Digital Cinema Residency – 2024 Announcement
THE LIAISON OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS OF TORONTO (LIFT)
ANNOUNCES THE 2024 LIFT DIGITAL CINEMA RESIDENCY RECIPIENT
A.C. BIRCH
Toronto, February 20, 2024—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce that A.C. Birch is the inaugural resident of our Digital Cinema Residency, launched for the first time in 2024. The Digital Cinema Residency both supports the production and post-production of a digital cinema work, and provides mentorship towards obtaining the necessary skills to create their projects. Artists will have the opportunity to work with LIFT’s extensive roster of industry standard digital cinema cameras, accessories, and our digital post-production suites.
Birch will use his time in residency to work on the post-production of “King Kreme,” a documentary project co-directed with Gei Ping Hohl (drag performer). “King Kreme” is a rare peek at Kreme Inakuchi, the artist behind one of North America’s most iconic drag king personas. At once both the ultra-performative and the uncharacteristically personal, the poetically structured documentary follows the emotional arc of a King Kreme performance, revealing the prisms of identity through which Kreme defines his personhood and his persona.
A.C. Birch (he/they) is a Toronto-based writer, director, producer, and performer with a specialty for balancing humor and heart in character-led works. His debut feature “A Queer’s Guide to Spiritual Living” (co-created with Michal Heuston) premiered at Inside Out in 2023, and he is one of nine participants in Spindle Films Foundation’s inaugural Mentorship Program for trans, non-binary and gender-diverse writers and directors. He is the editor of Layla Cameron’s podcast “Fatten,” for TELUS Storyhive, and is currently in production with “Boygirl” (an experimental short written and directed by Michal Heuston). Over the past three years, A.C. has also supported numerous Canadian filmmakers through his facilitation of Story Money Impact’s Mentorship Program for Docs in Development by Underrepresented Creators. Outside of filmmaking, A.C. can be found and performing goofy, gay stand-up around town, writing extremely earnest poetry, and on stage in sketch and improv shows as part of The Second City Conservatory program. You can keep an eye out for updates on community screenings of their work, upcoming shows, and where to find his writing by following him at @a.c.birch on Instagram.
“This residency not only affords me the opportunity to continue to develop my practice, but also the chance to dedicate the amount of time, intention, and care to this film that Kreme’s story deserves. I’m extremely grateful to Kreme and my co-director, the astonishingly talented cinematographer and drag artist Gei Ping Hohl, for trusting me with this project, and to LIFT for all their support.”
—A.C. Birch
This residency opportunity is presented as part of the Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) program coordinated by the Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA) and funded by the Government of Canada.
The Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA) is a member-driven non-profit national organization working to advance and strengthen the media arts community in Canada. Representing over 100 independent film, video, audio, and new media production, distribution, and exhibition organizations in all parts of the country, the IMAA serves over 16,000 independent media artists and cultural workers. https://www.imaa.ca
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is Canada’s foremost artist-run production and education organization dedicated to celebrating excellence in the moving image. LIFT exists to provide support and encouragement for independent filmmakers and artists through affordable access to production, post-production and exhibition equipment; professional and creative development; workshops and courses; commissioning and exhibitions; artist residencies; and a variety of other services. LIFT is supported by its membership, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Foundation, the Government of Ontario and the Toronto Arts Council. https://lift.ca
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For additional information please see https://lift.ca or e-mail LIFT Executive Director Chris Kennedy at director@lift.ca
Monday 12 February 2024 – Sunday 31 March 2024
Non-members:
Members:
Location:
Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)
1137 Dupont Street
Toronto Ontario