Screenings and Exhibitions

LIFT presents occasional screenings and exhibitions of work in Toronto and beyond. We also regularly co-present screenings and exhibitions with other organizations to support an engaged and rigorous media-arts ecology. We can assist hundreds of films each year but without venues and distributors to help them reach the public this work doesn’t have the life it deserves. We our fortunate to live in a city with over 100 film festivals each year, numerous year round programmers and dozens of galleries showing media arts.
    
For inquiries regarding presentation and co-presentation opportunities please contact us.

 

UNSTEADY LANDSCAPES: 40th Anniversary of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto

Friday 28 May 2021 – Sunday 6 June 2021

Dust Cycles by Eva Kolcze   Toronto, May 13, 2021—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) officially came into being in April of 1981. Inspired in part by efforts of collective networking such as what was done at the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP) in Halifax, LIFT was founded by a group of artists who were interested”… more

LIFT co-presents “Local Heroes” at Inside Out

Thursday 27 May 2021 – Sunday 6 June 2021

St Clair W by Emily Ryder LIFT co-presents Local Heroes at 2021 Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival Programme: “Cruz” by John Dela Cruz “Unity Mosque” by Nicole Teeny “International Dawn Chorus Day” by John Greyson “I Do, But I Don’t” by Marlee Druker “I Am Gay” by Ajahnis Charley “You Will Still Be Here Tomorrow” by Michael Hanley “Parry Riposte”… more

LIFT co-presents “Shorts Programme 1” at Toronto Arab Film

Thursday 27 May 2021, 18:00 to 20:00

Mutts (Clebs) by Halima Ouardiri LIFT co-presents Shorts Programme 1 at 2021 Toronto Arab Film Programme: “Sukar” by Illias El Faris “Mutts (Clebs)” by Halima Ouardiri “Foam (Ecume)” by Omar Elhamy “Jardins Paradise” by Yza Nouiga “And The Night Will Carry Us” by Koudhai Amine

LIFT co-presents “poetics of distance” at Images Festival

Monday 24 May 2021, 20:00 to 21:30

Letter From Your Far-Off Country by Suneil Sanzgiri LIFT co-presents poetics of distance at 2021 Images Festival Programme: “Nini, What Time Is It There?” by Sabrina Ruobing Zhao “And on a Different Note” by Mohammad Shawky Hassan “History of Light” by Grau “Letter From Your Far-Off Country” by Suneil Sanzgiri

LIFT co-presents “DIS/Able: Dismantling Ableist Filmmaking…a DIY Extravaganza!” at CFMDC’s “The Breadth of” Symposium

Saturday 3 April 2021 – Friday 23 April 2021

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to co-present “DIS/Able: Dismantling Ableist Filmmaking…a DIY Extravaganza!” as part of CFMDC’s “The Breadth of” symposium This program, curated by Jaene Castrillon, includes a screening and 3 DIY lectures over the month of April on cfmdc.tv.⁠ This screening and DIY lectures showc”… more

LIFT co-presents “Dope is Death” at the Toronto Black Film Festival

Wednesday 10 February 2021 – Thursday 21 January 2021

Dope is Death by Mia Donova LIFT co-presents Dope is Death at the 2021 Toronto Black Film Festival Programme: Dope is Death is the story of how Dr. Mutulu Shakur, stepfather of Tupac Shakur, along with fellow Black Panthers and the Young Lords, combined community health with radical politics to create the first acupuncture detoxification program in”… more

LIFT co-presents “Discomfort Zone” at Reel Asian

Thursday 12 November 2020 – Thursday 19 November 2020

Lola’s Wake by Tricia Hagoriles   LIFT co-presents Discomfort Zone at 2020 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival From the mundane to the spectacular, our characters in these five films pave their own paths as some take matters into their own hands, while others come across new points of understanding and acceptance. Programme: “Away,”… more

LIFT co-presents “Of Differences, Lineages, and Belongings” at aluCine


Correspondencia / Correspondence by Valentina Alvarado Mato LIFT co-presents Of Differences, Lineages, and Belongings  at 2020 aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival A correlation of feminist forces that are constantly structured and restructured. An incessant becoming (transformation). Video, celluloid and performance become resilient matter, sh”… more

LIFT co-presents “Shorts Programme 1” at the Toronto Arab Film

Saturday 25 July 2020, 16:00 to 19:00

We Were There by Rodrigue Hammal LIFT co-presents Shorts Programme 1 at Toronto Arab Film 2020 Programme: “In Uncle Salem Country” by Slim Belhiba “The Old Kalbelouz” by Imène Ayadi “So Dear, So Lovely” by Diana Allen “Abdullah and Leilah” by Ashtar AL Khirsan “We Were There” by Rodrigue Hammal “The Sparrow” by Nasri Hajaj

LIFT co-presents “Judy Versus Capitalism” at Hot Docs

Thursday 28 May 2020 –

. LIFT co-presents Judy Versus Capitalism at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Judy Versus Capitalism Dir. Mike Hoolboom Available to stream May 28 to June 6, 2020 Judy Rebick has always lent her voice to those who need to be heard. Since the 1970s, she’s been a vocal advocate for a more progressive Canada. A second-wave”… more

LIFT co-presents “Bageroo Thirteen! Volume 3” program at the 8 Fest

Sunday 26 January 2020 –

Study of Color and Gesture by Tetsuya Maruyama LIFT co-presents Bageroo Thirteen! Volume 3 at the 8 Fest 2020 This is a fun one! Our programming team had a really great time assembling this spooky program filled with the most curious works! Programme: “The Big Country [Nothing But] Flowers” by Tess Eliott “Clouds” by Jeffrey Mann “A Really Bad Film”… more

Fall 2019 Studio Immersion Program – Artist Talk: Andrew Lennox

Friday 20 December 2019, 19:00 to 21:00

FALL 2019 STUDIO IMMERSION PROGRAM ARTIST TALK: ANDREW LENNOX As an artist in the PIX FILM/LIFT Studio Immersion Program, Andrew Lennox has worked in a new project using archival images (government/public domain sources) of the development of West Toronto, over the last 100+ years, as its source material. In addition, he is photographing and using”… more

Artist Talk with Visiting Artist Milja Viita

Wednesday 11 December 2019, 19:00 to 21:00

35mm still from “Department of Film Pathology” (work in progress) by Milja Viita  The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)is pleased to present an Artist Talk with Visiting Artist Milja Viita Milja Viita in person On Wednesday December 11 at 7:00pm at LIFT (1137 Dupont Street), Milja Viita will present an artist talk of her work and”… more

LIFT co-presents “Our Dance of Revolution” at Regent Park Film Festival

Friday 22 November 2019 –

  Our Dance of Revolution by Phillip Pike LIFT co-presents “Our Dance of Revolution” at the 2019 Regent Park Film Festival Our Dance of Revolution tells the story of how Black queer folks in Toronto faced every adversity, from invisibility to police brutality, and over a four-decade span rose up to become a vibrant, triple-snap-fierce community.

LIFT co-presents “Lada Kamenski” at European Union Film Festival

Wednesday 20 November 2019 –

Lada Kamenski by Sara Hribar, Marko Šantić  LIFT co-presents “Lada Kamenski” at the 2019 European Union Film Festival Frano, a young director, is preparing his debut feature. In order to cast the star of the film, he invites three actresses to an informal reading rehearsal in his apartment. Once they realise they are competing for the same role, th”… more

LIFT co-presents “Irene’s Ghost” at Rendezvous with Madness

Saturday 19 October 2019 –

Irene’s Ghost by Iain Cunningham LIFT co-presents “Irene’s Ghost” at the 2019 Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival Irene’s Ghost is a stunning 6-years-in-the-making documentary that follows a son’s search to find out about the mother he never knew. Cunningham breaks the silence and tracks down his mother’s friends and family to rebuild a picture o”… more

LIFT co-presents Teo Hernández’s Films

Wednesday 16 October 2019 –

Nuestra señora de Paris by Teo Hernández ad hoc experimental film collective #22 Teo Hernández’s Films presented by curator Andreas Anciras (Mexico), in person Co-presented with PIX FILM Gallery, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and Le Labo Centre for Francophone Media Arts of Toronto. Wednesday, October 16, 2019 7:00pm PIX F”… more

LIFT Seasonal Screening Series: Narrative

Tuesday 15 October 2019 –

The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to present the 2019 Seasonal Screening Series: Narrative Toronto, September 24, 2019—Member screenings have been an essential part of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto’s nearly forty-year history. From screenings at the defunct experimental cinema The Funnel in the 19″… more

LIFT co-presents “Finding the Path / Encontrando el Camino – Latin American Short Films” Program at aluCine

Saturday 5 October 2019 –

Arcangel by Angeles Cruz LIFT co-presents “Finding the Path / Encontrando el Camino – Latin American Short Films” at the 2019 aluCine Latin Film + Media Arts Festival. Program: Los Ausentes | The Absents, José Lomas Hervert Guaxuma, Nara Normande La Herencia del Viento | Wind’s Heritage, by Alejandra Retana, César Camacho, César Hernández Free Fall”… more

Call for Submissions: LIFT Seasonal Screening Series – Narrative

Thursday 15 August 2019 –

       CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: SEASONAL SCREENING SERIES – NARRATIVE   Toronto, August 15, 2019—The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) is pleased to announce submissions are now open for the third screening of current members’ work. For this upcoming autumn event, we will be shining a light on”… more