*Subject to Change
*Current as of April 17, 2025
All events are available for registered participants only. To learn more about the conference, click here. These events are not open to LIFT Members or the public. Members and non-members can view information on our Seasonal Workshops here.
A PDF of the program guide will be available shortly.
All events will be held at LIFT: 1137 Dupont St, Toronto ON, M6H 2A3 unless otherwise noted.
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2025
Registration
LIFT | 12PM-6PM
Opening Night Social
TBA | 6PM-11PM
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FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2025
Workshop
Introduction to Repair (Beginner)- 9 AM – 12 PM
Facilitator: TJ Ediger
In this workshop, facilitator TJ Ediger introduces participants to mechanical repair for analogue equipment. The workshop covers what tools, solvents, and materials are necessary for repair and the essentials for a repair bench in a rental department. It will also cover how to source adequate replacements in an age when replacement equipment parts no longer exist and how to start a repair without a manual or guide.
TJ Ediger is an artist and filmmaker from Alberta, Canada. He has participated in exhibitions, festivals, and residencies across North America. His practice developed out of a rural artist-run culture and a focus on interactive and public art. He has worked as a technician for festivals, galleries, and artist-run centres. TJ is the former Technical Coordinator for the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto and is now the owner and operator of Pigeon Creek Camera. You can learn more at https://www.pigeoncreekcamera.com/
LUNCH
12 PM – 1 PM
Workshop
Film Handling Basics for Super8, 16mm and 35mm (Beginner) – 1 PM – 4 PM
Facilitator: Christine Lucy Latimer
In this workshop, facilitator Christine Lucy Latimer teaches technicians how to identify and maintain film editing accessories such as splicers, rewinds, synchronizers, etc. Participants will also learn about best film-handling practices and the difference between handling film for shooting and handling film for projection and inspection.
Christine Lucy Latimer is a lens-and-time-based media artist from Tkaronto/ Toronto. A practitioner of photochemical film and photoelectric analog experiments, her work has been featured across five continents in over 300 film festivals and gallery exhibitions.
4 PM – 5 PM
BREAK
Workshop
Introduction to Projection (Beginner) – 5 PM – 8 PM
Facilitator: Alex Manis
In this workshop, facilitator Alex Manis teaches participants how to operate Super8, Regular8, and 16mm projectors. Participants will also learn how to project correctly, choose the correct lens, navigate projecting emergencies and mishaps, and clean before and after projecting.
Alexi Manis is a writer, educator, film projectionist, and AV technician from Toronto. She studied film theory at Innis College, U. of T. and cut her teeth on celluloid at LIFT. Her short experimental 16mm films have screened at festivals and venues world wide. She has taught multiple workshops over the years at LIFT, the AGO, and various high schools including projection, drawing on film, super 8 filmmaking, optical printing, and analog editing on a flatbed. She still gets to project old school 35mm and 16mm film at the Revue Cinema and can still tell when a film is out of focus just by the way it sounds. Alexi is psyched to be involved in the Canadian Media Skills Exchange.
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SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2025
Workshop
Bolex Repair (Intermediate – Introduction to Repair Highly Recommended)- 9 AM – 1 PM
Facilitator: TJ Ediger
In this workshop, facilitator TJ Ediger covers how to troubleshoot issues with Bolexes used in rental departments, and what fixes can be made by technicians on-site versus when the Bolex needs to be repaired by a service technician. This workshop will also cover the best practices for maintaining Bolexes for rental departments and similar cameras.
LUNCH
1 PM – 2 PM
Workshop
Projector Repair with Alex Mackenzie (Intermediate – Introduction to Projectors with Alex Manis Highly Recommended) – 2 PM – 6 PM
Facilitator: Alex Mackenzie
In this workshop, participants will join facilitator Alex Mackenzie and learn techniques for maintaining 16mm projectors to ensure they stay in good condition and don’t damage prints. Participants will explore best practices and maintenance techniques for 16mm projectors, including upkeep, use, safety, lubricants, belts, bulbs, simple modification, band-aid solutions, common problems and ways to fix them. Projectors will be opened up to understand better the moving parts and what they do, and participants will take a closer look at all elements, from the film gate to the optical reader and beyond. All are welcome and encouraged to share their tips and tricks.
Alex MacKenzie is a west coast-based Canadian media artist working primarily with analog film equipment and hand processed imagery. He creates works of expanded cinema, light projection installation, and projector performance. His work has screened at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the EXiS Experimental Film Festival in Seoul, Oberhausen in Germany, Lightcone in Paris, Kino Arsenal in Berlin and many other festivals and art spaces worldwide. Alex was the founder and curator of the Edison Electric Gallery of Moving Images, the Blinding Light!! Cinema and the Vancouver Underground Film Festival. He was an artist in residence at Atelier MTK in Grenobles France, the Struts Gallery/Faucet Media in New Brunswick, Cineworks’ Analog Film Annex in Vancouver and Daimon in Gatineau. Alex co-edited Damp: Contemporary Vancouver Media Art (Anvil Press 2008), and interviewed David Rimmer for Loop, Print, Fade + Flicker: David Rimmer’s Moving Images (Anvil Press 2009). Commissions include Portal, (Situated Cinema WNDX Winnipeg 2012), Auroratone: Digitalis (FilmPop Montreal 2012), The Film That Buys The Cinema (Cube Bristol 2013) and Hyborian Witch (Wrong Wave/Kensington Gore 2013). Alex is a founding member of the Iris Film Collective in Vancouver.
Community Discussion
Accessibility in Filmmaking – 6 PM – 8 PM
Facilitator: TBA
In this community discussion, we ask: What does Accessibility in Filmmaking look like? We discuss what accessibility means in the context of media arts centres and how to make our resources more accessible to our membership.
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SUNDAY MAY 25, 2025
Panel/Show-And-Tell
3-D Printing and Coding Within Analogue Film 9 AM – 12 PM
Facilitator: Matt McWilliams
In this panel, participants will learn about facilitator’s Matt McWilliam’s practice of integrating 3-D printing, coding, and parts production with analogue equipment. Participants will learn how their artist-run centres can use open source and other means to give their analogue equipment new life.
Matt McWilliams is an artist and inventor working on free, open-source and open-hardware tools for analog filmmakers and photographers. He works as a software developer in robotics research in the Boston area. His website, [sixteenmillimeter.com](https:
LUNCH
12 PM – 1 PM
Panel/Show-And-Tell
Hacking JK Optical Printers 1 PM – 3 PM
Facilitator: Gerald Grison
In this panel, facilitator Gerald Grison shows participants LIFT’s JK Optical Printer, which has been upgraded by Grison to be used with a DIY software created through Raspberry Pi. Participants will see a real-life hybridization of coding software and analogue equipment, and how a piece of equipment has been given new life with Raspberry Pi.
Workshop
Oxberry Machines – 3 PM – 6 PM
Facilitator: Sylvain Chaussée – (Recommended for ARC’s with Oxberry Animation Stands)
In this workshop, facilitator Sylvain Chaussée will guide participants through LIFT’s Animation Suite – Oxberry 16mmRoto Machine, Oxberry 16/35 Animation/Film Output Suite, and Oxberry 1700. Participants will learn basic repairs, understand the machine differences, and learn common troubleshooting tips.
Sylvain Chaussée creates images as a Director and DP. His unique ability blooms from an expertise as a film lab technician; allowing him to use an extensive array of film stocks and processing techniques in order to push the boundaries of a more conventional aesthetic. He performs live with multi-film projections, as he works in direct collaboration with various musicians and composers, and also maintains a steady practice as a film photographer. Embodying expertise in all film formats – with an emphasis on 16 and 35mm- Sylvain is available for a wide range of commercial and experimental projects.
Panel/Show-And-Tell
DIY Analogue Equipment (Optical Printer, Contact Printer) 6 PM – 9 PM
Facilitators: Jean-Pierre Marchant and Sandy McLennan
In this panel, facilitators Sandy McLennan and Jean-Pierre (JP) Marchant demonstrate their DIY’ed Optical Printer and Contact Printer. Sandy McLennan has made an Optical Printer, and Jean-Pierre Marchant has made a contact printer. These two printers have been created using old analogue equipment that has been given a new life.
Jean-Pierre (JP) Marchant is an independent filmmaker and media preservationist. He has an MFA in Film Production from York University and teaches film studies at York and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). His films combine analogue and digital methods to explore themes related to Latino identity, family migration, landscapes, myths, and suburban dreams and nightmares. He lives in Toronto with his partner and their enormous cat.
Sandy McLennan loves wandering just outside his darkroom door with cameras and sound recorders. Hand-processing and printing motion pictures via chemistry and chance reveals memory of personal and state-of-the-world emotions. Specializing in Double 8mm and 16mm print film, he often includes audio improvised from location field recordings, self-talk and the physical sound of assembling. He leads workshops giving the experience of slow-hand time and revelation. He has received production and travel grants from Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council.
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MONDAY MAY 26, 2025
Workshop
Darkroom Practices 9 AM – 1 PM
Facilitators: Dawn George and Sylvain Chaussée
In this workshop, facilitators Dawn George and Sylvain Chaussée will guide participants on the essential items to build a functional, communal darkroom. Participants will also learn how to upkeep a communal darkroom and how to ensure safety in the darkroom on a small budget. This workshop will also cover the benefits and disadvantages of traditional chemistry, eco-processing, and disposal safety.
Dawn George makes films, videos, photographs, and installations with the living things she discovers in the wild! Her DIY approach to filmmaking reflects her appreciation and respect for movement, nature, science, and sound. She can often be found in the garden filming insects and plants; in the kitchen brewing the latest batch eco-developer; or in the forest recording a stream. Her experimental works have included mesmerizing images of time lapse mold and plant growth, intimate moments with insects, and eco-processed film from fruits and vegetables. Accompanying her films are intricate sound designs crafted with sounds recorded from her kitchen and collected in nature.
She has participated in residencies at the Independent Imaging Retreat “Film Farm” in Mt. Forest, Ontario, the Handmade Film Institute in Colorado, and the Ayatana Artists’ Research Program, in Gatineau, Quebec. Dawn’s works have screened in festivals and galleries around the planet including the Images Festival, Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, the8fest, Kaunas IFF, WNDX, Imagine Science Film Festival, the Gladstone Hotel’s GrowOp Exhibition, The Dalhousie Arts Gallery, and the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. Her work has been supported by the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative, Arts Nova Scotia, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Dawn is a founding member of the Handmade Film Collective and likes to teach eco-film processing.
LUNCH
1 PM – 2 PM
Workshop
Flatbed Maintenance + Adapting Your Flatbed as a Contact Printer 2 PM – 5 PM
Facilitators: Noah Henderson
In this workshop, participants will join facilitator Noah Henderson as he walks them through a Steenbeck Flatbed Editor. They will learn how to maintain a Steenbeck, ensure safety for their own flatbeds, and make minor repairs. Participants will also be introduced to a Contact Printer Module from the Australian Film Lab nano lab, founded by filmmakers Richard Tuohy and Dianna Barrie.
Noah Henderson is passionate about working with film and understanding how older forms of filmmaking can be combined with modern techniques. He has interests in both analog film photography and filmmaking along with the variety of developing processes that he has explored through his work at Niagara Custom Lab and Downtown Camera. He has worked to showcase these skills and educate others on different photographic formats through his work on the Analog Resurgence YouTube channel. Noah has too many cameras and just doesn’t know how to stop. In his spare time, Noah can be found trying to find room for all these cameras.
Community Discussion
Best Rental Practices, Building Community and the Future 5 PM – 7 PM
Facilitator: TBA
In this session, we discuss how to build our community and how to conduct outreach to get more people involved in our analogue filmmaking world. How do we promote ourselves? How do we connect with our community? How do we make our field more future-proof for a while longer?
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