SPACE AS PLACE / PLACE AS SPACE

SAT MAY 6 12:00 PM VIFF CENTRE

TUE MAY 9 3:00 PM SFU CINEMA

This spacious slate of short films (re)imagines individual and communal relationships to the spaces we inhabit, and the places they become. Be it a family home or a government office, an industrial island or scorched and submerged lands, folks are turning their attention—and ours—to the sprawling maps of our lives, with some resorting to 3D images to better locate their historic roots in future placemaking.

FILMS IN THIS PROGRAM INCLUDE (5): Zug Island, Hell and Highwater, Sister Mother Lover Child, Cubicle Island, Chinatown 2050

Zug Island

Nicolas Lachapelle, Canada, 2022, 22 mins

What is the mysterious hum emanating from Zug Island in the Detroit River? The few remaining residents of a low-income community living in the middle of an industrial wasteland lead an atmospheric investigation into its source. -KR

Hell and Highwater

Jeremy Williams, Canada, 2023, 23 mins

A wake-up call to the status quo, Hell and Highwater traces recent catastrophic environmental events in British Columbia and their devastating impact on Indigenous communities from their racist and pro-corporate origins, bearing witness and demanding change. -TA

Sister Mother Lover Child

Nadia Shihab, Canada/USA, 2023, 18 mins

A sense of loss fills the house as several women busy themselves clearing the garden, preparing a meal, soothing a baby and making a film. With meditative cinematography and immersive sound, we are invited to join them in the only thing left to do: be together. -JC

Cubicle Island

Damien Ferland, Canada, 2021, 6 mins

In less time than it takes to sign a co-worker’s birthday card, filmmaker Damien Ferland lambastes call-centre culture, taking on the institutional tactics that dehumanize employees and turning the blame game around to place responsibility back where it belongs. -TA

Chinatown 2050

Linda Zhang and Maxim Gertler-Jaffe, Canada/UK, 2022, 18 mins

How might the pandemic shape the future of Toronto’s Chinatown? Five scenarios tackling this question are imagined by Asian-Canadian youth, their speculations brought to life by a visual collage of dreamlike LiDAR 3D modeling scans. The hope is to preserve vibrant streetscapes rather than create an empty tourist attraction. -KR