LIFT Round-up 2015

No End by Josephine Massarella

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to present
ROUND-UP 2015

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce the LIFT Round-Up 2015, a screening of films made by LIFT members over the last year. LIFT is a member-driven, charitable organization that provides affordable access to equipment, training and facilities for those who want to make films, out of a passion for, and commitment to, the practice of filmmaking. Join us on Sunday, January 10, 2016 for a special presentation of recent short films made by LIFT members.

Program:

#######, Dan Smeby, experimental documentary, 2 min.
This short film encapsulates the closing evening of the 2015 *TOM Mens Fashion Week, when the runway became the dance floor. Depicted in black and white 16mm ORWO Film, hand processed as a negative, the film has an original score by the performing DJ, Jim O’Brian.

No End, Josephine Massarella, experimental, 6 min.
No End was inspired by a poem I wrote over the course of several months. During this process, abstract images surfaced, subsided, and settled, eventually forming the foundation of a film. What developed from this is a lyrical journey that explores the intersection of interconnectivity and lived experience. An original soundtrack composed by Graham Stewart of Viosac accompanies and complements the work.

A Celebration of Darkness, Jaene F. Castrillon, experimental, 6.5 min.
Produced through the 2015 LIFT/imagineNATIVE Mentorship program.
A woman reflects on her tortured past and goes on an unexpected journey of healing. By interacting with her younger self in a poignant moment, she awakens the warrior spirit within.

Mom, Blake Hutchinson, documentary, 3 min.
Stacey Hutchinson is a young mother who has just come across an awful disease that is back from the past to haunt her. She talks about the pain and surviving after multiple times in the hospital. We learn the true meaning of what people go through in life threatening situations.

A-Frame, Sylvain Chaussée, experimental, 5 min.
Watching the light change in a room, A-Frame is a modest study of a beloved workspace, the old Niagara Custom Lab on Dufferin Street in Toronto.

The Bridge, Jay Smith, drama, 10 min.
A heartbroken woman helps a kindred spirit find new meaning in life.

Fragments #5, Pedro Ferreira, experimental, 9 min.
Canadian found 8mm home movies from the 60’s and 70’s, spliced and blown-up to 16mm using a JK Optical Printer. Hand painted, scratched and deteriorated moving images, crafted frame-by-frame. These are fragments of memories that interpret the human condition in a specific space and time, capturing the minuscule human existence. We record images to extend our memory but they will never replace our experience.

La Llorona, Maria Cruz, horror, 2.5 min.
La Llorona is a mythical character from Latin America. She is the archetype of a traditional Hispanic woman from the colonial era. There are religious undertones to the story since she is punished for her sins and cursed to walk the earth looking for her drowned children. Her entire existence is a tragic one and the only thing she can do now is continue to search in vain. In this film, she suffers from constant delusions seeing her children everywhere she goes.

Wild Currents, Stephen Broomer, experimental, 6.5 min.
A tragic mistake jolts Teddy and Joanne into limbo. Their spirits bear witness to their past misuse of household appliances, as if by electric charge they might uncoil their spectral presences from home and garden. A myth and a ghost story, for Christine Lucy Latimer, on her birthday, 2015.

BLACK HOLE MUSIC, Zachary Finkelstein, experimental, 7 min.
BLACK HOLE MUSIC uses a unique light painting technique on 35mm film and a visceral original sound design to imagine the effects of extreme gravity on light and sound waves. The project was inspired by the findings of a team of British astronomers who reported a type of sonic emission from a black hole in a distant cluster of galaxies.

you rub me the wrong way, Scott Miller Berry, experimental, 3 min.
you rub me the wrong way was created as part of SOUND + VISION TORONTO produced by Basement Arts. This project paired 5 local filmmakers with 5 local bands/musicians and 1 local neighborhood. I was asked to interpret and adapt a song by the potent forces behind post-punk band Pants & Tie in Toronto’s dynamic Kensington Market.

Penelopa’s Dream, Maria Flawia Litwin, experimental, 9.5 min.
Penelopa’s Dream is an investigation into myths, existentialism and labour. The topics are related through the prism of the performer’s dream mixing Greek mythology of Penelopa within contemporary Canadian landscape. The media used: 8mm, 16mm and HD are translated into 35mm—further underlining the collapse between the past and present, emphasizing the subtle ideological shifts and their relationship to existential angst.

Sunday 10 January 2016 –

Non-members: $10.00 non-members (cash only)
Members: $8.00 for LIFT and Bloor Cinema Members (cash only)

Location:
Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
506 Bloor Street West
Toronto ON Canada