This year?s Short Cuts Canada programming features a slew of imaginative animation films from some very talented, emerging filmmakers. These films run the gamut of styles from high powered 3D computer graphics to delicate hand drawn sketches to traditional stop motion animation. While their approaches may differ drastically, their ability to create unique, personal films with their mediums is constant across the board. Here are a few words from some of these cutting edge animators regarding their processes and their thoughts on the state of the art.
 
 
TREVOR CAWOOD, Director, Terminus

What drew you to your working methods?
CG is a powerful tool when applied properly. However, CG inherently isn't real, and can easily pull the viewer out of the film experience. Adding real world imperfections such as journalistic style camera, and degraded film stocks lends credibility to CG.

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
The crew was never more than 7 people. Two reasons for this: 1- we didn't have a large budget, and 2- we didn't have a lot of time at our locations, so we had to shoot lean. I actually think the rushed, imperfect filming style lends a lot to the look of Terminus. The film took around 10 months to complete, but it could have been done in half that time had I not been doing other gigs.

Where do you intend to go with your future films, stylistically and thematically?
I like psychological films. Films that comment on who we are, and how we got there have always been my favourites. I'd like to explore those themes in the future.

Any other thoughts you would like to share on the state of the art?
It amazes me what filmmakers are able to do with today?s technologies. Ten years ago, Terminus would have been impossible to make for the budget we had. Film makers now have access to resources that were previously only accessible by the few. We'll see a new breed of scary-talented artists in the next decade.

JAY WHITE, Director, Boar Attack

What drew you to your working methods?
It wasn't a conscious decision.  To put it bluntly, I'm not a very clean worker.  When I paint, my hands and clothes get covered.  My sketchbooks are stained with coffee and scribbles and ketchup. I quickly realised that I was only fighting myself by trying to make "clean" animation.  I enjoy the roughness, and I think it gives the film more depth and richness.  It's like looking at a painting and seeing pencil lines and untouched canvas in parts. The characters in Boar Attack are actually computer animated, using 3D-CG software.  A lot of 3D CG aims for perfection, but nothing's perfect.  I'd like to see more 3D animation that embraces the weird glitches and errors that are sometimes produced by the computer.  Why cover those things up?

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
This is an easy one.  Up until now, it?s been a one-man show (although other people help me with the sound).  Once I'm actually animating, it takes me about one month per minute of animation.  The essential ingredients of my studio are: a computer, watercolor paper and paints, sketchbooks, ink, coffee, CBC Radio 2, frustration, and laughter.


TROY NIXEY, Director, Latchkey?s Lament

What drew you to your working methods?
I've always been attracted to stories containing fantastical elements. I carried the love for those elements into my sixteen years in comics and it's only natural that I would bring the same sensibilities to my new career in movies. Of course with that in mind effects become a major part of production. I've always been a fan of movies that use a blend of practical effects and CGI to tell a story and so I approached Latchkey's Lament with that in mind.

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
I would like to take the time to thank Ken Meyer and all the CGI artists for the amazing work they did. As well as doing a bulk of the animation himself Ken really spearheaded the process and kept tabs on the other nine artists who worked remotely from home after their day jobs. There is close to one hundred effects shot in Latchkey's lament and it took a little over a year to complete them all.

Where do you intend to go with your future films, stylistically and thematically?
I have five projects at the moment that are in different stages of talks and development but they all are either horror, fantasy or a combination of the two. I love the genre and look at people like Guillermo Del Toro and Terry Gilliam as huge inspiration. As far as thematically, I'm drawn to real stories believe it or not, stories that everyone can relate too. For me Latchkey's Lament is a love story told through a pair of keys.

Any other thoughts you would like to share on the state of the art?
Absolutely...do you have an hour? Seriously though with the advance in technology you don't need to approach huge studios for effects work. As I mentioned earlier, all the CGI was done on home systems. That was never possible even just a few years ago. As more and more talented artists come on to the scene you will see amazing movies coming out of nowhere. I'm really excited about that.


NEIL MCINNES, Director, Automoto

What drew you to your working methods?
We felt that 3D-CG is so pervasive that stop-motion would be a more unique approach. The idea of using found objects and sculpturally incorporating them seemed interesting to us to explore. Digital photography, After Effects and Photoshop were still used to enhance the imagery, but essentially, we felt the handmade quality gave it more of a human touch.

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
The crew on Automoto was approximately 50-60. It took about a year with an extremely modest budget. Everyone worked for small honorariums or on a volunteer basis. It was really a labour of love across the board. Without a more reasonable budget, it is unlikely that we could produce another film, under the same circumstances. We used up a lot of favours on this production, but everyone involved thought we were moving in an interesting direction. The camaraderie was unfailing. It was a dream job in that the Winnipeg Film Group gave us total freedom with the idea.

Where do you intend to go with your future films, stylistically and thematically?
Three dimensional stop-motion has really opened up the doors to new possibilities and we would like to do more in that direction. Also the idea of combining it with CG and live action is something that we are seriously considering. The process of stop-motion is closer to live action than the two-dimensional animated films we had previously done.  

Any other thoughts you would like to share on the state of the art?
With all the possibilities today in the amalgamation of the techniques of the past and the digital realm, it?s a great time to be a filmmaker. If you can't get excited about it, you don't have a pulse.
 

ANDREW MCPHILLIPS, Director, Blood Will Tell

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
This film took a long time. There were a lot of tests, while at PDI/Dreamworks. I worked with two great producers, Virginia Wilson and Laura Lockwood. I then stopped (for career reasons) and came back to the project a few years later when I moved to CORE in Toronto. I kind of realized then that most of my film had to be redone. If I was to spend all my free time making "Blood Will Tell" it had to be unique, or feel that way to me.  I spent the next two years, during my off hours from CORE making what is now, Blood will tell. The film was entirely funded while in Canada. I should add that when I came back to the project, two of  the original people form the PDI days, Noah Klocek (matte painting) and Bob Koch (animation) had been working independently, in their own time, finishing their work on the film. They are both amazing artists and I think people can see that in the film.

 
Where do you intend to go with your future films, stylistically and thematically?
Thematically, I think "Blood Will Tell" came as bit of a reaction from working on a lot of successful, family oriented animated features at work. I didn't want any cute characters in this project. I just wanted something that was super dark, disturbing and beautiful.  "Blood Will Tell" didn't have to be commercial, I just had to like it. It was all about trying to make a better looking and sounding film than anything I had worked on before.   As far as the future, there are two new personal projects on the horizon and in contrast to  Blood Will Tell, the most  important themes are story and character.   One of those personal projects is an illustrated novella, which is currently being edited. The other is a live
action/animation hybrid short film which is currently in visual development.

Any other thoughts you would like to share on the state of the art?
Personally, I think the big thing to happen in live action and animated features will be the increased use of real-time game engine technology as a pre-production step. I am suprised at the financial commitment that studios have to make when green-lighting live action projects without a clear understanding of where their money is going to be spent, and with no clear idea of what the final film will look like. Pre-Vis informs everyone, from set designers, DP's, writers, editors, producers and directors, about the film before millions of dollars are committed to actually making it. It is a creative step that can really shape a lot of the film. Rather than spending money on endless scriptwriting and development cycles, in my personal opinion, I think we will see studios insisting on cheap, photo-real, rendered visualizations of entire films before fully committing to them financially. Game technology has come a long way. It is just a matter of time until studios see how they can use this technology to improve budget forecasting for productions while clearly and completely visualizing their films far ahead of production.
 

CAM CHRISTIANSEN, Director, I Have Seen The Future

What drew you to your working methods?
I am completely sold on digital film making , inspired by films like "Sin City", "Waking Life", "Renaissance" , "300" that are visually interesting and relatively cheap to produce. To me this direction opens ridiculously exciting possibilities to independent film makers where cost is not a barrier. My movie is a first effort to learn some of the skills needed to achieve my larger goals and to try and develop my own style etc..

Briefly, what is involved with your productions in terms of crew size, production schedule, etc, ...?
This production was limited to a very small number of people. Mainly myself and a friend of mine on the animation side.  We shot some motion capture footage with Kris Demeanor and Kyrsten Blair a dancer for movement ideas. It was made over a month of long hours..

Where do you intend to go with your future films, stylistically and thematically?
I am doing another Bravo!FACT at the moment called "I Wanna Be Evil" and I am interested in combining live action/greenscreen footage with my other animation ideas. I want it to be "F'k'd up and cool" is the general plan. (Being from Calgary home of FUBAR we like to just "giv'r" in our films) Stylistically I still very interested and inspired by stylized 2d / 3d  hi/low. I also am developing a fun project called 5 hole : Tales of Hockey Erotica by Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics that is about hockey and sex.. (what more do you need..)

Any other thoughts you would like to share on the state of the art?
I encourage other filmmakers dive into digital film making as it is in a golden moment of  technological accessibility where the only thing stopping you is ideas. How great is that?

SEBASTIEN PILOTE, Director, Dustbowl Ha! Ha!

1. Where do you come from?  
Je viens d'un petit village producteur de patates appelé St-Ambroise. D'ailleurs, quand j'étais enfant on a tenté de me faire croire que j'étais une patate. Mais je vis aujourd'hui à Chicoutimi, tout près du fjord du Saguenay. C'est au Québec...

2. What influenced your film?  
La réalité. Une fermeture d'usine et Les raisins de la colère de Steinbeck.

3. Why filmmaking?
Parce que je n'ai pas assez de vocabulaire pour être poète et j'aime la poésie. Si je fais du cinéma c'est parce c'est vraiment devenu pour moi la meilleure façon de dire des choses autrement qu'avec des mots. Même s'il peut y avoir des mots dans mes films.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Dans le cinéma c'est François Truffaut, je pense. Sinon, j'aime vraiment Leonard Cohen. Et Napoléon...

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Prendre une bière, jeudi, avec Bernard Émond que j'ai rencontré une première fois au festival de Locarno. Et prendre une autre bière.
 

RAHA SHIRAZI, Director, Four Walls

1. Where do you come from?  
I was born In Tehran, Iran and immigrated to Canada with my family at the age of eleven. I have been living in Toronto ever since.  

2. What influenced your film?
About six years ago I took a trip back to Iran and my experience there was the inspiration for my film.

3. Why filmmaking?
I grew up in a country that allowed very little access to the outside world; my only contact to the world that existed outside of my immediate surrounding was through films; in films I could see different places, people, and cultures.  

4. Who is your creative hero?
My Uncle

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Meeting other filmmakers and watching films
 

CHLOE LERICHE, Director, Les Grands

1. Where do you come from?
Montreal but I've lived in Trois-Rivières till I was 17. In a poor area close to the St-Laurent. My adress for 15 years was 71 Place Joly, now my adress has many numbers and letters in it. Before Place Joly, I lived in the woods in a small house with no electricity.

2. What influenced your film?
I guess my main influence for this short film is my youth - I remember recently going back to my old schoolyard and being impressed by how everything was small. It felt so big at the time. The film is inspired by this shift in perspective and how children sometimes make a big deal out of small things. When you are the victim of a bully, it is a stressfull experience and suddenly everything else in life seems to be part of a larger conspiracy against you.

Part of the film is also influenced by memories of my brother and I fighting after watching Rocky or the WWF. We were really impressed by Jake the Snake and those mean, strong characters. We didn't understand then why people fight, it just looked like a fun game.

3. Why filmmaking?
I wanted to do a children's film that would be different. I wanted to show an audience of children a smart film in which they would question the form as much as the content. In this regard, I chose to use a documentary style as much as I could given the challenges of using child actors. I am not sure I did what I wanted to do, but I'm happy with the result anyway.
 
4. Who is your creative hero?
One of my favorite filmmaker is Harmony Korine. And there's Peter Watkins, Lyne Ramsay, Donigan Cumming, Amos Kollek, Mike Leigh and Ulrich Seidl. I'm also a big fan of Nietzsche and Beethoven. I guess I like dark atmospheres full of strange obssessions.

That is a good question, my creative heros...My mom always wanted us to become artists. If I wanted a doll, she would buy me the head of the doll and told me I could "create" the body myself... It was quite disturbing at the time. We would wear the neighbors old clothes - but we had musical instruments and art material all over the place. So I guess she could be one of my creative heros.
 
5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
See the latest Harmony Korine film and the first feature of Stephane Lafleur.
 
 
CLAUDIA MORGADO ESCANILLA, Director, No Bikini

1. Where do you come from?
What an odd question. Do I think "culture" influences story telling, absolutely, but not just your culture of origin, but the cultures you have experienced. Where did you first fall in love? Who broke your heart? Who nurtured you? Who do you admire? What was the worst job you ever had? Anyway I was born and raised in Santiago Chile

2. What influenced your film?
See the answer to the first question and more specifically, women.

3. Why filmmaking?
It is the only way I know how to express my self creatively. If I could paint, I would be a painter.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Every filmmaker whose films can only be theirs.  I love to look at all the different styles and storytelling forms and how each filmmaker makes it their own.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Watching films and running into lots of people I haven't seen for a while.


ROBERT KENNEDY, Director, I've Never Had Sex

1. Where do you come from?
Toronto

2. What influenced your film?
The Surrealists--who also used "Game Playing" as a structure/content engine.

3. Why filmmaking?
It's a powerful medium--by which I mean it grabs you by numerous senses at once, completely monopolizes your mind and substitutes itself for reality.

4. Who is your creative hero?
It constantly changes -- right now it's Billy Wilder.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
This may sound like a suspect answer but I'm actually looking forward to seeing tons and tons of movies!

God Provides is a unique short-form documentary set in New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The non-narrative format of this film creates a poetic glimpse into the lives of some residents of this devastated community. This approach stands apart not only from the inundation of coverage already given to this subject but also from the traditional format currently being applied by most contemporary doc filmmakers. Directors Brian Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky were gracious enough to share a few thoughts about the project.

What was your intention when you first decided to head down there?
After a while, I think its easy to become comfortable with devastating images if you see them over and over again and that is how we were feeling about the images we were seeing from Katrina. With God Provides, we just wanted to go down and maybe bring something back that showed a crisis in a different light.

What influenced your formal approach?
Formally, we both come from a background in still photography so we were bringing some of that discipline with us. We were really working from our intuition since we were not trained as documentarians. Because of our limited experience in filmmaking at the time, we were forced to make decisions in a different way.

Is short, non-narrative filmmaking something you hope to continue to do?
It really depends on the story that we want to tell and what is the best approach to tell it. Currently we are in the early stages of pre-production on a feature length narrative film. Though parts of the story will be scripted, we will also be using non-actors and documentary methods to bring it to life.

At what point did you decide to keep this a short doc?
We shot very little footage and were not entirely sure what we would do with the material once we returned. We were selective about what we shot and when we decided to turn on the camera, because we knew we didn?t want to go for any kind of easy sensationalism. It was almost as if we knew more about what we didn?t want, then what we did?and that meant less time with the camera rolling, and more time searching, wandering around and taking things in.

God Provides screens prior to The Wild Horse Redemption TONIGHT (Wed) @ 9:30pm and Friday @ 11:45am.

BRITT RANDLE, Director, Dada Dum
1. Where do you come from?
Born in Thunder Bay - sounds mythic - T-H-U-N-D-E-R B-A-Y and I like it. Traveled a lot. Settled in Toronto.

2. What influenced your film?
Growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian family didn't hurt. My films are my early experiences disguised in surreal, black and white, visual.    metaphors.                         
        
3. Why filmmaking?
I love silent film - long live Bunuel, Murnau and Eisenstein! When I was 12 my parents took me to Hollywood to exorcise my intense obsession with the movies. Their plan to expose the reality behind the magic backfired. The obsession continues.             

4. Who is your creative hero?
A: I don't really have heroes but I saw a doc on Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo - he was old and drew a simple picture of a sea turtle. He finished the picture and smiled. Living a creative life - that's pretty heroic.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
A: The films, I can't wait! Plus I'm having a competition with one of the Madame Tutli Putli team members to see who can get the most photos with a celebrity. Game on!


DEV KHANNA, Director, Terry Southern's Plums and Prunes
1. Where do you come from?
I'm a Torontonian born and raised.  Actually I did a stint (10 years) in Mississauga, but then again no one's perfect right?

2. What influenced your film?
The Script did.  I mean how many times does a person have the chance to work
on script by the writer of Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider?  It was sort of
like telling a karaoke singer, "Hey, here's an unsung John Lennon song, want
to give it a go?"

3. Why filmmaking?
Why not film making?  Except for the fact that it's the most thorough artistic mediums out there.  You have the visual frame of painting, the lyrical element of music and the narrative arc of literature.  What's not to love?

4. Who is your creative hero?
I can't pick just one.  So I won't.  Here are three: Scorsese for his use of music and his raw intensity, Bunnuel for his surrealism and indictment of the bourgeois,
And Kubrick, because. well. he's KUBRICK! Need I say more?

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Now that's an easy one. To watch films with people who really love them.


DAVID BIRNBAUM, Director, found oBjects
1. Where do you come from?
I was born and raised in Montreal, spent six years in Vancouver and now six in Toronto.
 
2. What influenced your film?
Our absurd and uncertain future within our newest geo-political crisis.

3. Why filmmaking?
The ability to coordinate a multiplicity of art forms seems to have existed only for the past few generations fortunate enough to have been born into an era of Cinema.  To me it is limitless, boundless- a prism for exploring the great human experiment without guile.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Emir Kusturica

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Access to the new great films of our time, and a pint with fellow travellers.


PETER LYNCH & MAX DEAN, Directors,
A Short Film About Falling
1. Where do you come from?
Peter: Some where between Planet X and Bedrock- East York  The son of  British  immigrants  in Thorncliffe Park  one of the most multicultural places pound for pound on the planet Mostly spent somewhere between hirise rooftops, TV-land and the mighty Don Valley. A vintage Toronto boy a hundred percent born and paid for.
Max:  i come from the visual arts, i am known for my interactive kinetic installations many of which have used robotics. i have used video in many of my installations but this is my first film

2. What influenced your film?
Peter: Marcel Duchamp, Bill Viola, Igmar Bergman, David Lynch, Stanely Kubrick, 9/11, Bugs Bunny and  The Road runner hour, Andy Warhol, NiagraFalls, The Three Stooges,TheTalking Heads,  Iggy Pop, Bernins fountains in Rome, Huckleberry Finn, Camus, Marylin Monroe repressed memories, anger, sexual tension the necessity for conceptual  risk, the narcotic for constant change and taping in to the big current life force of the universe  fear of death - great food and wine!
Max: i would have to say the biggest influence for me was working with peter.  i think we are both exploring and i felt we gave each other permission to push ourselves and 'A Short Film about Falling' is a beginning of that exploration.

3. Why filmmaking?
Peter: Don't you wonder sometimes 'Bout sound and vision? Frankly  its a License to be a show off a  creative delinquent It has the allure of fame  and fortune  hopefully adoration the getting paid to be a  storyteller  and a  god dam lier angle! Film embraces all the art-forms there are no rules only your own limitations.Oh ya and being an independent filmmaker in Canada means depravity financial depravation  being constantly  misunderstood and undervalued and totally underestimated  with a massive dose of  and heaps of self loathing and masochism to boot.In other words total abject insanity.
Max: i like the medium,  how you can play with time and space, i like the scale of the image, the sound, the audience, and the suspension film can be very magical.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Peter: Pablo Picasso -  he was fearless in all his creative endeavors.
Max: when i find a creative hero i will retire

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Peter: The Parties!
Max: showing the film, releasing the film to the public, it is at that moment that i will free to go on

Catch these excellent shorts prior to some of the Canadian feature films screening throughout TIFF.

CANADIAN SHIELD
Dir. Simon Ennis | English | 6 mins.
A Mountie discovers the red serge isn?t all it?s cracked up to be while stationed in the northern wilderness. Steeped in satire, this comedic period piece follows our noble hero as he searches for existential fulfillment... and his trusty steed.
Screens with HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD

GOD PROVIDES
Dir. Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky | English | 9 mins.
In this documentary portrait of the American South, expressions of faith unfold in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a focused yet unassuming manner, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky capture compelling impressions of those left to recover from what is described as an act of god.
Screens with WILD HORSE REDEMPTION

A CURE FOR TERMINAL LONELINESS
Dir. Samir Rehem | English | 7 mins.
An isolated textbook writer struggles with a bad case of loneliness as he tries to complete an assignment. In a pallid, post-millennial world where the government imposes regulations to fight a mass epidemic of isolation, our protagonist finds solace in the companionship of a sympathetic neighbour.
Screens with THEY WAIT

HYMN TO PAN
Dir. Francois Miron | English | 5 mins.
François Miron has been crafting experimental shorts with a distinctive, meticulous touch for over two decades. In this first part of a triptych, he offers a celebration of the Aleister Crowley poem ?Hymn to Pan? through a kinetic assault of dancing cinematography and fast-paced cuts. The result is a mesmerizing ode to an expressive camera movement.
Screens with LE CEDRE PENCHE

I'VE NEVER HAD SEX...
Dir. Robert Kennedy | English | 2 mins.
I?ve never had sex in a movie theatre. No, wait?. Playful truth-telling ensues when responses to this revealing adult-themed game are captured and wittily edited on a mobile phone. Filmmaker Robert Kennedy leads the candid interrogation of willing participants with a vérité approach. Play along if you dare.
Screens with YOUNG PEOPLE FUCKING

NO BIKINI
Dir. Claudia Morgado Escanilla | English | 8 mins.
?I had a sex change once, when I was six or seven years old.? The opening line of No Bikini introduces us to a young girl who defies convention during her summer swim class. Filled with humour, this film is less about defining one?s gender than it is about discov-ering personal strength.
Screens with BREAKFAST WITH SCOT

PARADISE
Dir. Jesse Rosensweet | English | 8 mins.
In this follow-up to The Stone of Folly, Jesse Rosensweet creates a fifties-era diorama to tell a tale of adultery and power. John and Jane are stuck in ruts ? literally, in the grooves of an antique automaton, but also figuratively. When Jane becomes restless and John puts in more overtime at work, this comical stop-motion animated film leads to a surprising conclusion.
Screens with JUST BURIED

Check the TIFF07.ca Film Schedule listing for up to date screening times and locations.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

Midnight Madness and International programmer extraordinaire, Colin Geddes, shares his reunion with the directors of Madame Tutli Putli, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, during the 2007 Cannes Film Festival:


"One of the personal highlights of my experience this year in Cannes was being able to hang out and celebrate with my friends Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. I first met them back when I worked at Suspect Video here in Toronto and erased many late charges as we talked about Eastern European animators as I toiled in the shop. At the time they were doing a live action comic strip for Vice magazie done with puppets and based around the adventures of a cosmonaut. They held a great party one Halloween in their studio and anytime I visited, I got a glimpse behind the scenes of their amazingly creative little puppet videos that they were doing as part of music videos or station identifications for Space or MusiquePlus. They moved to Motreal to work further on their little mini-opus MADAME TUTLI PUTLI, but we kept in touch. A month before Cannes they called me to share the news that they had been accepted into the Critics Week selection of the Festival in Cannes! We were going to be be able to toast to their success on the Rivieria! The trip was a blast for them and during all the merry mayhem I was able to try out this new video camera and get an interview from them about their experiences that week. And the happy ending for MADAME TUTLI PUTLI is two-fold ? they won and award for Best Short at Critics Week and have been selected as part of the Short Cuts Canada programme for TIFF 07! What other success lies ahead for the wide eyed puppet?"

While perusing the TIFF07 website, perhaps you stumbled into this blog. It's a good thing you did cuz you're in for some interesting insights and relevations from a few short film's makers. Most of these folks will be in town for the festival, anxious to introduce their films to a large audience for the first time. In the meantime, here's a brief introduction to the filmmaker's themselves. And if your question doesn't get answered here (like "what's their favourite: clouds or skies?"), don't be afraid to ask that question following our scheduled screenings begining Friday, September 7 at 8PM with Short Cuts 1.


SARAH GALEA-DAVIS, Director, Can You Wave Bye Bye?

1. Where do you come from?
I have Maltese blood coursing through my veins.

2. What influenced your film?
My film is based on a short story written by Elyse Gasco.

3. Why filmmaking?
I wasn't smart enough for nuclear physics.

4. Who is your creative hero?
The children of the future.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Sleeping my way to the top.


CAM CHRISTIANSEN, Director,
I Have Seen The Future

1. Where do you come from?  
Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada

2. What influenced your film? 
The desire to have fun was the main influence for me. It was made like this:  "you are an AWESOME musician! ...  lets DO something!"

3. Why filmmaking? 
Well its more animation than straight on filmmaking but mainly animation allows me to dive deep into the far reaches of my creative spirit and basically play around till something pops out and I say "cool !!". Then I gain consciousness and realize 3 months have gone by... (its the most fun you can have without substance abuse).

4. Who is your creative hero? 
Kris Demeanor,  ABBA

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF? 
I look forward to seeing films BEFORE everyone else so we can say casually at dinner parties that we "saw that already."  Also we look forward to meeting people and hanging out with other filmmakers and being Star Struck!  We promise to try and be cool about seeing celebrities but not sure it will work out so well.


TREVOR CAWOOD, Director, Terminus

1. Where do you come from?
I was born in Regina Saskatchewan. Have lived in Calgary, as well as San Francisco. Currently, I call Vancouver home.

2. What influenced your film?
From an artistic standpoint: I grew up watching a lot of 1970's Canadian media. As a result, I developed an interest in brutalist design and architecture. That influence prevails throughout the film.
From a conceptual standpoint: I'm fascinated by how the mind adapts and evolves through stress. Both my need for stress, and my need to get rid of stress have played a large role in the shaping of my character. The characters in Terminus are metaphors for anxiety.

3. Why filmmaking?
As a kid, it was pencil crayons, lots of them. As an adolescent, it was photography. As an adult, it's films and commercials.

4. Who is your creative hero?
A British filmmaker/comedian named Chris Morris. The guy's years ahead of his time. James Cameron and Ricky Gervais deserve mention as well.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
It's funny, there's about 20 people I know who where involved with films in this years TIFF... and ironically we're all going to be in Toronto. Should make for a great entourage.


CASSANDRA NICOLAOU, Director,
Congratulations Daisy Graham

1. Where do you come from?
Toronto

2. What influenced your film?
Seeing some people close to me struggling with disease, despair and devotion.

3. Why filmmaking?
I like all the different voices coming together to tell a story.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Spike Lee, Claire Denis and a dozen others.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Seeing some films.


TROY NIXEY, Director, Latchkey's Lament

1. Where do you come from?
Born in Lethbridge Alberta, grew up in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, live in Vancouver BC

2. What influenced your film?
Music, books, art and of course movies. The things that influence all my work.

3. Why filmmaking?
Movies are the greatest storytelling medium ever created.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Tom Waits, Charlie Chaplin, Guillermo Del Toro, Johnny Cash, Arthur Rackham, Dr. Seuss

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
The movies of course.

SHORT CUTS 5:
Identity struggles, relationships on the rocks
and a decent into madness

BURGEON AND FADE
Dir. Audrey Cummings | English | 14 mins.
A middle-aged widow feels her attractiveness fading when confronted with her teenaged daughter?s burgeoning beauty. Tensions come to a head at a friend?s party when a man?s attention swings in both of their directions. Self-worth and aging are bravely confronted in this sensitive story about the importance of family and what truly matters.

THE COLONY
Dir. Jeff Barnaby | English | 24 mins.
Following his award-winning film, From Cherry English, Jeff Barnaby?s second short is a gritty depiction of deception, desolation and decay. Born of an imaginative script and proficiently executed, this powerful film witnesses cockroaches and chainsaws wreak havoc during one man?s descent into madness.

CONGRATULATIONS DAISY GRAHAM
Dir. Cassandra Nicolaou | English | 15 mins.
It is a difficult day for seventy-year-old Daisy Graham. She is faced with the deteriorating health of her partner, constantly reminded of the upcoming ceremony in her honour, and ? to boot ? she is unable to procure bullets for her rifle. Striking recollections and subtle tone imbue this complex and original story about an aging couple?s love.

DIAMONDS IN A BUCKET
Dir. Sherry White | English | 21 mins.
Harold and Vivian begin a relationship that is flawed from the start: they see what they want in each other, rather than what really exists. Harold?s daughter provides a caustic but honest voice in this slice of life from the Rock.

FRACAS
Dir. Eduardo Menz | English | 5 mins.
The juxtaposition of children?s school portraits with the anxious voices of an elementary spelling bee reveals a haunting reality of innocence that has vanished. In this experimental documentary, Eduardo Menz repurposes found images with great effect to create an emotionally compelling montage that lingers long after the film ends.

TEENAGE GIRL
Dir. Greg Atkins | English | 16 mins.
Forty-year-old Lucas wakes each morning not knowing who he will be ? his middle-aged self or an apathetic teenaged girl. His two personalities spend their days together in an idle power struggle. The spaces of Greg Atkins?s short film are suffused with clues and illusory scenes, all providing guideposts in this intriguingly stylish contemplation of identity.

TIC TAC TOE
Dir. Matthew Swanson | No dialogue | 2 mins.
When faced with making any important decision, you can always turn to one surefire method: a good old-fashioned game of tic tac toe! Our protagonist?s high-stakes match turns ugly, however, in this sharp, amusing and innovative short film shot entirely on a mobile phone.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

SHORT CUTS 4:
Betrayed, bullied, cursed & cremated

BUMBLEBEE
Dir. Jonathan van Tulleken | English | 6 mins.
Children?s play takes dark turns in this observant tale about two young boys. Set in lush Georgian Bay and permeated by an unsettling atmosphere, this beautifully photographed film deals with the destructive consequences of boundary testing and imitation.

CODE 13
Dir. Mathieu L. Denis | French | 16 mins.
Joseph, a solitary and morose Montreal cab driver, reluctantly agrees to a double shift, during which he has a troubling incident with a cyclist. As events unfold, this contemplative and atmospheric drama explores the moral consequences of quick decisions.

CURSING HANLEY
Dir. Kelly Harms | English | 17 mins.
In this comedic tale about the bitter potential of fate, a naively optimistic man unwittingly finds himself living the day from hell. His ex-fiancée, it seems, has placed a curse on him that will result in the loss of everything he values.

LES GRANDS
Dir. Chloe Leriche | French | 12 mins.
Stolen lunches and violent threats are daily events endured by three classmates in this compelling schoolyard drama. After they receive a particularly menacing message, the friends finally decide to take on the class bully. They soon realize that making assumptions can be foolish.

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE
Dir. Cam Christiansen | English | 6 mins.
On a hot summer day in the suburbs, a father and son enjoy a leisurely game of tennis until a group of young hooligans accosts them for their unfashionable ways. Unique camera-based motion-capture animation brings a visual flair to Canadian singer-songwriter Kris Demeanor?s tender, humorous tune about maturity and generation gaps.

REORDER
Dir. Sean Garrity | English | 14 mins.
Stunned by his fiancée?s admission of adultery, Kyle obsessively attempts to rebuild his life, piece by piece. As Kyle withdraws into himself, filmmaker Sean Garrity?s brilliantly structured mise en scène provides insight into a man reckoning with his lover?s betrayal.

SMILE
Dir. Julia Kwan | English | 18 mins.
Told from the perspective of the youngest daughter of a Chinese immigrant family, this endearing story recounts the events surrounding the taking of a family portrait. The central dilemma ? which gives the film its title ? arises as the family navigates differing cultural customs in this intimate and adept character study.

THREE BEANS FOR GEORGE
Dir. Sean Anicic | English | 5 mins.
A man trades his buddy?s ashes for three beans in an attempt to beat the laws of nature and bring his pal back from the dead. This is a surprisingly droll tale about everlasting friendship.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

SHORT CUTS 3:
Innovative animations, dark dramas,
docs & mocs

BLOOD WILL TELL
Andrew McPhillips | English | 6 mins.
Mosquitoes suck the blood of a mysterious beast inside the dark depths of a windmill before turning their sights on a group of children playing outside in an idyllic landscape. This haunting 3-D animated film uses a new technique ? based upon a Victorian-era tin-type photographic process ? to allude to a world menaced by disease.

FARMER'S REQUIEM
Dir. Ramses Madian | English | 9 mins.
As an elderly farmer recounts his experiences and offers observations about the changing times, time-lapse images of decaying farms and barren fields illustrate the loss of tradition and livelihood. This is an exquisite elegy to a vanishing generation.

HASTING'S STREET
Dir. Larry Kent | English | 20 mins.
Larry Kent returns to his creative origins with the completion of Hastings Street, a dramatic portrait of a vulnerable young man set in downtown Vancouver. Filmed in 1963, prior to his first feature, The Bitter Ash, this monochromatic film is a flashback to another era of Canadian cinema and to a notorious street.

HIRSUTE
Dir. A.J. Bond | English | 14 mins
An experiment in time travel turns into a narcissistic nightmare when a scientist returns to the past and discovers that his former self deplores what he later became. A.J. Bond?s directing debut explores the ultimate fate of our self-seeking nature.

KNIGHTS OF ATOMIKARON
Dir. Adam Brodie, Dave Derewlany | English | 6 mins.
Knights of Atomikaron introduces us to Sir OMG and F12 of Gigamore, two oddball charac-ters in an elaborate role-playing game carried out by a close-knit group of men. Riffing on a number of contemporary documentaries, this mockumentary ventures into the men?s lives as they convey their private thoughts, hopes and greatest fears.

LATCHKEY'S LAMENT
Dir. Troy Nixey | English | 18 mins.
Elegant and dynamic computer-generated animation propels this live-action tale. In a monolithic factory, a heroic key battles the treacherous Keyfiend to avenge his lover?s demise.

TERMINUS
Dir. Trevor Cawood | English | 8 mins.
In Trevor Cawood?s compelling Terminus, a man manages to escape from the shadows of his towering worries, but does so at a gruesome cost. His private fears and anxieties manifest themselves as daunting figments of the imagination in this visually innovative, surrealist piece.

TERRY SOUTHERN'S PLUMS AND PRUNES
Dir. Dev Khana | English | 9 mins.
For his directorial debut, Dev Khanna has realized celebrated writer Terry Southern?s infamous screenplay ? which first appeared in Playboy magazine in 1967 ? about a father?s lust for his daughter. Terry Southern?s Plums and Prunes employs this taboo subject to criticize a traditional value system where people often preach one thing but think another.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

We asked some of the talented filmmakers behind the films in this year's Short Cuts Canada programme 5 short questions in order to get a quick introduction to them and some insight into their genius minds. Have a read through the first installment here and you'll see the madcap bunch we're dealing with. More to come!


SIMON ENNIS, Director, The Canadian Shield

1. Where do you come from?
I was born in Toronto, Ontario but came into my own in Drumheller, Alberta - the dinosaur capital of Canada.

2. What influenced your film?
The hard work and talent of everybody who worked on it.

3. Why filmmaking?
I'm a lousy baseball player, a lazy musician and, thanks to a thyroid condition, unable to qualify as a guinea pig for pharmaseudical research.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Having a 'hero' seems to me a little antithetical to being creative. That being said I'm a big fan of Jerry Lee Lewis, Marcel Duchamp and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
The guest pass - I hope to see at least 30 films!


JULIA KWAN, Director, Smile

1. Where do you come from?
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C.

2. What influenced your film?
Smile was one of the short stories I wrote while I was developing my feature, Eve & the Fire Horse.  I turned that story into a short script, which was meant to be my "calling card" film for my feature.  However, with finances in place for both, the production for the feature came together faster than the short so I ended up making my "calling card" after my feature!

3. Why filmmaking?
Filmmaking gives me a voice and allows me to connect with people on a personal level.  

4. Who is your creative hero?
Hirokazu Koreeda

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
Watching films! (Particularly excited about the new films by Ang Lee, Julie Taymor, Noah Baumbach, Auraeus Solito)


SHERRY WHITE, Director, Diamonds in a Bucket

1. Where do you come from?
I come from Stephenville, on the west coast of Newfoundland, a community of about 7 thousand people.

2. What influenced your film?
I think I was inspired by how much we will delude ourselves in relationships - so many people are so afraid to be alone that they will convince themselves that anything fits. But it's hard to go back to the delusion when someone blows the whistle on it.

3. Why filmmaking?
I really believe in stories, I think they help us feel connected  
to humanity.  With film, there is so much potential for rich and provocative story telling, because you have both words and pictures.

4. Who is your creative hero?
I don't really have one creative hero, but I have loads and loads of people how have influenced me.  From Mary Walsh to Lynne Ramsay to Bruce Springsteen - all tellers of great stories.

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
I'm looking forward to stumbling upon some gems that I wouldn't have otherwise stumbled upon.


DECO DAWSON, Director, The Last Moment

1. Where do you come from?
I was born and raised in Winnipeg the geographic asshole of Canada,  but now live in Detroit, the economic asshole of America.

2. What influenced your film?
100 years of film history, as my film depicts an on again off again relationship told through five periods of film history, Film Noir, Dogme95, Late-Era Hitchcock, Tarantino and French New Wave.

3. Why filmmaking?
It is my most recent obsession.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Tied, Kelsey Grammer and Jackie Joyner-Kersee

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
All those nifty AFG commercials before the films.


SEAN GARRITY, Director, ReOrder

1. Where do you come from?
Born in Winnipeg. Live in Winnipeg.

2. What influenced your film?
A dream I had. In the dream I was writing and writing and writing and never actually making a film? at least I wish it were a dream.

3. Why filmmaking?
My mom thought it would be more financially stable than being a musician.

4. Who is your creative hero?
Jaco Pastorius, Guy Maddin, Paul Klee, Iwai Shinji, Zadie Smith, Chris Marker

5. What are you most looking forward to at TIFF?
There are so many great films that won?t get distributed in Canada ? I have to see ?em at the TIFF or forever hold my peace.

SHORT CUTS 2:
Profound portraits, challenging
circumstances & fantastical foraging    

BOAR ATTACK
Dir. Jay White | English | 4 mins.
From the Far North comes this animated tale of a young man who fears the worst while awaiting his father?s safe return from a walk in the woods. Jay White presents his cautious protagonist through charming hand-drawn sketches and contrasting watercolour backgrounds of northern landscapes.

CAN YOU WAVE BYE-BYE?
Dir. Sarah Galea-Davis | English | 18 mins.
An alienated single mother finds she is unable to assume a maternal role. When her life begins to unravel, she puts her daughter up for adoption before causing any harm to the unwitting infant. Sarah Galea-Davis?s brave film employs a stunning realism to examine a profoundly challenging array of emotions.

DADA DUM
Dir. Britt Randle | No dialogue | 8 mins.
In this compelling short film, a woman seeks release from a magnificent mansion labyrinth through an entranced dance. Displaying a striking sense of set design and an eye for the surreal, Britt Randle leads his audience through a floating world, employing a visual style that stirs the senses.

DUSTBOWL HA! HA!
Dir. Sebastien Pilote | French | 14 mins.
In this heartfelt tribute to the working class, a man struggles to keep his dignity in front of his wife and kids after losing his job. We?re ?talkin? icy snowbank blues? in Sébastien Pilote?s delicate cinematic portrait of a salary man collapsing under the weight of the world.

FOUR WALLS
Dir. Raha Shirazi | Farsi | 12 mins.
One fateful evening, three Iranian women from different social groups are brought together within the four walls of a prison cell. This thoughtful parable conveys a sense of despair about a continuing cycle of gender oppression, but also offers hope when self-expression and small personal revolutions emerge through the fissures of restrictive circumstances.

GENE BOY CAME HOME
Dir. Alanis Obomsawin | English | 25 mins.
Eugene left the Odanak Reserve at fifteen for work in New York. At seventeen, he found himself enlisted in the United States Marines and on his way to Vietnam. Alanis Obomsawin commemorates the harrowing story of this forgotten veteran?s long journey home, while candidly confronting  governmental responsibility and the discourse of war.

MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI
Dir. Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski | No dialogue | 17 mins.
Carrying her emotional baggage onto a midnight train, Madame Tutli-Putli encounters a stunning array of spooks, both seen and unseen. Critically lauded for their flawless blend of classic and digitally assisted animation, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski masterfully manipulate this fantastical journey, which was inspired by travel on Canada?s railways.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

SHORT CUTS 1:
Silent era satire, affectionate animation
& experimental allegories

AUTOMOTO
Dir. Neil McInnes, Cathy McInnes | No Dialogue | 5 mins.
Isolated in an elaborately mechanized workshop, a lonely wooden skeleton suffering from writer?s block enlists a factory worker to help him reconnect with his muse. This remarkable stop-motion animated film is a striking and affectionate commentary on the artistic process.

FOUND OBJECTS
Dir. David Birnbaum | No Dialogue | 18 mins.
In a forlorn apartment building and an ominous theatre, both crumbling and wracked by perpetual war, children appear to be best seen and rarely heard. Voices are silenced in this allegorical cautionary tale, while music fills the air and a hidden old man keeps time.

LAST MOMENT
Dir. Deco Dawson | English | 29 mins.
Deco Dawson manoeuvres across genres and through time to present an enigmatic story about an ill-fated relationship and the final moments of a man?s life. Making expert use of repetition and evocative mise en scène, this is as much an absorbing journey through the medium as it is a chilling experimental narrative.

LOUDLY, DEATH UNTIES
Dir. Sheila Pye, Nicholas Pye | No Dialogue | 11 mins.
The Pyes continue their exploration of intimate relationships in this meticulously art-directed and rhythmic experimental piece about mortality. A young banshee girl burrows her way into the backroom of a couple?s home, releasing haunting sounds.  When one of the lovers begins to succumb to mysterious forces, the other must heed the banshee?s prophecy.

SHOOTING GERONIMO
Dir. Kent Monkman | English/Cree | 11 mins.
What do Geronimo, a drag queen and silent film have in common? Not much. At least, not until this satirical send-up of an old timey western mashes them together in a tale about two young studs who pose for a ?promising? filmmaker in an evolving production set on the frontier.

A SHORT FILM ABOUT FALLING
Dir. Peter Lynch, Max Dean | English | 15 mins.
Peter Lynch?s latest project is an exploration of autobiography and the notion of falling. This complex work uses visual artist Max Dean?s robotic chair as the thread that entwines reenactments of the filmmakers? childhood memories, variations on the theme of suspension and philosophical contemplations about mortality.

THE WHOLE DAY THROUGH
Dir. Adam Budd | English | 10 mins.
Set on a serene Saskatchewan lake, this subtle and intimate drama turns around a young couple confronting the complexities of fidelity. Measured and sophisticated cinematography complement Adam Budd?s artful direction of his first 35mm short.

Film briefs written by the Short Cuts Canada programming team: Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Alex Rogalski and Jay Dart.

Over the coming weeks leading up to the festival, we will attempt to introduce you to most of the films and filmmakers participating in this year's Short Cuts Canada programme. For now, here is an overview of our lineup of mind-blowing short form films. And stay tuned for more regular bloggings coming your way.

Automoto  by Neil McInnes / Cathy McInnes    
Blood Will Tell  by Andrew McPhillips   
Boar Attack  by Jay White   
Bumblebee  by Jonathan van Tulleken   
Burgeon and Fade  by Audrey Cummings
Can You Wave Bye Bye?  by Sarah Galea-Davis   
Canadian Shield  by Simon Ennis
Code 13  by Mathieu L. Denis    
The Colony  by Jeff Barnaby    
Congratulations Daisy Graham  by Cassandra Nicolaou  
Cure For Terminal Lonliness  by Samir Rehem  
Cursing Hanley  by Kelly Harms
Dada Dum  by Britt Randle    
Diamonds in a Bucket  by Sherry White    
Dust Bowl Ha! Ha!  by Sébastien Pilote    
Farmer's Requiem  by Ramses Madina   
Found Objects  by David Birnbaum  
Four Walls  by Raha Shirazi    
fracas  by Eduardo Menz    
Gene Boy Came Home  by Alanis Obomsawin    
God Provides  by Brian M. Cassidy / Melanie Shatzky   
Les Grands  by Chloé Leriche   
Hastings Street  by Larry Kent  
Hirsute  by A.J. Bond   
Hymn to Pan  by François Miron  
I Have Seen the Future  by Cam Christiansen    
I've Never Had Sex...  by Robert Kennedy  
Knights of Atomikaron  by Adam Brodie / Dave Derewlany
The Last Moment  by Deco Dawson
Latchkey's Lament  by Troy Nixey  
Loudly, Death Unties  by Sheila Pye / Nicholas Pye    
Madame Tutli-Putli  by Chris Lavis / Maciek Szczerbowski   
No Bikini  by Claudia Morgado Escanilla   
Paradise  by Jesse Rosensweet    
ReOrder  by Sean Garrity    
Shooting Geronimo  by Kent Monkman    
A Short Film About Falling  by Peter Lynch / Max Dean   
Smile  by Julia Kwan  
Teenage Girl  by Greg Atkins
Terminus  by Trevor Cawood   
Terry Southern's Plums and Prunes  by Dev Khanna  
Three Beans For George  by Sean Anicic
Tic Tac Toe  by Matthew Swanson
The Whole Day Through  by Adam Budd

CHOICE CUTS

If you like films of the short variety, then get yourself ready for a spectacular offering from this year?s Short Cuts Canada programmes featured at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. The programming team has been hard at work screening over 500 short film submissions from across Canada and culling it down to five programmes of eclectic visions. From sophisticated and hilarious narratives to innovative animation to challenging experimental films, this year?s programming offers an insightful cross-section of what Canadian creators are doing with the short form of filmmaking. As always, Short Cuts Canada presents new works by established artists and introduces some of this country?s most promising creative minds. Stay tuned here for upcoming announcements regarding this year?s line-up of shorts as well as feature articles, filmmaker interviews and event photos throughout the festival. ? Jay