Tag: short film

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Arts

Concordia Film Festival: Online

The Concordia Film Festival (CFF) is returning online this weekend for its 47th edition. Run by Concordia students across the university, this year’s festival was organized by film animation student, Mélissa Rousseau, and film production student, Juan Opsina.

Still from The Mother’s Land, directed by Kevin Rahardjo from Indonesia.

With respect to social distancing, the planning for the festival occurred entirely online. The process, while smooth, was not hiccup free.

“We’ve lost a lot of our talks and workshops,” said Rousseau, “but fortunately this allowed us to accept all submissions from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and create three mixed screenings dedicated to Concordia students.”

While the festival doesn’t present themed selections, the CFF is proud to feature diverse voices and experiences.

“Almost half of our Spotlight screenings are BIPOC student films,” explained Rousseau.

Still from Tender Hearts, film directed by Lauren Jevnikar from the United States.

After the opening speech at 1:30 p.m. on June 20, Rousseau and Opsina will jump straight into their only panel, Women In Film Education (W.I.F.E), an event discussing female representation in film production. Rousseau is particularly looking forward to the international student Spotlight interviews, conducted by the Head Spotlight Programmers. There are four Spotlight categories: Lights Out (genre films), Visions (underrepresented voices), Insight (documentaries), and Kaleidoscope (experimental), each containing several films from students around the world.

The entire festival will be held on Twitch for free, accessible, and high quality viewing around the world.

 

 

 

Rousseau’s suggested BIPOC watch list:

From Concordia:

Guardian (Misha Bellerive, Concordia film animation student)

Mitochondrial (Dir. Laura Kamugisha, Concordia film production student)

Hyphen (Dir. Laura Kamugisha, Concordia film production student)

 

From elsewhere:

The Lost Village (Dir. Kaelo Iyizoba, Nigeria)

Psychosis (Paolo Cesti, USA)

Greenwood (Dir. Benjamin McGregor, Canada)

Midden (Dir. Adriana Gramly, USA)

Women of Steel (Dir. Miriam Muhiie, Egypt)

Don’t Shoot the Messenger (Dir. Bianca Malcom, USA)

Pass (Dir. Elika Abdollahi, Iran)

Gay As in Happy: A Queer Tragedy (Dir. Jordana Valerie Allen-Shim, Canada)

The Mother’s Land (Dir. Kevin Rahardjo, Indonesia)

Sleepwalker (Dir. Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung, USA)

Fun to Cook (Dir. Dongjun Kim, USA)

 

For more information visit:

https://www.concordiafilmfestival.com 

https://www.facebook.com/concordiafilmfest 

https://www.instagram.com/cffconcordiafilmfestival/ 

And to be a part of the audience, watch Concordia Film Festival’s live stream through Twitch on June 20 and 21 here: https://www.twitch.tv/concordiafilmfestival/

Photos courtesy of the Concordia Film Festival (CFF).

Categories
Student Life

Exploring identity through film

Photo courtesy of Jackie Batsinduka

Jackie Batsinduka explores loss and family history in Geni

“Growing up as a child of two survivors of the [Rwandan] genocide, the big thing for my family—and I think it’s true of many people’s family—is that it’s not really talked about,” said Jackie Batsinduka, a Concordia communications studies graduate. “My mom lost the majority of her immediate family, except for two brothers, and my dad lost his entire family. So imagine that, then you have a kid two years later.”

Jackie Batsinduka is a rising filmmaker and recent Concordia communication studies graduate. Photo courtesy of Jackie Batsinduka.

Starting on April 7,1994 and lasting about 100 days, the Rwandan genocide resulted in the mass murder of nearly one million people, the majority of whom were Tutsis. Batsinduka was born in Ottawa just two years after the genocide. “I guess it was easier to just forget and live your life,” said Batsinduka, “focus on this new chapter.” Although her family rebuilt their lives and eventually settled in Gatineau, Batsinduka explained how the past would come up in small ways, no matter how much they tried to push it away.

“Whenever there’d be a class project that had to do with your family tree, I’d be like ‘I don’t know,’” said Batsinduka, with a shrug. “Then as a six-year-old, having to explain to your class like, ‘yup, doesn’t go higher than my parents; unfortunately I don’t know anything else’ and everyone else can’t really relate.” Because her parents hardly spoke about the genocide, Batsinduka said she grew up feeling as though asking questions about her family’s history was too painful. “I’m kind of embarrassed to say it,” said Batsinkduka, “but I also wasn’t, like, out there seeking to know more.”

Throughout her childhood, Batsinduka was fascinated with how TV shows and movies could bring people’s imagination to life, despite not thinking of herself as imaginative. “As I got older and into high school, I realized ‘hey, I can make this stuff,’” she said, with a laugh. Batsinduka’s filmmaking career began in high school where she’d make amateur videos with her friends in media club. In CÉGEP and eventually at Concordia, she further explored her multimedia passion and continued developing her unique voice.

After graduating from communication studies at Concordia in summer 2018, Batsinduka delved into writing the script for her first project post-graduation, titled Geni. The short film tells the story of a girl estranged from her mother, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, who is invited back to her childhood home at her mother’s request. Batsinduka is both writing, directing and co-starring in Geni, which explores how one family is impacted by the genocide, the intergenerational trauma carried by the children of survivors, and how each family member’s unique experiences feed into one another.

Christine Kayirangwa, Batsinduka’s mother, was born in Kigali, Rwanda. Photo courtesy of Jackie Batsinduka.

“Whenever there’d be a class project that had to do with your family tree, I’d be like ‘I don’t know,’” said Batsinduka, with a shrug. “Then as a six-year-old, having to explain to your class like, ‘yup, doesn’t go higher than my parents; unfortunately I don’t know anything else’ and everyone else can’t really relate.”

“This project is an opportunity to heal, not just for the Rwandans involved in the making of this film, but for everyone who will watch it,” writes Batsinduka in her director’s notes. “By bringing Geni to life, I can thankfully now say that my identity as the daughter of Rwandan genocide survivors is something I have begun to claim.”

Geni is also the shortened, Americanized nickname for the main character, Mugeni. Mugeni means ‘bride’ in Kinyarwanda, one of the mother tongues of Rwanda. Batsinduka’s mother, Christine Kayirangwa, has no acting experience but is also co-starring in the short film as Geni’s estranged mother. “Having her support and her confidence in me, and trusting me that this is a story worth being told and that I can tell it, has been amazing,” said Batsinduka. “Just her willingness to embark on this exploration of how this story could change our lives, or our relationship.” Though Batsinduka’s father passed away a few years ago, before this film was conceptualized, she likes to think that he’s smiling down on her and Kayirangwa as they explore their shared history together.

Identity reconciliation is a central theme in Geni, as is profound loss and the cyclical nature of family dynamics, which Batsinduka feels everyone can relate to. “The film is for everyone, but it’s especially for my community,” said Batsinduka. “There are nuances that are very much for people of that community, and that was important to me […] to not hold back on the audience. This film will definitely leave you thinking.”

Geni is scheduled to film in early May, and is aiming to premiere at festivals in summer 2019. This year marks the 25-year commemoration of the Rwandan genocide, which took place from April 7 to mid-July 1994. Batsinduka is holding a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo from March 19 to April 16.

Feature photo courtesy of Jackie Batsinduka

Categories
Arts

The art of questioning

Movie poster for Gina Haraszti’s Orison
Photo by Anne Garrity.

Gina Haraszti’s artistic career developed as fast as a Polaroid with the worldwide success of Waning and the release of two new short films. On Sept. 22, film production MFA student, Haraszti, will present a public screening of her thesis work at the De Sève Cinema. Haraszti will be showing a triptych: a trilogy of short experimental films, revolving around questions provoked as a result of the loss of a loved one.

Compelled by a tragedy, she fills her characters with relatable experiences that are sure to impact all those who attend.

“This is how the world makes me feel,” says Haraszti. Each film asks “What if?”— showing the various choices the characters make as they cope with grief. Haraszti’’s style strays away from commercial blockbusters to capture those small but ephemeral moments in life.

“It’s not just about breaking the rules,” says Haraszti, “but making a better film without them.”

Haraszti’s art is constantly evolving as she bares her soul to her viewers. She has edited and re-edited her works numerous times in pursuit of perfectly capturing emotions that many would deem too complex for film.

Nominated for best short at the Toronto International Film Festival, Waning is the critical highlight of the screening. In the film, truth and memory are put to a test. The audience becomes a witness to not only a murder, but a recurring memory of a murder. Haraszti invites you to figure out the mystery, where clues are hidden in the objects and characters’ expressions.

REI, a new addition to her portfolio, tells the story of an orphan who loses touch with reality as she struggles with the loss of her parents. REI is inspired by the Japanese term Hikikomori; a phenomenon where adolescents and young adults withdraw from the world. Objects become reminders, the house an isolated bubble and the outside world a threat. The young shut-in must decide whether to gather her strength or disappear into an inner world.

Those with an appreciation for retro film will find something to enjoy in the other film, Orison, owing to the poetic atmosphere and black-and-white quality. After the death of his rabbi father, a young scientist struggles to find an answer within his father’s religious belief and his scientific knowledge. It is the classic debate between reason and faith in the face of loss.

“Why see movies? To forget about our lives and live someone else’s for a bit,” remarks Haraszti “When we go back to our life, we can change it.”

The director compares her trilogy to a fractured mirror. Although these films are connected, they reflect three different choices, none of which are right or wrong, for there is no correct process of grieving — “The answer is in the searching.”

“A good film is a Polaroid of a state of mind,” says Haraszti, inviting us all to search for our own answers.

The screening will take place on Sept 22 at 8pm in the De Seve Cinema Hall, 1400 De Maisonneuve W. Admission is Free

Categories
Arts

40 minutes or less

A still from Quebecois director Patrick Doyon's Dimanche/Sunday, which has been nominated for an Oscar.
A still from Quebecois director Patrick Doyon's Dimanche/Sunday, which has been nominated for an Oscar.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is as good a strategy as any for predicting the winners in the live action short and animated short categories on your Academy Award ballot. The 10 nominees are rarely screened outside specialized and indie film festivals. Without “big” names behind them and with limited budgets, it’s hard for them to generate any buzz, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to gauge which films will have caught the attention of the voters.
Academy rules state that a film is considered “short” if it is under 40 minutes in length. A great short film won’t try to pack as much emotional punch in its limited run-time as its feature-length counterpart. Instead, in 40 minutes or less, it will masterfully tell a great tale that won’t leave the audience feeling shortchanged.

Live action short film
In Ireland’s Pentecost, altar boy Damian is relieved from his duties when he accidentally makes the church’s priest fall down a few stairs during mass. The boy gets a chance to redeem himself, undo the punishment his father dealt (no watching or listening to Liverpool’s finals game!) and save face in front of his other Father when he is called upon to replace an altar boy who was ejected from the church after it was discovered that he was never baptised.
Time Freak is the shortest and most inventive entry in the category. Stillman has invented a time machine, but he is stuck going back just a few hours in time to perfect interactions he has with the woman of his dreams and the man who runs his dry cleaner’s. Stillman’s friend Evan concocts a plan to get him out of his rut.
In The Shore, a man returns to Northern Ireland after 25 years in the United States to make amends with a childhood friend. Written, directed and produced by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, In the Name of the Father), The Shore is sweet, and surprisingly touching.
In Raju, Jan and Sarah Fischer are a German couple traveling to Calcutta to adopt an orphan boy. Before the paperwork even goes through, the boy, Raju, goes missing. The most heart-wrenching short in the bunch, Raju features an amazing performance by Wotan Wilke Möhring.
The short that I think will take home the hardware come Oscar night is Norway’s Tuba Atlantic. With just six days to live, a grumpy man with a disdain for seagulls (he shoots them out of the sky and stomps on their eggs) wants to reconnect with the brother he lost touch with decades ago. With the help of a young girl, he rediscovers his youthful energy and zest.

Animated short film
If you needed proof that not all animation is for children, look no further than U.K. nominee A Morning Stroll. At just seven minutes, the gory film starts with a man in 1959 strolling down a New York City block and noticing a chicken doing the same. Later, it’s 2009 and the times have changed. Fifty years after that, the same block is unrecognizable.
Canada is well-represented in the animated short film category with two entries, Dimanche/Sunday and Wild Life. Quebec’s Patrick Doyon directs the former, about a boy who imagines a more fun Sunday for himself than the one in which his family forces him to take part. The latter is directed by the Alberta duo Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby and tells the story of an Englishman who moves to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century and sends letters back home. The life he writes about is much rosier than the one he is experiencing.
As much as I would love to root for the Canadian films come Oscar night, they are up against some stiff competition. Pixar-backed La Luna was not available for screening by press time. It tells the story of a boy’s lunar adventure with his father and grandfather.
My pick for the win in the live action short category is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. After a natural disaster ravages his city, Lessmore finds solace in a library where books and music give him and his townspeople culture and hope. Flying Books is incredibly animated and is a true feast for the eyes, mind and heart.

 

Cinema du Parc will be showing the nominated shorts as of Friday,

Feb. 10. For details, go to www.cinemaduparc.com.

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