2019 Films

Synopsis: When Robin Walker (Jessica Sipos) returns home for her father's funeral, she's forced to confront the damaged family she left behind, as well as her own personal demons; resulting in the reveal of an unsettling secret.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Luke Villemaire was born and raised in Kitchener, ON. Industry veteran, Andrea Roth is from Woodstock, ON. Film composer, Spencer Creaghan, and star Jackson Martin are both from London, Ontario.

Points of Interest: GOLIATH was helmed by a group of students and alumni from schools across the GTA.

Synopsis: An aging, isolated woman ordered to perform community service for a DUI discovers that adopting ailing pets to fill the void in her life can be its own obsession.

TIFF Film Screening

Synopsis: The untold true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Sound designer Craig Mann went to Fanshawe College. Mann is the winner of an Academy Award for sound design on Whiplash (2014).

Synopsis: Kapuivik, north Baffin Island, 1961. Noah Piugattuk's nomadic Inuit band live and hunt by dogteam, just as his ancestors did when he was born in 1900. When the white man known as Boss arrives in camp, what appears as a chance meeting soon opens up the prospect of momentous change for the community.

TIFF Film Screening

Winner of the prestigious 2019 Hot Docs Rogers Audience Choice Award for Best Canadian Feature and the DGC Special Jury Prize, PREY is a riveting and unflinching account of a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and his civil lawyer as they take on the Catholic Church.

Widespread sexual abuse within the Church has traumatized thousands globally. PREY follows one survivor as he pursues justice through a public trial in the hopes of forcing the dark and hidden story of clergy sexual abuse to light.

The plaintiff in the landmark Canadian court case was abused for years as a boy at the hands of a Catholic priest fifty years ago. His civil lawyer has filed 395 suits against the Church, earning him the nickname “The Priest Hunter”.

The defendants at trial are The Basilians, a Catholic religious order. The abuser makes his presence known in court in the form of a haunting video deposition taken before his death — a taped confession sealed from public view until now.

The trial is not about guilt or innocence, but about how much money the church must pay in compensation for the devastating fallout from the abuse. More importantly, for the plaintiff, it is about exposing the truth of how and why the sexual abuse of children can have gone on for so long without the Church stopping it.

PREY documents one survivor’s efforts to seek justice. A story that echoes thousands of other sexual abuse victims’ stories around the world.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Rob Talach, the lawyer is a London Lawyer. Matt Gallagher, the director, grew up in Windsor. Much of this story takes place in Southwestern Ontario.

Directed by Daniel Roher (Ghosts of Our Forest) and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard, the feature documentary follows Robertson from his early life in Toronto and on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, in Southern Ontario, to the creation of legendary roots-rock group The Band. He made music history several times over. He lived the rock star life at its peak. The depth and soul of his songwriting continues to influence countless artists all over the world. And it all started in a little corner of Southern Ontario. Born in Toronto and inspired to make music on the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, Robbie Robertson is a homegrown icon with a singular story to tell.

Daniel Roher's film draws you right into Robertson's orbit as he recounts his early formation, the talent, hard work, and happy accidents that led to his fame with The Band, and the conflicts that consumed them. "It was a beautiful thing," he recalls. "It was so beautiful it went up in flames." Rare archival images, Robertson's memory for detail, and contributions from friends such as Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, and Martin Scorsese conjure up a glorious era of creativity and excess that can never quite be repeated.

Through it all, the rhythm of Robertson's art hums — the yearning, the focus, and the ability to dig inside himself for lyrics and music that could speak to stadiums. He wrote his first song for Ronnie Hawkins when he was 15. Not 10 years later, he'd already struck up a productive partnership with Bob Dylan, and The Band were recording Music from Big Pink at a secluded country house in Upstate New York. But as The Band reached their creative peak, the seeds of their destruction were growing: egos, jealousies, and various intoxicants began to tear them apart.

Offering unprecedented access to rock history, Once Were Brothers tells the story of one remarkable Canadian's contribution to the music we now call Americana.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Shannon Walsh grew up in London and went to high school at South and at HB Beal and BealArt.

Synopsis: The 1994 genocide in Rwanda claimed almost a million lives in just 100 days. The world stood by as men, women and children were being hacked to death by machetes. When the international community finally decided it was time to pay attention, it did so through memorable photographs of mutilated bodies and seas of nameless refugees. But many Rwandans remember their loved ones through images of life, not death: a passport or I.D. card photo, an unguarded snap taken in the garden or a group portrait from a wedding or a baptism. The surviving images are precious objects, with so many destroyed and lost forever. A lot of people have only a solitary image of their loved ones. Many have none at all.

The Faces We Lost follows nine Rwandans (survivors, relatives of victims and professional memory-makers), who guide us through their stories and share their experiences, remembrance and images. It is the first documentary to explore the many functions of these priceless photographs, and one of the few films to engage with Rwandans as users of images, rather than simply their subjects.

The Faces We Lost also explores the professional aspect of memory-making in Rwanda: The Genocide Archive (which holds thousands of original images donated by the victims’ relatives) and the Kigali Genocide Memorial (where many of the photographs are on public display). As the private and the public meet and as each person recounts their relationship with the photographs they have or they wish they had, The Faces We Lost moves to paint a complex memorial landscape of contemporary Rwanda.

Synopsis: Persistently rejected by others, an autistic man has to confront his own prejudices after he seemingly meets the perfect companion.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The director, Josh Litman, is from London, Ontario (born and raised), and studied at Western University for his undergrad where he majored in developmental cognitive neuroscience. The sound editor, Alex Di Carlo, is also from London, Ontario.

Points of Interest: The film tackles LGBTQ+ and disability-related issues. Writer/producer/lead actor Daniel Becker not only plays a character with autism, but is diagnosed as on the spectrum himself. Furthermore, his co-star, Johanna Padilla, not only plays a trans character, but is a trans actress herself.

Synopsis: Mary, an incredibly lifelike android caretaker, must provide a logical answer for the drowning of her ill ward, Liz.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The director, Dylan Broda, was born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario. Production occurred in Sarnia and Dylan's hometown, Brights Grove. They intend on bringing more film production back to Sarnia in the near future.

Points of Interest: 1 - The opening shot is entirely CGI 2 - The entire film is shot in Sarnia, ON.

Synopsis: Sisters Emme and Elle like to hunt, lure, and devour men. Have they bit off more than they can chew?

Southwestern Ontario connection: All crew and most of the cast are based in Southwestern Ontario, including writer/director Robert McGill, who lives in London. The film was primarily filmed in London, Ontario.

Synopsis: A socially-challenged man struggles for control of his voice when an A.I. speech inhibitor threatens to jeopardize his ailing relationships.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Jordan Batchelor, the Director of Photography, was born and raised in Simcoe, Ontario before coming to Sheridan College for the bachelor of film and TV program. He often visits his family back in Simcoe, and currently resides in Etobicoke looking to further his filmmaking career.

Synopsis: A woman tries to grapple with the state of her newly damaged marriage.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Nicholas Dragas is proud to call Kitchener, Ontario home. The film was created, written and shot at the unique locations Nicholas and the crew, all of which is from Southwestern Ontario, have come to know and love.

Synopsis: L'Dor V'Dor (Hebrew for From Generation to Generation) is about a father and a son. The father fears his son is losing his religious identity. The son feels his father has lost touch with the modern world and wants him to adapt.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Michael Tobin has a connection to Southwestern Ontario and the film was shot on Port Stanley Beach.

Synopsis: For every Bert and Ernie, somebody's got to suck it up and play Bert's left arm. Our somebody has had enough.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Franci Dimitrovska grew up in London Ontario. In 2018, she pitched her thesis film, Limbs, at the Forest City Film Festival Pitch Competition and received recognition from Shaftesbury for her project. The film’s head of costume is from Cambridge.

Points of Interest: The film is accumulating several awards. Limbs just had its American premiere at the NYC Chain Film Festival and sold non-exclusive rights to CBC.

Synopsis: As a young Canadian-born daughter waits for acceptance to her dream arts program, her excitement turns to despondence as time goes on. Her Caribbean mother must make a heart wrenching decision to make sure her daughter escapes the cycle of poverty the two are caught in.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Andrew Simpson lived in London, Ontario and Producer Sedina Fiati graduated from the University of Windsor. Both Andrew and writer Richard Young have had their previous films play at Forest City Film Festival.

Points of Interest: Film Inspiration, as told by Richard Young.

As a South Asian-Canadian artist with Caribbean roots, the premise of Maternal came from my own family discord when I decided to pursue my artistic passion a decade ago, a discord familiar to many diverse artists.

Giving up my previous stable career led to fights and strained relationships. I was hurt and angry with my immigrant parents for attacking my dreams when I needed their support, assuming they were ashamed of me for being true to myself.

Years later, I realized that underneath all their frustrations and anger was LOVE. My parents grew up poor, coming to Canada and sacrificing so their children could have a better life. And it broke their hearts to see their child now struggle in the unstable arts industry because they were powerless to help me. Like many marginalized people, they tried to protect me by dissuading me from my dream because we couldn’t afford the precarious nature of it. For first-generation children whose loving immigrant parents can’t lift them up high enough, aspirations are ironically a privilege.

Maternal is a distillation of my family’s struggle with the arts. Where the absolute love for one’s child and dream that s/he can be anything comes up against the reality of one’s lot in life. I’m honoured that three powerhouse female black artists, actors Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah & Millie Davis as well as producer Sedina Fiati, connected with the story and came on board with director Andrew Simpson to realize this project.

Synopsis: When the whole world is hypnotized by an unexplained celestial event, a young boy must face his fear of the unknown.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Lead actor Keegan Hedley lives in and is based in Grimsby. The whole script was written while taking the train from Vancouver to Toronto over the course of 4 days.

Synopsis: A nurse discovers that her patient has a dark secret and puts her job on the line to keep the patient safe.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director, Miranda White was raised in Brantford, Ontario. She went to Niagara College to pursue her dream of directing, but always thought of Brantford as her home. Touch was a student film made at Niagara College.

Points of Interest: It was a student film made at Niagara College. It is the directorial debut of Miranda White.

Synopsis: In the near future, a major drought has taken over North America. A major agro-chemical company releases a line of drought resistant seeds, but young journalist Harper believes the seeds have a darker purpose.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Caitee McIntyre grew up in Stratford, Ontario and Unearthed was inspired by farmers from the region. The film was shot in SWO. Through a family friend, Caitee McIntyre was able to shoot half of the film in their “dream location” of an old 1920s farmhouse in Punkydoodles Corners.

Synopsis: For the Girls is an observational documentary about the 14 and 15-year-old girls who play for the Etobicoke Dolphins Bantam AA hockey team. Even though there is currently no professional women's league in Canada, most of the Dolphins dream of one day playing hockey at a professional level.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The director of photography, Jansen Otten, is from the London area.

Synopsis: Told through personal photos, home videos, and original music, Girl of My Dreams is a true account of "unexplained" infertility and a very unexpected outcome.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Girl of My Dreams was written, produced and directed in London, Ontario. It contains personal/family footage and stills taken in London, Lambeth, and Bayfield between 1992 and 2018. The music for the film was composed and recorded locally in 1996-1998 by Kari Townsend and produced by Juno award winner Dan Brodbeck.

Points of Interest: Girl of my Dreams was originally a private gift to my daughter in hopes that it would help her understand how deeply she is loved and how profoundly she changed my life. However, upon seeing the film, my daughter (12 years old at the time) suggested I share the film with others so that its message of hope, perseverance and love could offer comfort and encouragement to others. The response has been incredible. I have received messages from so many hopeful parents, adoptive parents and adopted adults - all of whom have expressed thanks for the meaningfulness of the film's message. This has been the greatest reward.

Synopsis: This portrait documentary captures Amy Shackleton's brushless technique, which has led her into the Canadian art scene with uniques city scenes that combine urban elements and nature. A process that will squeeze your creativity.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Laura Diaz-Martinez is a Student of Advanced Filmmaking from Fanshawe College.

Points of Interest: Amy Shackleston is a Canadian artist that has been developing her own brushless painting technique during the past ten years, and she has got to a very successful point in her career.

Synopsis: A profile of renowned London playwright, Jason Rip who has written and produced 81 plays so far and who shows no signs of slowing down.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Jason Rip is a London playwright. Directed by London-raised filmmaker Matthew Downs.

Synopsis: The forest holds many mysteries. We follow some unique foragers as they hunt for the elusive and highly prized Japanese Matsutake mushroom, also known as the Pine Mushroom, in Northern British Columbia. Surprisingly, it is on formerly logged, second growth forests that the rare Matsutake flourish. Because of their high value in Japan, a unique human and non-human ecosystem, and economy, has emerged here in Northern Canada.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Shannon Walsh grew up in London and went to high school at South and at HB Beal and BealArt.

Synopsis: Danovia Stechishin has helped keep Ukrainian culture alive in Canada by collecting traditional pieces from Ukraine and bringing them to Canada for new generations.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Rediscovered and Shared was made by London based filmmakers and was filmed in Toronto.

Points of Interest: Ukrainian/Ukrainian Canadian culture (mainly oral), hand-stitched embroidery, survival of an oppressed culture under the USSR, original illegal 8mm film from subject in Ukrainian mountains.

Synopsis: Short documentary about amazing photographer Jim Kost, who is one of only a few using old style Wet Collodion Process.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Rediscovered and Shared was made by London based filmmakers and was filmed in Toronto.

Points of Interest: Director Yulia Starostina and the crew are Fanshawe students and the main character lives and photographs in London, ON.

Synopsis: "The song and video recap the callous and racist way the media covered the murders of two Indigenous youth, 15-year-old Tina Fontaine in 2014 and 22-year-old Colten Boushie in 2016."

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director/animator Sarah Legault is from London Ontario and footage was filmed in London Ontario. The film’s musician is from Hamilton, Ontario.

Synopsis: Home’ is a retro-cartoony and comedic animated short set in 1958 following the misadventures of a fish astronaut.

Southwestern Ontario connection: HOME was created in Oakville, Ontario at Sheridan College as part of a thesis film for the Bachelor of Animation program.

Synopsis: A young shepherd boy frees a panicked, trapped horse, only to find out why it was shackled in the first place.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Dani Bittner made her short film Kelpie during her last year at Sheridan College's Animation program. She initially went to school for Architecture in Toronto, but left after a couple years in order to follow her true passion for animation.

Points of Interest: Dani Bittner single handedly made this Animated film. She did everything from the design and storyboards, to the animation and compositing. The only things that she did not do herself were the music/sound, and the character's colors, which were done by a couple of Dani's friends in order to lighten the load of making a film.

Synopsis: A father and daughter inspire each other to follow their passions.

Southwestern Ontario connection: This is a film about the animator’s grandfather and mother, who grew up in Kingston, Ontario.

Points of Interest: The animator’s grandfather wrote and composed the music.

Synopsis: On a cold winter night, boy was chased by a ghost...

Southwestern Ontario connection: Sheridan College Animation.