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Image: Coconut/Cane & Cutlass (1994) by Michelle Mohabeer

Midi Onodera burst on the indie film scene in the early 1980s as a groundbreaking new talent. Her films were raw, powerful and audacious. Since those days, her work has won growing acclaim and has been featured in numerous international exhibitions and screenings and included in the collections of may art galleries, libraries, and universities.

 

The Complete Set includes Collected Works Vol. 1-3, 365: A Movie A Day, and alphagirls. Individual volumes are also available to purchase.

 

Volume One

This DVD presents a selection of Onodera’s early work (1981-1985) and includes her notorious film, “Ten Cents a Dance (Parallax)” which created a storm of controversy on the lesbian and gay film festival circuit. These eight short films tackle a range of challenging subjects, showcasing Onodera’s interest in storytelling and experimental technique, and providing insights into the artist’s early stylistic development.

 

The Bird That Chirped on Bathurst

Canada / 4min / 1981 / sound / b/w

 

Idiot's Delight

Canada / 4min / 1983 / sound / b&w

 

Home Was Never Like This

Canada / 8min / 1983 / sound / b&w

 

Ville - Quelle Ville?

Canada / 4min / 1984 / sound / colour

 

A Performance by Jack Smith

Canada / 5min / 1984 - 1992 / sound / colour

 

The Dead Zone

Canada / 3min / 1985 / sound / colour

 

Made in Japan

Canada / 3min / 1985 / sound / colour

 

Ten Cents a Dance (Parallax)

Canada / 28min / 1985 / sound / colour

 

With additional material:

  • Interview with “Tom Waugh: Ten Cents” (2007) 9:26
  • Interview with “Judith Mayne: Encounters” (2008) 7:58
  • Interview with “Midi Onodera: Early Transitions” (2008) 7:02
  • “Under Construction: Midi Onodera’s Early Films” by Kathleen Mullen (PDF essay)

 

Volume Two

This DVD collection features the mid-career film and television work of Midi Onodera. Focusing on selected works from 1988 to 1990, this volume includes Onodera’s experimental documentary, “The Displaced View.” Set against the background of suppressed Japanese-Canadian history, the film traces a personal search for identity and pride through the stories of three generations of women.

 

Then/Now

Canada / 30min / 1988 / sound / colour

 

The Displaced View

Canada / 52min / 1988 / sound / colour

 

General Idea – Artist’s Profile

Canada / 4min / 1989 / sound / colour

 

David Cronenberg – Artist’s Profile

Canada / 4min / 1990 / sound / colour

 

Heartbreak Hoteru

Canada / 30min / 1990 / sound / colour

 

With additional material:

  • Interview with Kass Banning: “Displaced Views” (2008) 10:15
  • Interview with Monika Kin Gagnon: “Experimental Innovations” 10:50
  • Interview with Midi Onodera: “Televisions” (2008) 6:47
  • "The Displaced View and the Limits of Knowledge” by Nadine Sivak (PDF essay)

 

Volume Three

This DVD collection contains selected work by Midi Onodera produced from 1995 to 2002, including her award-winning film “The Basement Girl,” and the feature “Skin Deep.” The short films in this DVD volume are adventurous explorations of multiple film and video formats – from 16 mm and super 8 film, to analogue and digital toy cameras (including the Lomographic Supersampler, a modified Nintendo Game Boy camera; and the Intel Mattel computer microscope). The films are sensitive poetic ruminations on loss: the ending of relationships, the failure of perception, and the outsiders aloneness. In contrast, the feature film “Skin Deep,” a riveting psychological drama about obsession, relationships and sexuality, leads us into worlds where people are never who they appear to be.

 

Skin Deep

Canada / 81min / 1995 / sound / colour

 

The Basement Girl

Canada / 12min / 2000 / sound / colour

 

Slightseer

Canada / 4min / 2001 / sound / colour

 

Nowbody Knows

Canada / 4min / 2002 / sound / colour

 

Includes additional material:

  • Interview with Judith Mayne: “The Basement Girl” (2008) 13:34
  • Interview with Midi Onodera: “Space Between Frames” (2008) 6:26
  • "More Than One: Onodera” by Heather Keung (PDF essay)
  • “Knowledge in the Body: Skin Deep” by Nadine Sivak (PDF essay)

 

365: A Movie A Day

In 2006 and 2007, Onodera created a short video every day for the year and posted them on the website. These daily movies are diminutive slices of life in short film, sometimes funny, sometimes unsettling, always thought provoking. Running between 30 and 60 seconds, they were shot with a variety of toy cameras and digital video formats and are designed for viewing on mobile devices. All of them are available on this DVD.

 

With additional material:

  • Interview with Kass Banning: “Screens and Frames” (2008) 5:15
  • Interview with Janine Marchessault: “Reflections on Micro Movies” (2008) 11:50
  • Interview with Midi Onodera: “A Movie a Day” (2008) 8:06
  • “Mini-Cinema: A Digital Diary for iPod” by Catherine Russell (PDF essay)
  • “A Movie a Day and other Film Calendars” by Michael Zryd (PDF essay)

 

alphagirls

alphagirls is a collection of cyberperformances by three internationally acclaimed Canadian performance artists: Kinga Araya, Louise Liliefeldt and Tanya Mars that explores non-linear, interactive narrative structure within the realm of recorded performance. The interactive DVD features three individual works that can be viewed through a multiplicity of avenues with the use of your DVD remote control. In collaboration with each artist, Onodera has directed and designed each performance’s interactive possibilities to allow the viewer full control over the flow of each piece. Navigate each performance through the instructions specified by each artist, or choose your own route to experience each of these three prolific works in new and exciting ways.

 

GROUNDED (III) a performance by Kinga Araya (15 min)
QUARTER AFTER a performance by Louise Liliefeldt (15 min)
MY DINNER WITH WOOFIE a performance by Tanya Mars (15 min)

Midi Onodera: Collected Works

C$75.00Price
  • Artist(s)
    Midi Onodera

     

    Year
    2010

     

    Runtime
    Volume One: 87 min
    Volume Two: 120 min
    Volume Three: 100 min
    365 Days: 265 min
    Alphagirls: 45 min

     

    Language
    English

     

    Publisher
    Daruma Pictures Inc

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TERRITORY & SOLIDARITY: The daily work of CFMDC takes place in Tkaronto (Toronto) which is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaty signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. We also acknowledge The Dish with One Spoon treaty between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee that covers the land of what is now called southern Ontario. We work with the knowledge of the importance of recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the four First Nations Principles of OCAP®. As a Media Arts organization we draw your attention to the work of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC). As part of  anti-colonial solidarity, CFMDC board and staff proudly commits to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Calls to support PACBI and the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) come from Palestinian civil society and are grassroots strategies opposing the colonization of Palestine by directly targeting complicity.

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Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre

209 - 401 Richmond Street West  

 Toronto, ON, M5V 3A8

  416-588-0725

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