2020 Films

Synopsis: Open For Submissions is a comedy about a small film festival with big problems. Desmond Baggs, the new film festival Executive Director, must overcome sabotage and betrayal to make sure his film festival isn't destroyed by the festival programmer, the filmmakers, and/or the Canadian Arts Council.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Lead actor Tyler Parr has a strong connection to the Forest City Film Festival, screening his film "Ironied" in its inaugural year.

Points of Interest: Open for Submission's dialogue and actions were entirely improvised by the cast over an 8 day shoot. The film was created from a 30 page scene outline created by director Bryan Skinner and writing partner Stacey Ashworth.

Synopsis: Boys in July. Girls in August. And never the two shall meet. But in 1990, when summer camps around the country were being shut down in record numbers, Camp Kindlewood made the bold yet economically necessary move to turn “co-ed”. Needless to say, the change did not go over well amongst the counsellors, and quickly erupted into a full on battle of the sexes. The camp was soon in ruins, with morale at an all-time low. Can the boys and girls join forces in time to clean up the camp and save it from closing?

Southwestern Ontario connection: Boys vs. Girls is shot in Essex County between Windsor and Kingsville. Most of the crew and some actors are from Windsor.

Points of Interest: The filmmakers are from Windsor. Mike Stasko is also a professor and teaches film at University of Windsor. He formerly taught at Ottawa, Ryerson and Western universities.

Synopsis: Alex, a returning college student, has a strange experience at a psychic and wakes up with no memory of what happened. Over time, uncanny and terrifying things begin to happen to her. As her friends become increasingly worried, things take a turn for the worst and she loses control. What is inside her, and will they survive it?

Southwestern Ontario connection: This film was shot in London, most of the crew is from London and area, and many of the actors came from the region.

Synopsis: Whimsical and absent-minded photographer Polly stirs up trouble at her new gallery job when she falls for boss Gabrielle and tries to show her paintings to the world.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Sheila McCarthy, who stars in the film, is a prominent SWO actress and director Patricia Rozema grew up in Sarnia.

Synopsis: A frustrated teenager frees herself from her mother's influence and her narrow life in a small industrial town to find out who she really is.

Synopsis: A small-town journalist in southern Chile realizes he has run out of good news so he must start making up fake stories in order to keep his job in the local newspaper.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Pageman Productions was founded by Daniel & Christian Turres, who have lived in London, Ontario for 26 years.

Synopsis: Cassandra, who is portrayed by two women, expresses the opposing voices that exist inside the modern woman's head, during a 48-hour period as she tries to organize the affairs for her mother's funeral.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director, Patricia Rozema grew up in Sarnia.

Synopsis: A film director (portrayed by Antonio Banderas) reflects on the choices he's made in life as the past and present come crashing down around him.

TIFF Film Screening

Synopsis: eature film based on the 1973 bank heist and hostage crisis where the term Stockholm Syndrome originated. Starring Ethan Hawke.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Robert Budreau grew up in Ingersoll and spent much of his youth visiting the New Yorker cinema in downtown London.

TICKETS: #12 - Friday, October 25, 9PM AT WOLF

Synopsis: Between high school pressures and family disorganization, Mylia is trying to find her bearings. Meeting Jacinthe and Jimmy will lead her to outline a new life.

TICKETS: #2 - Thursday, October 24, 9:15 AM AT WOLF - FRENCH SCREENING

Synopsis: A feature film about the lingering impacts of Typhoon Haiyan, starring real survivors re-enacting some of their experiences in the aftermath of the strongest storm ever recorded.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The filmmakers are from London and Guelph, Ontario, both having studied at Vancouver Film School. Shane is born and raised in London, Ontario, and he started filmmaking at age 8 with a Fisher Price PXL-2000 camcorder out of his grandparents minivan at the African Lion Safari. Shane really started getting into filmmaking at Central H.S. when they introduced media into Tech class. Also studied at Fanshawe College as a super duper senior from 2011-2013 studying Interactive Media Design and Production. Leading him to where he is now as a PMD (Production, Marketing + Distribution) or Impact Producer.

Synopsis: Having become a campus celebrity after a (fictional) cancer diagnosis, a young woman (Kacey Rohl) struggles to maintain her fabrication in this fearless and emotionally affecting new feature by Calvin Thomas and Yonah Lewis (Amy George, The Oxbow Cure, Spice It Up).

A young woman who has become a literal poster child on her university campus: recently diagnosed with cancer, she's the focal point of an online funding campaign for both herself and other cancer-related causes. The only problem is, it's all built on a lie: Katie isn't sick, and never has been. And as her story slowly begins to unravel, she disastrously decides to double down, unable to give up the real-life fantasy world she's constructed for herself.

While the film has much to say about social media's impact on contemporary culture its chief virtue is its insistence that we look at, and empathize with, a protagonist who does the unthinkable. It's a feat that one rarely sees attempted, let alone succeeded at — but that's only one of the reasons White Lie is one of the most fearless and emotionally affecting films you'll see this year.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The Filmmakers are from the Hamilton region. This film premiered at TIFF this year. The casting was done by a Hamilton company.

Synopsis: Witnessing a six-acre forest be clear-cut for houses in London, Canada, from her 12th floor condo, Caroline Nolan explores urban forest issues and family roots.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The inspirational seed for “Forest City” was the clear-cut of a mature forest that Caroline Nolan witnessed from the balcony of her 12th floor condo in the Hyde Park area of London, Ontario. She instinctively began filming what she saw, and eventually a chance connection led her to Wesley Edgar, a London-based photographer/videographer who jumped on board. Many other members of the production are also from the region.

Points of Interest: Caroline thinks it is important to note that many are aware "deforestation" believing that it is something that only happens in the Amazon rainforest and other remote and wild locations such as up north, far away from cities. Yet the reality is that as cities around the world grow, forests are disappearing. Canadians may not realize that more and more valuable forests are being sacrificed for urban growth, right in their own backyards because it is so hard to see the bigger picture, to get that hawk's eye view. That is what is unique about this film, how it originated with being confronted suddenly with Caroline Nolan having to watch a six-acre mature urban forest be clear-cut from start to finish to make way for 66 single-detached family homes from the point of view, if you like, of a Red Tail Hawk. However as more and more people live in urban environments and our cities footprints grow, protecting our urban forests for habitat, human health and climate change resiliency has never been more important. As a silent witness to this urban forest takedown, Caroline Nolan explores the many complex issues related to urban planning and development, and invites viewers to think harder for themselves about what kind of future they believe we should be collectively creating for future generations.

Synopsis: Illusions of Control follows five compelling and surprising stories of the ways people live on in the wake of human-created disasters.

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

Points of Interest: The largest toxic clean up project in Canada is documented in the film, as we follow Stacey from the Yellowknives Dene in Yellowknife NWT.

Synopsis: For many queer people, some of our toughest years were when we were teenagers living at home. Homophobic parents and school environments often made life unbearable. Now meet the next generation of queer youth, forging a path of love, with the support of their families. In the face of one of the harshest political climates, with homophobia and racism on the rise, these fearless teenagers are claiming their identities and taking the world by storm. This is an intimate documentary look into what it means to be an LGBTQ teen today.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Ayden, one of the protagonists in the documentary has become a close personal friend of Co-Producer/Co-director Matt Alber. Matt is a well known musician as well as a filmmaker and he performed at the Aeolian Theatre in London where he met Ayden and learned of her beautiful story as a queer Native American individual.

Dr. Anne Innis Dagg re-traces the steps of her ground-breaking 1956 journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. Now, at 85 years old, Anne sees a startling contrast between the world of giraffes she once knew and the one it has become. Weaving through the past and present, her harrowing journey gives us an intimate look into the factors that destroyed her career and the forces that brought her back.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Dagg has lived and worked in Waterloo for many years.

Synopsis: Featuring interviews from legal, medical and law enforcement experts, Weekender tells the story of Scott Grandy, his addiction, recovery, and time within Canada's justice system.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Travis Hayden-Rowe and producer Eric Green are both Hamilton, Ontario natives, and Mr. Green is a graduate of Western University's UMAJ Journalism program, having previously lived and worked in London. With the exception of the films' primary subject, Scott Grandy, the entirety of the cast and interview subjects are from Southwestern Ontario and Weekender was shot on location across the region.

Points of Interest: The film is an in-depth discussion of the struggles of addiction, both in and of themselves and specifically within the framework of those addicts living within the Canadian justice system.

Synopsis: The fully authorized and official story of legendary anonymous prank-caller Longmont Potion Castle.

Southwestern Ontario connection: David Hall wrote the film in London, Ontario, where he lives.

Points of Interest: Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) is executive producer and appears in the film.

How many years has 'Who Let The Dogs Out' been stuck in your head? Ruffly 17 years? Or did it pop back in your head just now looking at the song's name after years of blissful silence? Either way, the hook has got staying power. A power that dates back to as early as 1959 and possibly before.

Answering the age old question of who exactly let the dogs out is more complicated than anyone ever thought. Fortunately, Ben Sisto has dedicated seven years to exploring and exposing a story steeped in show business, legal battles, female empowerment, artistic integrity and one very catchy hook.

Sisto, a marketer and cultural programmer for the Ace Hotel in New York, first fell down the rabbit hole in 2010 when he learned it was "Who Let The Dogs Out"'s 10 year anniversary. At the time, its Wikipedia page gave a simple, uncited explanation that the original song was recorded off a parade float by a hairdresser named Keith.

Unemployed at the time, Sisto made his mission of the day to fix that citation. Now, almost a decade later, Sisto has finally pieced together the song's origin...

Southwestern Ontario connection: John Diemer, the writer and sound mixer, grew up in London.

Synopsis: A disgruntled woman pays an unwanted visit to her lonely neighbour, but both end up finding unexpected joy in each other's company.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Lead actress Sheila McCarthy is from Stratford, Ontario.

Synopsis: Pressured to keep quiet about a friend’s indiscretion, Harry is forced to deal with his secret head-on when the victim’s sister walks into his shop.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Writer/director Nano Clow grew up in Cambridge, Ontario. The film is inspired by the vast rural scapes, the small towns, the importance of community, and the trouble you can find yourself in within a town where everybody knows everything about you. The film is set in 2006 in Paris, Ontario.

Points of Interest: The film stars Canadian up-and-comer Dylan Schmid of Stephen King's 1922 (Netflix), Snowpiercer (TBS), and Once Upon a Time (ABC) to name a few.

Synopsis: An eccentric one-line actor keen to save his characters from extinction uses costumes from past roles to tell their stories.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director/Producer Penny Eizenga lived, worked and raised her family in Southwestern Ontario.

Points of Interest: This is the only time Gordon Pinsent and Sheila McCarthy have ever worked together in all their years of acting.

Synopsis: Fey has just inherited Justine's dog, Benny. The night following Justine's funeral, Fey and Benny face the awkward weight of grief in a Honeymoon suite.

Southwestern Ontario connection: That Funeral Glow is directed by Dylan Mitro, who grew up in London, Ontario. He is very excited to return to his hometown to premiere his first short film. This film is set in small town Ontario and uses this setting to critique the lack of visibility for LGBTQ+ people in rural environments.

Points of Interest: This film is a story of women supporting women, aiming to normalize queer characters and relationships on screen.

Synopsis: To pass the time during a blackout, three siblings tell a scary story that proves to be more dangerous than legend.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Connor Kalopsis, a native of London Ontario, plays one of the lead characters in this film.

Synopsis: Queer Canadians retell a moment from their high school prom.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Andrew Moir grew up in Lucan and went to high school in London, Ontario. Andrew Jeffrey, the cinematographer, grew up in Belle River.

Points of Interest: Marc Hall is in the documentary and recently there was a controversy in London around a theatrical production about his story: https://lfpress.com/2018/02/07/marc-hall-promises-to-come-see-london-high-school-students-performance-of-prom-queen-the-musical-about-halls-prom-date-fight/wcm/d6f89918-4a80-d0ed-8467-d0cba8e19d71

Synopsis: In her striking portrait of Chippewa female mixed martial artist Ashley Nichols, Caroline Monnet eloquently demonstrates and celebrates the athlete's inner strength, fortitude, and dedication to her physical and spiritual health.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Ashley Nichols is from Chippewa of the Thames First Nation.

Synopsis: A look into the unique local scene of surfers who ride the waves of our Great Lakes, chasing weather patterns and braving the harsh weather conditions to catch some epic swells.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Donnie Ivey is from London Ontario and the entire crew were students at Fanshawe College's Advanced Filmmaking Program.

Synopsis: Through the art of musical collaboration, Icons Of Soul investigates the process by which Lamont Dozier, a giant of Motown, created and delivered legendary songs and monster hit records.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Co-stars and writing partners Arun Chaturvedi and Luke McMaster live in Southwestern Ontario, as does the director George Tsioutsioulas . Being close to Detroit, there is a really strong connection to Motown that tugged at the musicians’ heartstrings and led them to Lamont Dozier.

Points of Interest: Before Icons Of Soul, there was no real documentary of note about Lamont Dozier. Along with Smokey Robinson and Barrie Gordie, he was one of the architects of the Motown sound and his story and talent are spellbinding.

Synopsis: Imara tells the story of an ambitious passionate cyclist whose dreams of being a world champion in the sport live on despite his condition of having one leg left to race with.

Synopsis: “One of 100” is a short documentary film about a 3-years old girl who was diagnosed with a very rare disease. At the time of diagnosis, she was one of 100 worldwide. Her name is Alice, and she is a BPAN warrior.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Yulia Starostina and the crew are students at Fanshawe and One of 100 is the story of a girl who lives in London, Ontario.

Synopsis: A nuanced approach to documenting the changing landscape with the addition of wind turbines and the relationship between the people living and working near them.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director/Producer Erin MacIndoe Sproule lives in Guelph, Ontario and spent much of their childhood visiting family in London, Ontario. Additionally, one of the main characters, Joseph Dunlop Addley, is a former professor of the Fanshawe filmmaking program in London, Ontario. The film takes place in the Bruce Peninsula and Niagara region.

Synopsis: When a condo community learns of a neighbour's death, the dramatic retelling of his disappearance and demise takes on a life of its own. Each version of the story sounds stranger than the last until an Easter Monday revelation takes everyone by complete surprise.

Set in a retirement community for aging artists and entertainers, the 13-min film blends documentary interviews, musical performances, and true crime vignettes to explore the bizarre events surrounding Don’s death.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The film’s main subject, Don Stewart, was born and raised in Amherstburg, Ontario. His family still resides in the area and will be attending the festival.

Synopsis: Set in a world where people live inside giant '90s computers, a group of Cyberspace Pirates seek out to steal 'technological artifacts' of their world.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Andrew Komer is a Canadian Storyboard Artist born and raised in London, Ontario. He currently works in Toronto's animation industry, and is dedicated to creating original series. He first started out by self-publishing his own graphic novel Chicken Man, a superhero-comedy inspired by his childhood in London, and now venturing into animation with his newest project Cyberspace Pirates.

Points of Interest: The film is a 3D and 2D hybrid animation making used of open source software such as Blender, and was created to help push for the creation of more original Canadian animated series.

Synopsis: A visual journey of one of the most expensive foods in the world, and the danger young men in the Philippines go to for birds nest soup, coveted at expensive restaurants.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Alan Poon is from London.

Synopsis: Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, while her mother was in prison, Walaa is determined to survive basic training to become one of the few women on the Palestinian Security Forces - not easy for a girl who breaks all the rules. An intimate POV, this is the story of a young woman navigating formidable obstacles, learning which rules to break and follow.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Christy Garland is from London.

Synopsis: Miles arrives in rural Ontario at the home of two aging bachelor farmers. He stays with them to gather stories about rural life for a play he is writing. Their lives are irrevocably altered when art attempts to imitate life and the line between truth and fiction is blurred.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Filmed in Huron County adapted from a Play that was first produced at Blythe Festival, by a writer who lives in this region.

Synopsis: By Gordon Pinsent. Martin, a middle-aged despondent writer, is burdened with Hagge, his wily personification of anxiety and depression, but after freewheeling Norah encroaches on his workspace, he learns apathy is a choice.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Penny Eizenga.

Synopsis: While struggling with the death of her mother and the loss of a privileged life, a frustrated young woman attempts to reclaim her happiness which she believes is attached to a beloved unicorn paddleboat that her father was forced to sell to her nemesis.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Produced by Penny Eizenga, a long time London resident who now lives and works in the film industry in Toronto.

Synopsis: Delroy, a migrant worker, has spent his life working in the Ontario tobacco belt to support his family in Jamaica. Goodbyes are ritual but Delroy has a secret - he has cancer. Though his health declines, He continues to work, shielding his family from the inevitable. Babe, I Hate To Go is an intimate film about a man coming to terms with his mortality.

Southwestern Ontario connection: Director Andrew Moir grew up in SWO.

Synopsis: Sea of Life leads audiences through the stunning world of coral reefs into the heart of the environmental movement, meeting passionate scientists, activists and explorers who reveal an enormous opportunity to rise up and become the heroes the world needs.

Southwestern Ontario connection: The filmmaker is from Burlington.

Synopsis: A Rocketmon card has been stolen and it's up to Colt Magnum, detective extraordinaire, to crack the case! Who could have committed such a heinous crime?

Southwestern Ontario connection: Created at Sheridan College in Oakville.

Synopsis: The true story of 23 Field Squadron, Canadian Combat Engineers in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, 2006-2007

Southwestern Ontario connection: Producer/Director, Paul Culliton lives in London. Author & Principle Character, Col. Mark Gasparotto grew up in London. Film Crew all from London. 90% of the film was shot, edited, post production in London & St. Thomas.

Synopsis: A string of small everyday occurrences, all adding up to a unfortunate reality. A woman recounts the events leading up to a gathering on main - a place where everything changed.

Synopsis: A character falls down a hole on his walk to work and enters another world where he has to fight a dragon to escape.

Synopsis: Julie Migelty, who seems to have married for money, desires one last vacation before giving birth to her first child. During their luxury vacation she goes into labour but tries to hide it from her husband Aidan in order to soak up some last good moments before parenthood.

Synopsis: A short claymation about a factory worker who gets his tie stuck in a meatgrinder.

Synopsis: With such a big part of society encrypted in the eat, sleep, and work lifestyle, one highlighted individual becomes aware of this and lives on becoming more aware of his surroundings.

Synopsis: A short documentary relating the story behind a mysterious Norse runestone which appeared in Gibbons Park in 2019, and the impact non-sanctioned art installations have on their communities.

Synopsis: A guide about how to get the best High School experience.

Synopsis: What does it mean for young lovers now that a pandemic has drastically changed the world? Let’s hear stories from three different perspectives, including insights from a university professor.

Synopsis: A brief look into how the mind can be affected through the use of puzzles.

Synopsis: Filmmaker Macy LeConte provides fans with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives and personalities of the four young men who make up the up-and-coming rock band Fade Awaays.

Synopsis: A dinner date is hard when you have a bad relationship with food.

Synopsis: A harshly accelerating, neon-vomiting, epilepsy inducing experimental film contrasting the indifferent chaos of nature with man’s insatiable desire for order.

Synopsis: Tunnel Vision is meant to induce more questions than the film itself can answer. Through vivid colours and imagery featuring two enigmatic characters, one can only grasp at the idea of understanding.

Synopsis: Quarantine illustrates the moments where the passing time spent isolated inside becomes irrelevant as the days seem to blend together. It illustrates our daily mundane routines and the stress that is coupled with this rare experience.

Synopsis: An examination of the way technology has settled into our lives, and the subconscious impact it is having on our most vital senses like sight, touch, and hearing.

Synopsis: A confused teenager lets his emotions get the better of him. Physically, he is able to escape the boundaries of his house, but can he escape mentally?

Synopsis: Isaac walks into the empty classroom and asks his friend Steven for a little help with continuity. After explaining continuity Isaac still doesn't quite get it.

Synopsis: An eerie psychological short about a teenage boy who experiences a break in consciousness after getting his wisdom teeth pulled and the existential consequences of his fugue-state actions.

Synopsis: A young man who goes by the name Altruist decides to document his life as his neighborhood's vigilante. In the process, he inadvertently reveals how incompetent he is.

Synopsis: Meet Christian, your typical university student. He’s just trying to get to a party, but a strange figure seems to be following him wherever he goes...

Synopsis: A pitch for a feature film which starts as a teen coming of age movie, but due to the abuse of metaphysically altering drugs, devolves into a disturbing psychological thriller.

Synopsis: Altruist, a delusional self-proclaimed vigilante, documents his work as his neighborhoods protector, in an effort to express his many virtues.

Synopsis: Book Hopper is a sci fi action movie about a man named Liam. Liam is a constant book reader and one day he randomly gets a package delivered and is brought into his favorite books. Liam needs to complete each book to get home Book Hopper is an imaginative movie with a cool twist ending, the books he goes in are yours to discover. Liam has to go through books all the way to his childhood to escape.

Synopsis: In this gripping crime drama/comedy, an Average Joe gets entangled in a high-stakes crime syndicate and is forced to face the repercussions of it… or else.

Synopsis: A misbehaving high school student is sent on a dreadful one month canoe trip to rethink the life he is creating for himself.

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