1,720,985 research outputs found
The Urge to Run a Lap
Get PDF"THE URGE TO RUN A LAP" is a 14-minute experimental fiction film about a middle-aged woman who goes back to visit the maternity home where she lived as a pregnant teenager. Told through text, images of the quotidian, found objects and assemblage sculpture, this work challenges dominant representations of teen pregnancy and reflects on contemporary experiences of self-representation and ways of remembering
Father Figures
Get PDFFather Figures is a 22-minute autobiographical essay film that reveals the evolution of Segura's relationship with her estranged father, and at the same time, it establishes other men that were instrumental in her upbringing: her grandfather, stepfather, and uncle. The narrative backbone of the story consists of four letters that she wrote to her father at different points in her life 10, 12, 25, and 35. Guided by a strong voice-over, the film is a love letter that follows a non-linear narrative moving back and forth between personal reflection, childhood memories, and present-time interviews with some of her father figures. Ultimately, the film is about coming to terms with her share of toxic masculinity, and at the same time, it is a cinematic documentation of the psychological process of re-parenting herself
A Collage Barbarous
Get PDFA Collage Barbarous is a short experimental film that navigates a voyage of exile and femininity, and drifts towards the embodied experience of traveling between worlds. On a train moving through Sichuan, the traveling actress meets the imaginary. Confused, she struggles with an upcoming performance of a local adaptation of Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan
Point and Line to Plane
Get PDF"Point and Line to Plane" is an 18-minute short film which depicts the psychosis that can arise when an individual attempts to extract meaning from an intense loss. Stemming from Joan Didion and Sigmund Freuds theories of "magical thinking", the film investigates the phenomenon of mental free association and irrationality endured when grieving a loved one. In 2018, I was suspended in a deep state of shock after the passing of a long-time friend and collaborator named Giacomo Grisanzio. "Point and Line to Plane" is a communion of my own journey to process, heal and document my own period of mourning and my experience of magical thinking
Still Processing
Get PDFA box of stunning family photos unearthed from storage and unseen for decades awakens lost memories as they are viewed for the first time on camera. Part narrative family drama and part personal essay film, Still Processing is an intimate, candid exploration of trauma and grief through sound and image. A document of the real-life experience confronting tragedy, and the efforts to begin the process of healing
Our Father
Get PDFOur Father is a fictional short film that tells a story of two women—a mother (Mira, 53, an immigrant from Croatia) and her daughter (Emily, 30, a born Canadian)— who are trying to set aside their differences while traveling to the cemetery where Mira’s deceased husband and Emily’s father is buried.
Various disputes happen during their time in the car: the daughter’s lack of interest in visiting the grave of her father regularly, Emily’s (in her mother’s view) masculinized appearance, their differing views on death and religion, and the mother’s strict and unforgiving attitude towards life. The main conflict arises when the mother realizes that Emily failed to buy a proper set of flowers, thus exhibiting a lack of understanding and commitment to preserving the tradition of godišnjica (a yearly visit to the grave of a deceased relative). After enduring the pain of revisiting their pasts and dealing with their ongoing interpersonal conflicts, Mira and Emily end their visit to the cemetery with an unsettling feeling that their differences will never be alleviated. The last exchange of words between them, in which Mira sends out a prayer to God in Croatian (uttering a full sentence in her native language for the first time during the film), and Emily does not understand her, hints that their oppositions might have an additional level of complexity. As they leave the cemetery, life goes back to ‘normal’, the birds start chirping and Mira and Emily go back to their every-day talk, hinting that the conflicts between them will keep reemerging over and over again, specially during the yearly godišnjica
Beyond the Screen: The Integration of XR Media in Canadian Cultural Institutions
No full textThe integration of Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) represents a paradigm shift in contemporary art and media landscapes. While XR permeates sectors ranging from gaming, real estate, advertising to education, its foray into cultural institutions like film festivals and artist-run centres (ARCs) remains an underexplored research area. Furthermore, existing literature often examines the technological facets of XR, overlooking its cultural impact.
Addressing this gap, this dissertation is a comprehensive exploration of how Toronto's cultural institutions are embracing XR, their strategic adaptations to it, the challenges encountered, and the ensuing ramifications on audience dynamics and institutional ethos. Through case studies, my research examines film festivals’ use of XR, particularly within TIFF, Hot Docs, and imagineNATIVE, the notable Art Gallery of Ontario, and pivotal ARCs including Trinity Square Video and Inter/Access.
Using a sociocultural framework, this dissertation meets and probes at the nexus of technology, artistry, institutional imperatives, access, and audience interactivity with XR. By offering insights into film festivals’ engagement with XR, emphasizing its influence on festival operations, labour and programming. The examination then shifts to the art gallery, with a spotlight on the AGO, unraveling the tensions and trade-offs of blending legacy with XR innovations. The role of ARCs takes center stage as incubators for XR experimentation and platforms for artist empowerment. This dissertation culminates in a critical discussion of the challenges posed by the technological and planned obsolescence of XR artworks in a capitalist market. It advocates for sustainable methodologies to safeguard the longevity and accessibility of such works and uncovers how artists are addressing the concern of obsolescence within their XR artistic practice.
Beyond mere technological enhancement, the integration of XR by cultural institutions intertwines with complex sociocultural, economic, and artistic nuances. This dissertation highlights the seminal role of cultural institutions in defining XR’s trajectory in the arts, making it a critical read for cultural curators, artists, scholars, and policymakers grappling with how to manage the pace of change in the emerging media landscape
Paris to Pyongyang
No full textParis to Pyongyang is a 32-minute essay film about post-Korean War era recollections presented through dual narratives: a contingent of French artists and intellectuals visiting North Korea in 1958 who created literary and artistic works (including the feature film Moranbong) about the cross-cultural encounter, and a Korean War family separation story presented from the perspective of the filmmaker’s mother, Jung-Sook Lee. The filmmaker juxtaposes the events and reframes these works and Lee's wartime trauma through a contemporary, inquiring lens. The film proposes how contingencies of language and translation, gender dynamics, and cultural power affect our understanding of socio-political histories and personal, familial memory, in pursuit of new pathways for diasporic aesthetic expressions
Revolution Moosehide
Get PDFRevolution Moosehide is a 47-minute documentary that follows Melaw Nakehko, a Dene moosehide tanner, activist, artist and actor, from the Northwest Territories. Nakehkos is an extraordinary journey of cultural resurgence and revitalization, as she learns the practice of moosehide tanning from Dene Elders across the Northwest Territories. Joined by several young women, the process of learning and practicing moosehide tanning leads to deeper realizations about Dene community, culture and identity, while also intersecting with an emergent wave of political action erupting from Indigenous movements across Turtle Island, otherwise known as Canada. This documentary and thesis situates Melaws story within an era of responsive Indigenous activism, contextualized in a lineage which follows the Idle No More movement. This is an era rooted in the important of forming grassroots organizations focused on leadership and rooted in cultural identity, with a political imperative to build vital visions of stable futures for and by Indigenous communities in Northern Canada
Butch
Get PDF“Butch” is a 7-minute romantic comedy following the trials of Butch, a large left boob who struggles with his masculinity, as he works to impress his new crush in unfortunately toxic ways. Butch may or may not end up getting the girl, but in trying he goes through anxiety, humiliation, and a transcendental experience. Shot entirely on green screen with an iPhone and animated to within an inch of its life using scraps from the internet, this film examines the tensions of normative transmasculinity from the perspective of one of its exiled subjects, the breast
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