LIKE A FISH ON THE MOON / ZAN, MARD, BACHE / زن، مرد، بچه

DORNAZ HAJIHA | IRAN | DRAMA | 2022 | 78 MINUTES | FARSI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | TORONTO PREMIERE

GENRE: FICTION (FEATURE)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: FAMILY | YOUTH | MUTISM

درناز حاجیها | ایران | درام | ۲۰۲۲ | ۷۸ دقیقه | فارسی با زیرنویس انگلیسی | اولین نمایش تورنتو

(ژانر: داستانی (بلند

نوع رویداد: فیلم، حضوری

کلید واژه: خانواده، جوانان، نا گویایی/اللی

A transfixing and brooding, unafraid film where there are no winners. But there are truths to be had.”–Robert Daniels

Ilya is a normal, healthy four-and-a-half year-old boy. He goes to daycare and enjoys playing. He comes from a stable background with loving parents. But for reasons known only to himself, he has stopped talking. Contrary to what you might expect, Dornaz Hajiha’s superbly-acted film zeroes in on the boy’s parents, Haleh and Amir (Sepidar Tari and Shahdiyar Shakiba). In the first scene, a psychologist probes their relationship and recommends that they reverse roles, that is, Amir should take over responsibility for getting Ilya dressed, feeding him, and the thousand other little things that his wife routinely does for their son. He grudgingly agrees. But it’s Haleh who really struggles with the new arrangement. She feels helpless and redundant. And Ilya still isn’t talking.

In her spare, empathetic first feature film, Hajiha establishes authenticity; it’s almost as if we are watching an observational documentary. As the distressed parents consult one specialist after another, all to no avail, their own mental health suffers and the marriage cracks apart, leading to a devastating climax. 

– The Cinematheque (Vancouver)

فیلمی متحول کننده و غم انگیز که در آن هیچ کس پیروز نیست، فقط حقایقی هستند که آشکار می شوند’

رابرت دنیلز

ایلیا پسری چهار و نیم ساله است. عادی و سالم. او به مهد کودک می رود و از بازی کردن لذت می برد.از خانواده ای حامی و

والدینی مهربان برخوردار است. اما به دالیلی که فقط خودش میداند، دیگر حرف نمیزند. بر خالف آنچه انتظار می رود، درناز حاجیها در فیلم خود به والدین ایلیا می پردازد، هاله و امیر ) با بازیگری درخشان سپیدار طاری و شهدیار شکیبا(. در اولین صحنه فیلم، روانشناسی رابطه ی آنها را زیر سوال می برد و به آنها توصیه می کند که نقش خود را با یکدیگر عوض کنند. یعنی امیر مسئولیت پوشاندن لباس ایلیا، غذا دادن به او و هزار یک مسئولیت دیگری را که همسرش به طور معمول برای پسرشان انجام می دهد را به عهده بگیرد. او با اکراه موافقت می کند. اما این هاله است که با وضعیت جدید دست و پنجه نرم می کند. او احساس درماندگی و بیهودگی می کند و ایلیا کماکان صحبت نمی کند.

.درناز حاجیها در اولین فیلم بلند خود، با دقت، حساسیت و همدلی دنیایی را خلق می کند که همانند فیلم های مستند مشاهده گر است

 والدین  مضطرب در پی پاسخ به مشکل فرزندشان بی نتیجه به متخصصین متعدد مراجعه می‌کنند و در نهایت  سلامت روان و ازدواجشان با نابسامانی و مصیبت روبرو می‌شود.

FEATURED PANELISTS

Aref Mohammadi, Documentary Filmmaker
Dr. Abbas Azadian, Psychiatrist
Dr. Guita Movallali, Psychologist, Audiologist
Roxana Zadbehgan, Speech Therapist
Afie Mardukhi, Moderator (I2CRC)

Sunday, November 5, 2023

CAMH Auditorium
1025 Queen St W, Toronto
Reception 3:30 PM | Film 5 PM
Reception tickets: ($20 includes film) Afie- 416-388-9314 (or at the door)

Get Tickets
CO-PRESENTED BY
Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre

Streaming across Canada October 27th to November 6th

MI VACÍO Y YO | MY EMPTINESS AND I | Adrián Silvestre | 2022 | Spain | 98 minutes | Toronto Premiere | French and Spanish with English Subtitles

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the fabulous fiction film Mi Vacío Y Yo / My Emptiness And I directed by  Adrián Silvestre available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th. With the film, there is a prerecorded talk about the film with the d moderated by Anna Daliza to enjoy.

“Raphi, young and naive, enjoys writing love poems and dreams about falling in love. She leaves her native France and moves to Barcelona, where she works in a call centre. She struggles with maintaining relationships with boys and what it means to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria.  As a trans woman, Raphi feels the pressure to define and defend herself to anyone who asks but also deals with the social pressures to move forward with irreversible reassignment surgery. Even among her trans support group, Raphi receives mixed messages about needing to love herself exactly as she is … or instead, change her body in order for someone to love her in return. The brutal dating scene is no help as she’s matched with men who see her as more of a sexual novelty than a human being searching for love and connection. Wading through serious doubts and an array of intimate encounters of varying pleasure, Raphi must learn to trust herself and her newfound opportunity of the arts as a means of healing and empowerment. Raw, honest, and thought-provoking, Mi vacío y yo is an intensely intimate journey of self-discovery and acceptance.” —Cleveland International Film Festival

Anna Daliza is an emerging writer, artist and educator, was born in Southwestern Ontario to an Anglo-Canadian father and a Lebanese immigrant mother. She describes her cultural upbringing as a marriage between oil and water. 

Screening with 

The Spiral | María Silvia Esteve | 2022 | Argentina | Spanish with English subtitles 

The Spiral is a dive into a lonely ride, an hypnotic escalation towards childhood, family, and the loneliness of “home”.

Keywords: Dating | Gender Dysphoria | Family | Anxiety | Youth
Genre: Fiction (Feature) Fiction (Short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

Photograph of two people playing with their dogs on a hill on a sunny cool day. One person in a baseball hat runs while their dog playfully joins, while the other person sits on a rock with their white dog accompanying.

In person screening — Sunday, November 6th at 5 PM
Camh Auditorium 
1025 Queen Street West, Toronto

DO SAG | TWO DOGS | دو‌ سگ  | Amir Azizi  | 2021 | Iran | 83 minutes | North American Premiere | Farsi with English subtitles

On Sunday, November 6th at Rendezvous With Madness enjoy an in-person screening of Do Sag | Two Dogs | دو‌ سگ  directed by Amir Azizi. Following the film join the Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre for a panel discussion about the film and the intersections of isolation, depression and human/animal relations. Translated between Farsi and English with ASL interpretation and captioning available.

Iman and Sajjad are two young men struggling with the kinds of problems typical for people in their 30s in Iran nowadays: unemployment, depression and a lack of self-confidence. Iman is translating Franz Kafka’s Investigations of a Dog into Farsi while working as a cab driver. His passengers are like the characters of Kafka’s story. Sajjad, Iman’s best friend, is inhibited by the way he looks and is trying to gather money for surgery. Both have dogs that look very similar to their owners. The dogs, while not always welcomed by their families, make the men feel less lonely living in traditional Iranian society.

PRE-FILM RECEPTION hosted by Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre.
To reserve your $20 tickets (includes food, art, socializing & film) please contact I2CRC at 416-388-9314 or info@i2crc.org

Keywords: Depression | Anxiety | Generational Trauma | Class Struggle
Genre: Fiction
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

در روز يكشنبه، ٦ ماه نوامبر، در فستيوال ملاقات با ديوانگي، به تماشاى حضوري فيلمِ “دو سگ” به كارگرداني امير عزیزی مى نشينيم.

پس از اكران فيلم، سازمان l²CRC از شما دعوت به نشستي با حضور پنلي از  متخصصين مى نمايد، كه به بحث و گفتگو در مورد سناريوى فيلم  و چند بُعدى بودن ارتباطات بين انزوا، افسردگى و رابطه بين انسان و حيوان مى پردازند.

اين بخش همزمان به فارسي، زیرنویس انگليسي و ASL ارائه مى شود.

چکیده ای از فیلم:

ايمان و سجاد دو مرد جوانند، كه با مشكلات رايج سى ساله هاى ايران امروز، نظيرِ بيكارى، افسردگى و عدم اعتماد به نفس دست بگريبانند.

ايمان مشغول ترجمه كتابى از فرانز كافكا بنام “تحقيقات در مورد يك سگ” به فارسي ميباشد. وي همزمان تاكسي هم ميراند. مسافران او شباهت به كاراكترهاى داستان در كتاب كافكا دارند.

سجاد دوست صميمى ايمان از ظاهر خود ناراضىي است و سعى در جمع آورى پول جهت جراحى دارد. هردو نفر صاحب سگهايى هستند كه بسيار شبيه صاحبانشان ميباشند. سگ ها كه معمولا مورد لطف خانواده اين دو مرد جوان قرار نميگيرند، مونسى براى كنار آمدن آنها با تنهايى در جامعه سنتى ايران هستند.

از علاقمندان دعوت ميكنيم در گردهمايى پيش از شروع فيلم كه توسط l²CRC تدارك ديده شده براي صرف تنقلات، شنيدن موسيقى، و گفت و شنود هنرى و اجتماعى حضور بهمرسانيد.

جهت تهيه بليط و يا دريافت اطلاعات بيشتر با تلفن 9314-388-416 لطفا تماس حاصل فرماييد.

Info@i2crc.org

كلمات كليدى: بحران نسلى، مشكلات طبقاتى، افسردگى، اضطراب

ژانرا:  داستان خيالى

#RWMFEST  #morethanrebellion

FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS

FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 available across Canada

ACCESSIBILITY

Ajitpal Singh / 2020 / Hindi with English Subtitles / India / 86 mins

Worlds collide in Ajitpal Singh’s bold family drama, Fire in the Mountains.

Vinamrata Rai stars as Chandra, a hard-working wife, mother, and businesswoman, keeping it all together for the sake of her family. In another time and place, Chandra could be the CEO of a thriving company, but her business savvy means little in rural North India, where she must accommodate the conservative patriarchy. Chandra upends the status quo when she fights to build a new road to accommodate her wheelchair-bound son Prakash (Mayank Singh).

Fire in the Mountains is a captivating character study detailing what happens when modern-day values crash up against traditional beliefs. The film examines religion, gender inequity, and industrialization to paint a vivid portrait of a village on the precipice of social upheaval. Singh’s affecting debut film is also a feast for the eyes, featuring immersive production design set against breathtaking Himalayan backdrops.

SCREENING WITH: TERROR FERVOR
Phoebe Parsons / Canada / English / 6 mins
Seven monsters embody reflections of malaise and violence in a world of psychedelic terror.

 

Keywords: Gender inequality | Labour | Motherhood | Sexism | Trauma
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Sanghum Film
Misaff

DASHTE KHAMOUSH / شوماخ تشدشد (THE WASTELAND)

DASHTE KHAMOUSH / شوماخ تشدشد (THE WASTELAND)

Ahmad Bahrami / 2020 / Farsi with English subtitles / Iran / 103 min / Toronto Premiere

دشت خاموش
كارگردان: احمد بهرامي
ايران – ٢٠٢٠
نمايش حضوري ، براي اولين بار در تورنتو – ١٠٣ دقيقه
زيرنويس انگليسي
يكشنبه، ٧ نوامبر ، ساعت ٦ تا ٩ شب
پاسخ و پرسش پس از مشاهده فيلم

در يك كوره (كارخانه) آجرپزي دورافتاده، آجرها بصورت بسيار ابتدايی و سنتى تهيه ميشوند. خانواده هاى متعددى از اقليت هاي مختلف قومي
در اين كارخانه مشغول به کار هستند. به نظر ميرسد كه صاحب كارخانه گشاينده مشکالت اعضاى اين خانواده ها نيز ميباشد. لطف هللا چهل ساله،
كه در همين محوطه بدنيا آمده مسئوليت كارخانه را بعهده دارد و رابط بين كارگران و صاحب كارخانه نيز هست. همزمان با قطعي شدن تعطيل
كارخانه روابط بين لطف هللا، كارگران و صاحب كار نيز روز به روز پيچيده تر ميشود . او دائما مجبور است كه باالنسى بين نيازهاى شخصى
خود، ساير كارگران و احساسات عاشقانه موجود در ميان آنها بوجود آورد. اين دومين فيلم احمد بهرامى ، با ويژگيهاى فيلمبرداری سياه و سفيد
نگاهى موشكافانه به جزئيات زندگي حاشيه نشينان جامعه ايران دارد که در چرخه ای از تکرار کار بيهوده در کارخانه به تصوير کشيده ميشوند.
“پدر من كارگر يك كارخانه صنعتى بود كه پس از سى سال كار بسيار سخت باز نشسته شد. به پدرم افتخار ميكنم و پس از آنكه حرفه فيلمسازي
را آموختم هميشه ميخواستم كه فيلمى در مورد او و زحمات شرافتمندانه اش تهيه كنم. فيلم دشت خاموش قدرداني از پدرم و همه كارگران زحمتكش
در دنياست كه بدون زحمات إنها پيشرفت تمدن جهاني تا به اين ميزان ميسر نمى شد.” (احمد بهرامى.)
پذيرايي و برنامه پيش از اكران توسط سازمان I2CRC تهيه شده است.
بليط: ٢٠ دالر (شامل غذا، برنامه هنري، بازديد از نمايشگاه، فيلم و گفتگو با پنل متخصصين)
تماس براى تهيه بليط و كسب ساير اطالعات:
416-388-9314 Info@i2crc.org
به گفتگو بپيونديد- پنل متخصصين
پس از اكران فيلم دشت خاموش كه به چندگانگي ارتباطات بين حرفه، طبقه اجتماعي و سالمت مي پردازد، I2CRC از شما دعوت ميكند كه به
بررسي فيلم ، گفتگو و پرسش و پاسخ توسط متخصصين بپيونديد .
اين بخش به زبانهاي فارسي، انگليسي، ASL و زيرنويس ارائه ميشود.

كارگردان∫†احمد†بهرامي

ايران†≠†٢٠٢٠

نمايش†حضوري†،†براي†اولين†بار†در†تورنتو†≠†١٠٣†دقيقه

زيرنويس†انگليسي

يكشنبه،†٧†نوامبر†،†ساعت†٦†تا†٩†شب

پاسخ†و†پرسش†پس†از†مشاهده†فيلم

A remote brick manufacturing factory produces bricks in an ancient way. Many families with different
ethnicities work in the factory and the boss seems to hold the key to solving their problems. Forty-
year-old Lotfollah, who was born on-site, is the factory supervisor and acts as middleman for the
workers and the boss which is increasingly complicated once the factory is confirmed to close. Lotfollah must balance his personal needs with those of his coworkers and romantic interests. Ahmad Bahrami’s second film, shot with resonant black & white photography is an incisive look at life on the outskirts of Iranian society hidden within a creative piece of storytelling that mimics the tediousness of factory work.

“My father was a worker in an industrial factory and he retired after thirty years of hard work. I am proud
of him and since I learned filmmaking, I have always wanted to make a film about him and his honorable
efforts. My film Dashte Khamoush is a tribute to my father and all hardworking workers around the globe; without their efforts human civilization would not have achieved this level of progress.”
– Ahmad Bahrami

 

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: PANEL DISCUSSION
Following the screening of Dashte Khamoush / The Wasteland, join Intercultural Iranian Canadian
Resource Centre for a panel discussion about the film and the intersections of labour, class and
health. Translated between Farsi and English with ASL interpretation and captioning available.

 

Keywords: Anxiety | Class | Freedom | Labour

IN PERSON SCREENING
Sun, Nov 7, 7 PM

WATCH ONLINE
Sun, Nov 7, 6-8 PM ET
available in Ontario only

PRE-FILM RECEPTION
Hosted by Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre.
To reserve your
$20 tickets (includes food, art, socializing & film) please contact I2CRC at 416-388-9314 or info@i2crc.org

IN PERSON + VIRTUAL
PANEL DISCUSSION
Sun, Nov 7, 8 PM ET

ACCESSIBILITY

Open Captions and ASL

CO-PRESENTER
Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre

AUTISTIC REELS: RECLAIMING OUR STORIES

AUTISTIC REELS: RECLAIMING OUR STORIES

Drawing of teen in messy room

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 available across Canada

VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Sun, Oct 31, 1 PM ET

ACCESSIBILITY

Various artists / 2018-2021 / Canada, USA / 74 mins

As a result of tireless advocacy by Autistic activists and their allies, the very meaning of Autism is shifting from a highly pathologized and misunderstood medical diagnosis to an identity that celebrates natural brain differences and embraces diverse ways of being. For the first time in this festival’s history we are
pleased to present a program of films about Autism directed entirely by Autistic individuals. These vibrant, multifaceted autobiographical narratives address the myths and stereotypes associated with Autism, illuminate the barriers Autistic individuals encounter in day-to-day life, and highlight their astounding resilience in the face of these challenges.

 

LISTEN (Communication First | 2021 | USA | English with described audio | 5 min) This short film was produced by a multinational, nearly 100% Autistic team in response to Sia’s controversial film Music.

 

THE RED HOT INSIDE (WHAT IT’S LIKE TO GROW UP WITH AUTISM)
(Jennifer Msumba | 2018 | USA | English | 4 min) Jennifer Msumba tells the story of growing up with autism and OCD and what it was like being placed in psychiatric hospitals, group homes and residential schools.

 

S/PACE (Estée Klar & Adam Wolfond | 2019 | Canada | English with described audio | 16 min)
A poetic exploration of autistic movement as expression, created by Adam Wolfond, a non-speaking writer/poet/artist, in collaboration with his neurodivergent artist/researcher, doctor of Critical Disability Studies, mom Estée Klar.

 

HOLE (Gil Goletski | 2018 | Canada | English | 6 min) HOLE is a film depicting the artist’s experiences as a transgender person on the autism spectrum.

 

FEARS & DREAMS (Chris Gerry | 2020 | Canada | English | 3 min) In Fears & Dreams, an Autistic man shares his anxieties and hopes about parenthood.

 

UNTITLED (Raya Shields | Canada | 2021 | English | 3 min) This rich multimedia narrative uses art, poetry, vocalization and movement to convey the filmmaker’s experiences of school as a child and as a university student.

 

GASOLINE RAINBOWS (V Vallieres | 2021 | Canada | English | 5 min) This experimental animation represents the creator’s experience of Autism, and how it is connected to their non-binary/trans gender identity, maladaptive coping strategies and mental health.

 

WE ARE HERE (Rowan Duncan | 2020 | Canada | English | 6 min) This poetic manifesto explores what it means to fit in or stand apart, and honours Autistic resistance and resilience.

 

UNSPOKEN (Emma Zurcher-Long | 2019 | USA | English with described audio | 28 min)
14-year-old Emma Zurcher-Long sees and hears the world, as she puts it, in ‘Hi-res, technicolor and surround sound’. As a chronicle of a teenager coming into her own, and as a work advocating for the rights of all peoples, UNSPOKEN is a lesson on, and celebration of, living an authentic life.

 

Keywords: #ActuallyAutistic | Advocacy | Autism | Non-speaking | Family
CO-PRESENTERS
Tangled Art + Disabilty
Spectrum Productions
Bodies in Translation
Re-Storying Autism

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
CHANGING THE NARRATIVE

Join Moderator Kat Singer and a line-up Autistic creators in conversation about the ups and downs of being different, self-advocacy through art and envisioning a more inclusive future.

Please note: choice of identity first language (e.g. Autistic) over person-first language (person with Autism) reflects the preference of the majority of the Autistic community. We respect the agency of people to self identify however they wish

LUGINSKY

LUGINSKY

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 available across Canada

VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Tues, Nov 2, 8 PM ET

ACCESSIBILITY

ASL and Open Captions

Haiena / 2020 / Japanese with English subtitles / Japan / 63 mins / North American Premiere

Winner of the Cinema Fan Award at the 2020 PIA Film Festival at the National Film Archive of Japan, Luginsky is an incredibly unique animated film replete with early and modern computer graphics, still photography and a collage of cut-outs, which are dizzyingly utilized to maximum effect to tell a story which seems as delirious as the protagonist. The main character of the film is named Deerman, whose head is a deer and who recently endured an accident resulting in chronic hallucinations. Deerman has recently lost his job, and in a series of events that led him to become reliant on alcohol, frequently is beaten up as a result of his drunken behaviours. His addiction takes an even worse turn when he stumbles upon a panther-barmanpriest who creates a forbidden cocktail for Deerman designed by an ex-boxer named Luginsky that alters his life even further with so-called reality and fantasy dancing in unprecedented ways. A most unique film of fantastical visions you won’t soon forget.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Q&A WITH DIRECTOR HAIENA
Please join film artist Haiena for a virtual Q&A to discuss his experience creating the unique
animated reality of Luginsky. The discussion will be moderated by animator animator Jeff Chiba
Stearns with Japanese to English interpretation, ASL interpretation and captioning.

 

Keywords: Addictions | Alcoholism | Animation | Class | Surrealism
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
TAIS_logo
japan-foundation-logo

MY FATHER'S STORIES/LA PROFESSION DU PÈRE

MY FATHER'S STORIES/LA PROFESSION DU PÈRE

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 in Ontario only

ACCESSIBILITY

Jean-Pierre Améris / 2020 / French with English subtitles / France / 145 mins / Toronto Premiere

In warm hues of colour, 1960s Lyon is explored by a preteen boy who idolizes his
unhinged father and his multiple professions. Emile is twelve years old. His father
is a hero. He says he is a judo champ, a parachutist, a soccer player and even a
personal advisor to General de Gaulle. Now he wants to save French Algeria!
Fascinated and proud, Emile willingly follows his father in missions of utmost
danger: tailing, spying, delivering top-secret letters. Emile carries out his orders in
all seriousness. He even recruits Luca, a new classmate, into his secret combat. But
what if the father’s exploits were all phony, and far too dangerous for children?

 

Keywords: Anger | Collonialism | Mania | Rebellion | Sons & Fathers
CO-PRESENTER
Cinéfranco!

یعضوم یسح یب (NUMBNESS)

یعضوم یسح یب (NUMBNESS)

Woman and man look through window

WATCH ONLINE
Oct 29 – Nov 7 available across Canada

ACCESSIBILITY

Hossein Mahkam / 2020 / Farsi with English Subtitles / Iran / 75 mins / North American Premiere

زمانيكه مارى (باران كوثري) خواهر جالل (حبيب رضائي) كه دچار بيماري دو قطبي است مخفيانه با قمارباز قهار و
معتاد (پارسا پيروزفر) ازدواج ميكند،به پيچيدگي روابط خواهر و برادر كه همخانه بودند بسيار ميفزايد. جالل اهل كار
نيست و ترجيح ميدهد كه از اندوخته مالي پدرش روزگار خود را بگذاراند، او مايل است كه زمان آزادش را صرف سر
در آوردن از زندگي خواهرش كند. جالل كه از ازدواج مخفيانه مارى عصبانى است، وسائلش را جمع و شبانه خانه را
.ترك ميكند. حوادث پيش رويش هر يك عجيب تر از ديگرى
است

درام “بى حسى موضعى” حسين ماهكامى مطالعه شخصيت هايى را كه با اعتياد، ، وابستگي چندگانه، و بيماري دو قطبى
دست بگريبانند به تصوير ميكشد. فيلم همچنين عالقه تماشاگر را به تعقيب اين شخصيت هاى قابل مطالعه در طول فيلم بر
مى انگيزاند. نقش بازيگران كه همگى فضاهاى بازيگري خود را ماهرانه ارائه ميكنند ناشى از تصاوير پر رنگ آنها در
فيلمنامه ايست كه با مهارت و بصورت بسيار ملموسي جايگاه هر يك را با طرافت و دقت تنظيم نموده است

When Jalal’s (Habib Rezaei) sister with bipolar disorder Mary (Baran Kosari) secretly marries a dashing gambling addict (Parsa Pirouzfar), it complicates the sibling’s uneasy living arrangement. Jalal refuses to work, preferring to live off his father’s savings, and uses his free time to pry into Mary’s relationships. Upset by Mary’s secret marriage, Jalal packs up and heads out into the night, where he finds himself in one strange encounter after the next.

Hossein Mahkam’s dramedy Numbness is a vibrant character study tackling addiction, co-dependence, and bipolar disorder with levity. It’s also a lively movie allowing you to savour each and every moment with these dynamic characters. The entire cast delivers strong performances, thanks to an incisive script that grounds its larger-than-life characters in all-too-relatable feelings.

SCREENING WITH CLENCH MY FISTS
Sarah Trad | 2020 | USA | 6 min | Arabic with English subtitles
Clench My Fists is a found-footage collage video that explores the process of growing up in an Iranian family deeply affected by death and grief.

 

Keywords: Bipolar Disorder | Contemporary | Existentialism | Night walks | Siblings
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Intercultural Iranian Canadian Resource Centre

SAFE

SAFE

IN PERSON SCREENING
Sun, Oct 31, 8 PM

WATCH ONLINE
Sun, Oct 31, 8-10 PM ET available across Canada

Todd Haynes / 1995 / English / United Kingdom/USA / 119 mins

We’re thrilled to be presenting a special 25th-ish anniversary screening of the seminal film Safe by
Todd Haynes which was presented at the third Rendezvous With Madness in 1995. This retrospective
could not be more timely given the current coronavirus pandemic we’ve all been living through since
spring 2020; nor can the serendipitous timing of Halloween; this is a quintessential horror film as seen
through the character of Carol White (played magnificently by Julianne Moore).

Set in 1987, the film follows White, a well-to-do California housewife who suddenly finds herself struggling to breathe while doctors continually insist that nothing is amiss with her health. Before long, Carol self diagnoses herself to be reacting to the toxic chemicals around her stating emphatically that she’s “allergic to the 20th century.” When Safe was originally released many viewers viewed Carol’s
plight as a metaphor for the HIV/AIDS epidemic; in 2021 it’s both that pandemic and the current one
that will leave their marks on you long after the film’s credits roll.

 

SCREENING WITH FORM 1
Jubal Brown | 2021 | Canada | English | 13 min
Commissioned by the non-profit organization Asylum From Psychiatry and Marta McKenzie, this
film is largely based on patient experiences in the mental health care systems in Canada. Found
footage sourced from movies and television are used to create an abstract narrative illustrating the
traumas experienced by patients in psychiatric institutions.

 

Keywords: Chemical Sensitivity | Environmental Illness| Family | Trauma | Virus
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Toronto After Dark Film Festival

“I wanted to bring up the behaviour that we
all exhibit around illness, particularly in the
way we try to attach meaning and personal responsibility to illness and how much illness
and identity are mixed up with each other,
… Safe feels like this allegory about all kinds
of indeterminate and imprecise notions of
health, well-being and immunity in peril.”
—Todd Haynes