to fully enjoy the fruits of this success, Jackie suddenly disappeared. Uncovering this forgotten piece of Toronto queer music history, artists Hortie and Reynolds recreate Jackie’s story using original shadow puppets, overhead animation and stop motion techniques. Follow Jackie through…

  • Midnight at the Continental

    Toronto, 1955. In the heart of Chinatown, a new bar opens: The Continental. It’s dark, grimy, and attracts an unusual clientele. Local tabloids scream in 20-point font: “Sapphos overflow Chinatown!” The bar becomes the meeting place for two of Toronto’s marginalized communities: Chinese-Canadian men and lesbians living “the life” full time. Recounting this forgotten piece of Toronto queer history, artists Hortie and Reynolds tell the story of Toronto’s first long-standing lesbian bar using original shadow puppets, overhead projector animation and archival images. Pull a stool up to the bar and watch lesbians and Chinese men stand side by side, battling…

  • Meet Me Under the Clock

    “Meet Me Under the Clock” explores a little-known time in Toronto’s LGBTQ history when an underground Halloween tradition became an annual confrontation between an invisible gay community and a fascinated, often hateful public. “Meet Me Under the Clock” tells the story of Halloween at the St Charles Tavern, a Yonge Street gay bar, throughout the 1970s. Each year, thousands of straight spectators would gather to throw eggs and jeer at the men attending the bar’s annual drag party. This unknown Toronto history highlights the role that LGBTQ spaces play in providing sanctuary and community, the complicated relationship between the LGBTQ…