Genres: narrative

  • Birthday, The

    “The Birthday” is a short drama about Sapphire, an insecure and socially challenged woman who wants to experience real connections with people, especially her own mother. However, when her mother uses tricks to set her up on a date, the truth is revealed, leaving Sapphire feeling angry and used. Sapphire is faced with the decision to confront her mother, finally realizing that she cannot change anyone no matter what she does, unless that someone is willing to make the change personally.

  • Tell Us The Truth Josephine – A Bitter Immigrant Story

    “Tell Us the Truth Josephine” is a 15-minute experimental drama about a Maltese woman’s search for “home.” Josephine struts across Canada on stilts. And for Josephine to find home she must accept the Truth. And once she does she can come off her stilts and land. Her journey is haunted by fragmented voices and images of her bloodline – bitter immigrant stories.

  • Baggage

    Martin, a 30-year-old single man, lives a regular and well-ordered life. One morning, however, a mysterious suitcase inexplicably appears, and pursues him wherever he goes: in his home, at the office, outside at lunch time. Finally escaping to a public washroom, he encounters a man he recognizes from his past. Frightened, Martin takes refuge in a toilet stall. When he comes out the man has disappeared, only to be replaced by the ever-present suitcase. Martin decides to face his fears and open the suitcase, and what he discovers inside leads him towards a richer and more poetic existence.

  • Four Genderfilms

    These four award-winning films by Catherine Crouch explore gender issues from a feminist perspective with humour and sensitivity. Vanilla Lament (6 min. 16mm 1997) Utilizing a mix of live-action, scratch and stop-motion animation techniques, “Vanilla Lament” is a humorous fantasy rendering of a sudden romantic break-up and its aftermath. This hand-crafted film, inspired by the experimental filmmakers of 1960s, won numerous awards, including a silver plaque at the 1998 Chicago International Film Festival. One Small Step (30 min. 16mm 1999) Set in South Carolina on the eve of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon walk, “One Small Step” is a dramatic…

  • Nocturne for the Fireflies

    A group of little girls parade through a forest at night, each carrying a brown paper bag that glows with firefly-like flickering light. “Nocturne for the Fireflies” is a cinematic interpretation of a dream that explores the interconnected relationships among young girls. Evoking the storytelling style of folktales or children’s lullabies, the film depicts a midnight procession of young girls as a magical and transformative collective.

  • La Vie en Pellicule

    “‘La vie en pellicule’ is film about a promise I made my son at his birth. He was born at the end of the year 2006 when negatives of family snapshots and precious moments are rare. I promised him that he would grow up with negatives as records of our lives.” – Lise Beaudry Commissioned for CFMDC ReGeneration. Image description: A scratched, blue-tinted archival image of two girls playing in a swimming pool.

  • 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.

  • Films of Su Friedrich, The: Volumes 1-5

    Digitally re-mastered from the original 16mm negatives, this collection of 13 films is essential for every library or media centre, as well as women’s and cinema studies programs. Since the 1970s, Friedrich’s skillful mix of experimental narrative and documentary forms, filled with provocative feminist and lesbian themes, has made her a groundbreaking member of the avant-garde film community and a pivotal force in the establishment of Queer Cinema. This collection of DVDs includes the filmmaker’s classic works such as SINK OR SWIM, HIDE AND SEEK, THE TIES THAT BIND, DAMNED IF YOU DON’T, and THE ODDS OF RECOVERY, as well…

  • Films of Su Friedrich, The: Volume 2 – Damned If You Don’t

    “Damned If You Don’t” is Friedrich’s subversive and ecstatic response to her Catholic upbringing. Blending conventional narrative technique with impressionistic camerawork, symbols and voice-overs, this film creates an intimate study of sexual expression and repression. Featuring Peggy Healey as a young nun tormented by her desire for the sultry irresistible Ela Troyano. Languages: English, German PLUS BONUS FILMS: RULES OF THE ROAD 31 minutes, Color, USA, 1993, 16mm RULES OF THE ROAD is the story of a love affair and its demise through one of the objects shared by the couple: an old beige station wagon with fake wood paneling.…