Programming

LIFT announces Finnish Visiting Artist Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki Friday 1 September 2023 – Thursday 30 November 2023 LIFT ANNOUNCES FINNISH VISITING ARTIST NATALIA KOZIEŁ-KALLIOMÄKI Toronto, September 18, 2023—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce that Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki has joined us from Helsinki, Finland as a visiting artist from September 1 to November 30, 2023 as the fourth resident in the residency program for”… more

LIFT announces “Transformations: A Cross Generational Commissioning Project” – In-person Screening and VOD Thursday 21 September 2023, 19:00 to 21:00 Image Credit: Luísa Cruz and Jorge Manzano, CIRCADIAN VERSES (2023) . Transformations: A Cross Generational Commissioning Project In-person Screening and VOD September 1, 2023—In 2021 the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto’s (LIFT) celebrated its 40th anniversary as an artist-run organization. Toronto has changed wildly over the past four”… more

Friday, August 18 – Open Screening July 26, 2023 Call for Submissions: Open Screening Join the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) on Friday, August 18, 2023 in the Main Classroom at LIFT (1137 Dupont) for our Summer Open Screening, an evening of oddball films, experiments, found footage and works in progress. UPDATE – Submissions are now closed! We have reached our”… more

LIFT co-presents “Bageroo Program #1 and “Bageroo Program #3” at the8Fest Friday 28 July 2023 – Saturday 29 July 2023 “kauaʻi ʻōʻō” by Samy Benammar . LIFT co-presents “Bageroo Program #1” and “Bageroo Program #3″ at the8fest Small Gauge Film Festival 2023 Bageroo Program #1: We Were, We Are, We Will Be Friday, July 28, 2023 Starts at 8:00pm In this shorts program, filmmakers reflect on themselves, their surroundings, and others around them. These shorts recall th”… more

LIFT co-presents “Anthropo-Digitalism” at Vector Festival Thursday 6 July 2023 – Sunday 16 July 2023 LIFT co-presents Anthropo-Digitalism at the 2023 Vector Festival Multi-site Exhibition running  July 6 – 16, 2023 How does the digital (re)animate our environments? How do we imprint our humanness upon the digital, and how does digitalness imprint upon us humans? Ruminate on your human/digital reflections with the anthropomorphic inventions of Mari”… more

LIFT co-presents “Local Heroes” at Inside Out Thursday 1 June 2023, 18:45 to 20:45 September 10th by Tasneem Nanji . LIFT co-presents Local Heroes at 2023 Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival From raves to resistance, this collection of shorts highlights the work of local queer storytellers making films that explore the multitudes this city has to offer. In-Person: Thursday, June 1, 2023 Starts at 6:45 pm TIFF Bell Lightbox”… more

Call for Applications: BAICC International Artist Residency Program 2023 – Extended Thursday 11 May 2023 – Sunday 18 June 2023 Call for Applications: BAICC International Artist Residency Program 2023 with LIFT, (S8) Mostra Internacional de Cinema Periférico and Acción Cultural Española-AC/E In 2017, the first International Artistic Residencies for Cinematographic Creation (BAICC), were launched, promoted by the (S8) International Peripheral Film Festival of A Coruña. This”… more

Screenwriters Circle – June 21 Wednesday 21 June 2023, 19:00 to 21:00 The LIFT Screenwriters Circle meets on the third Wednesday of each month*** to facilitate skill-sharing, supportive critique and moving member scripts from the page to the screen. You must be a current LIFT member to attend this group. No experience is necessary, just a passion for words and images and a dream to one day see them on screen. Through”… more

LIFT co-presents “Veranada” at Hot Docs Thursday 27 April 2023 – Tuesday 9 May 2023 . LIFT co-presents Veranada at the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Veranada Dir. Dominique Chaumont In-Person: Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 8:45pm TIFF Bell Lightbox, Cinema 4 350 King Street West Sunday, April 30, 2023 at 11:45am Scotiabank Theatre, Cinema 7 259 Richmond Street West Streaming online: Streaming is only avai”… more

Artists Selected for “Transformations: A Cross Generational Commissioning Project” LIFT ANNOUNCES ARTISTS SELECTED FOR TRANSFORMATIONS: A CROSS GENERATIONAL COMMISSIONING PROJECT Toronto, April 13, 2023—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto’s (LIFT) recently celebrated its 40th anniversary back in 2021 as an artist-run organization. This milestone presented the opportunity to create an intergenerational dialogue betwee”… more

LIFT and imagineNATIVE 2023 Mentorship Announcement Monday 13 March 2023 – Tuesday 31 October 2023 2023 LIFT and imagineNATIVE Mentorship Winner Jordan Wanakamik . THE LIAISON OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS OF TORONTO (LIFT) AND THE IMAGINENATIVE FILM + MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL 2023 MENTORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT Toronto, March 17, 2023—The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) are pleased to announc”… more

LIFT co-presents Floris Vanhoof Film Performance Sunday 12 March 2023, 19:00 to 21:00 THE MIRROR EGG FILM AND PERFORMANCE WITH FLORIS VANHOOF Co-presented by PIX FILM and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) Sunday, March 12, 2023 Starts at 7:00pm PIX FILM Gallery 1411 Dufferin Street, Unit C In-Person screening and performance. PYWC admission (Pay-What-You-Can) LIFT strongly recommends wearing masks for this in-p”… more

LIFT co-presents Rhayne Vermette at Media City Monday 9 January 2023 – Monday 30 January 2023 Domus by Rhayne Vermette Media City Film Festival presents THOUSANDSUNS CINEMA: Indigenous Edition virtual January 9 – 30, 2023 LIFT is proud to co-present the works of Rhayne Vermette at THOUSANDSUNS CINEMA. All films in the program will stream for FREE on MCFF’s website at https://mediacityfilmfestival.com/thousandsuns/rhayne-vermette THOUSANDSUN”… more

LIFT announces the 2018 Roberto Ariganello National Resident – Malena Szlam Monday 21 November 2022 – Thursday 15 December 2022 LIFT ANNOUNCES THE 2018 WINNER OF THE ROBERTO ARIGANELLO AWARD: MALENA SZLAM Toronto, December 15, 2022—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce that Montréal filmmaker Malena Szlam was in town to work on her project that was selected as the second recipient of the Roberto Ariganello Award. The award honours th”… more

Call for Applicants: LIFT and imagineNATIVE 18th annual Mentorship Program – Final Extension Tuesday 13 December 2022 – Friday 10 February 2023 December 13, 2022 Revised February 3, 2023   LIFT and imagineNATIVE 2023 ANNUAL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Call for applicants in Toronto Are you an Indigenous filmmaker with a great idea for a 5-minute 16mm short? The LIFT/imagineNATIVE Mentorship program welcomes you to explore 16mm filmmaking through the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto”… more

Screening with Visiting Artist Matti Harju Monday 28 November 2022, 19:00 to 21:00 ALIENS AND AFTERLIFES: SCREENING WITH VISITING ARTIST MATTI HARJU Co-presented by the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and PIX FILM. Finnish filmmaker Matti Harju joins us on Monday, November 28, 2022 to present a screening of his cinemawork. This screening complements his residency as the third resident in LIFT’s collaboration w”… more

LIFT co-presents “Fox In A Hole” at European Union Film Festival Sunday 20 November 2022 – Friday 25 November 2022 LIFT co-presents “Fox In A Hole” at the 2022 European Union Film Festival “Fox In A Hole” Directed by Arman T. Riahi 2022 | Austria | 105 minutes In German and Bosnian with English subtitles. Set in a juvenile correctional facility, Fox in a Hole revolves around teacher Hannes Fuchs (Aleksandar Petrović), newly assigned to work at its school for tr”… more

LIFT co-presents “Mis Dos Voces / My Two Voices” at Rendezvous With Madness Thursday 27 October 2022 – Sunday 6 November 2022 LIFT co-presents “Mis Dos Voces / My Two Voices” at the 2022 Rendezvous With Madness Festival “Mis Dos Voces / My Two Voices” Directed by Lina Rodríguez 2022 | Canada | 68 minutes | Spanish with English subtitles In “My Two Voices,” Canadian director Lina Rodriguez paints a lyrical and truly unique portrait of what it means to be an immigrant and h”… more

LIFT announces Finnish Visiting Artist Matti Harju Friday 9 September 2022 – Thursday 1 December 2022 THE LIAISON OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS OF TORONTO (LIFT) ANNOUNCES FINNISH VISITING ARTIST MATTI HARJU Toronto, October 17, 2022—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce that Matti Harju has joined us from Kouvola, Finland as a visiting artist from September 9 to December 1, 2022 as the third resident in the res”… more

LIFT co-presents  “Geographies of Solitude” at Planet in Focus Sunday 16 October 2022, 19:00 to 21:00 LIFT co-presents “Geographies of Solitude” at the 2022 Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival “Geographies of Solitude” Directed by Jacquelyn Mills Country: Canada Length: 1:03:00 “Geographies of Solitude” is an immersion into the rich ecosystem of Sable Island, guided by naturalist and environmentalist Zoe Lucas who has lived ov”… more