Rendezvous Spoken Word and Open Mic

Please join us at our first Rendezvous spoken word and open mic event as part of our Shine ; Together year!

We are excited to feature esteemed writers Ghadeer Elghafri and Kelly Rose Pflug-Back – see their biography and contact details below! The event will also feature open mic from Workman Arts writers each sharing 5 minutes of writing with our audience – sign up for the open mic begins at 1:30 PM and continues until the 12 slots are filled. Tickets are available at the door or in advance – pay what you can and no one turned away!

This event follows the Workman Arts short film program

Any questions please contact info@workmanarts.com.

Ghadeer Elghafri is a Palestinian-Canadian poet from Gaza, born and raised in Dubai, UAE, living in Toronto. She immigrated to Canada 10 years ago from Dubai without her family. She is a Palestinian activist, a feminist, and an advocate of women, children, human rights and social justice.

Since she was 10 years old child, she was writing poetry in her mother language Arabic. What inspired Ghadeer to write is nature, her father, love, longing, nostalgia, diaspora, her homeland Palestine, difficult emotions, hard feelings, trauma, feminism, freedom, liberation, human rights and justice.

Ghadeer is the founder of Toronto Poetry Club. She has organized inclusive and diverse multicultural multilingual open mic poetry nights in Toronto for 8 years. She has published her Arabic and English poetry in newspapers, magazines, exhibitions, including the anthology “Poetry ReRooted: Decolonizing Our Tongues” and in the anthology “To Hear The Birds” 

Ghadeer’s poem “Alhuwiyya (The Identity)” had been published in English in an anthology of “Muslim American Writers at Home” in San Francisco by Freedom Voices Publisher. It was about her 3 different identities contained within her while being in diaspora, relocating in different countries and her nostalgia to her homeland Palestine. She received a grant from The Toronto Arts Council to start a Multilingual Poetry Collective. 

Ghadeer is an Ontario Ambassador, Outreach to Arab speaking community of National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (NAASCA). She completed her BSc. in Computer Science and MBA at the American University of Sharjah in UAE. Her dream is to have her own house and host her poetry nights, under the name Qahwa Art Café, in its back or front yard in the Summer and in the basement in the Winter. “Qahwa” means coffee in Arabic.

Instagram: gghafri

Kelly Rose Pflug-Back is a writer and creative writing workshop facilitator. Her fiction, poetry, and journalism has appeared recently in publications like The Briarpatch, The Deadlands, and This Magazine, as well as anthologies such as Queer Little Nightmares (Arsenal Pulp, 2022) and Imaginarium: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (ChiZine, 2012) . Their debut collection of poems, The Hammer of Witches (Caitlin Press/Dagger Editions, 2020), recently placed as a finalist in the upcoming Bisexual Book Awards.

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Tranzac Club | 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto
Box office: 1 PM | Open Mic signup opens at 1:30 PM
Spoken Word event starts at 4 PM sharp and runs until 5:30

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THE INFERNAL GROVE User Group

The Infernal Grove is an unsystematic structural analysis of drug use, addiction and recovery (and not necessarily in that order). This free online user group is an unstructured meeting where people are encouraged to talk about their relationships with drugs/alcohol and sobriety.

All are welcome. No particular topic, except the ones participants wish to bring to the virtual table. 

User Groups are informal meetings where participants share their experiences and perspectives on drugs/alcohol, addiction/sobriety and everything in between. All are welcome to join the conversation. This month, we’ll open with a short presentation on the sensibilities and principles that have animated our work so far, and how we hope the project will unfold going forward.

Join us for this special edition of User Group as part of the Rendezvous with Madness Festival!

For more information about The Infernal Grove please visit www.theinfernalgrove.com

The Infernal Grove is an unsystematic structural analysis of drug use, addiction and recovery (not necessarily in that order). It is anti-carceral, anti-prohibition and seeks to amplify the voices of radical harm-reductionists and their coalitions. It recognizes the value of the sacred while rejecting all forms of piety. It posits wonder and the land as spaces of enchantment, as not an antidote to but an extension of the space opened up by drugs.

It’s based on the artists’ lived experience of drug use and the consequent interventions of state and medical establishments, which included both involuntary hospitalization and outpatient rehabilitation.

Friday, November 1, 2024

Time: 6 – 7:30 PM (ET)
Workshop Length:  1.5 hrs
ONLINE – Free and open to all

Bionico's Bachata (La Bachata de Bionico)

Yoel Morales | 2024 | Dominican Republic | Experimental Fiction | 80 minutes | Spanish with English subtitles

GENRE: Experimental Fiction (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Rehabilitation, Addiction, Recovery, Hybrid film

Bionico (Manuel Raposo) and his closest pal Calvita (El Napo) live their lives on the wild side, driven by their insatiable desire to get high, no matter the cost. Early on in the film, Bionico decides to turn his life around. He’s a romantic at heart, and he wants to clean up his act before the love of his life La Flaca (Ana Minier) completes rehab. To begin this new phase of life, he must find a job, buy an engagement ring, and find a nicer place to live. But making life-changing plans is easier said than done, as Bionico struggles to detox while facing an endless parade of temptations.

WITH SHORT FILM ——— CHRYSTALLID —— Esteban Powell | 2023 | Canada, Mexico | Experimental documentary | 7 minutes | Spanish with English subtitles

NOW STREAMING

Streaming online November 4-11 (available in Canada)

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Peter Doherty: Stranger in My Own Skin

Katia de Vidas | 2023 | France, United Kingdom | Documentary | 95 minutes | English

GENRE: Documentary (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Addiction, Recovery, Music, Documentary

Opening Performance: Contemporary Dance | We Lost You A Long Time Ago | Nicole Decsey Dance Projects | 2023 | 25 minutes

“‘As the lead singer of The Libertines and Babyshambles, Pete Doherty became the most iconic singer and rock n’ roll poet of his generation. First came the music, then came the success, but then came the drugs. At the peak of his career Doherty was best known for his dual relationship with Kate Moss and the tabloid press and for the turbulent episodes that followed in the wake of his very explicit heroin use. And it is this abuse that Peter Doherty: Stranger in My Own Skin finally faces. Over a ten-year period, director Katia DeVidas – now Doherty’s wife – follows the musician as he attempts to overcome his addiction and relapses. Her unique access to Doherty provides a relentless insight into an addict’s struggle to overcome his demons without losing himself and his undeniable artistic genius in the process."

– CPH:DOX

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Streaming online November 4-11
(available in Canada)

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Ink, Blood and Socks (Ink, blod och strumpor)

Johan Ribe | 2023 | Sweden | Documentary | 68 minutes | Swedish with English subtitles | Canadian Premiere | Director in attendance

GENRE: Documentary (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Homelessness, Addiction, Graffiti, Punk

Hanna Finn’s talent and charisma were undeniable from an early age. By the time she reached preschool, her creativity and sharp sense of humour were on full display. Now a young adult known as Psykos, she exists on the fringes, describing her life as one in a “parallel society.”  Ribe’s documentary Ink, Blood and Socks chronicles Psykos’ struggles with addiction and her journey toward recovery. Keywords:  Homelessness, Addiction, Graffiti, Punk

WITH SHORT FILM ——— Off Suit —— Lou Estores & Brian Demoskoff | 2018 | Canada | Documentary | 3 minutes | English | Directors in attendance

NOW STREAMING

Streaming online November 4-11
(available in Canada)

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WaaPaKe (Tomorrow)

Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin | 2023 | Canada (Attawapiskat) | Documentary | 80 minutes | English

GENRE: Documentary (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Indigenous documentary, Family, Trauma, Addiction

A National Film Board of Canada Production

Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin’s deeply personal documentary WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) asks the difficult question: “Who are we without our pain?”

For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting Indigenous families and communities. Children, parents and grandparents have contended with the unspoken trauma, manifested in the lingering effects of colonialism: addiction, emotional abuse and broken relationships.

In her efforts to help the children of Survivors, including herself and her family, Koostachin makes the difficult decision to step in front of the camera and participate in the circle of truth. She is joined in this courageous act of solidarity by members of her immediate family, as well as an array of voices from Indigenous communities across Turtle Island. Moving beyond burying intergenerational trauma, WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) is an invitation to unravel the tangled threads of silence and unite in collective freedom and power.

Shane Belcourt is a four-time CSA-nominated Director, with award-winning narrative and documentary works in both film and TV.  He has directed three narrative feature films, TKARONTO (which was showcased in both the TIFF Indigenous Cinema Retrospective and the UCLA Film & Television Archive traveling exhibition, “Through Indian Eyes: Native American Cinema”); RED ROVER (premiered at the Whistler Film Festival and can be found on Amazon Prime  Currently, Shane is directing the feature documentary NADAAMAAIS which received Telefilm funding and set for release in 2025; and is a co-creator and co-showrunner (with Tasha Hubbard) of a premium narrative mini-series in development with CBC titled, STONECHILD.

OPENING NIGHT FILM

Friday, October 25, 2024
CAMH Auditorium | 1025 Queen St W, Toronto
Reception at 5 PM (all are welcome) with art, snacks and refreshments
Box office: 5:30 PM | Film 6:30 PM

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Online worldwide for free

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I don’t need to ask you to love me because i love myself

Recent short films by Workman Arts artist members

Film still from 3 Seconds In 6 Seconds Out by Christopher Beaulieu.

2024 | CANADA | SHORT FILMS | 60 MINUTES | ENGLISH with open captions

The short film program ‘I don’t need to ask you to love me because I love myself’’ explores many different modes of filmmaking as a means to express emotions related to how we not only exist but thrive in a world filled with challenges, contradictions and conundrums. Featuring artists: Jamila Balde, Christopher Beaulieu, Jeyolyn Christie, Jet Coughlan, Brian Demoskoff, Gabe Gonçalves, Helen Posno, Zan Redcrow, Emily Schooley, Ardene Shapiro, Andrea Thompson and TK Workman.

Followed by Spoken Word & Open Mic | 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

FEATURED FILMS

Flowery | DIR. TK Workman | Canada | 2024 | 1′ (19 seconds) | ANIMATION
Spotting the Trauma Survivor | DIR. Andrea Thompson | Canada | 2023 | 5′ | EXP / ESSAY
3 seconds in 6 seconds out | DIR. Christopher Beaulieu | Canada | 2022 | 17 | FICTION
the body reclaiming project | DIR. Gabe Gonçalves | Canada | 2024 | 2 | EXP / ANIMATION
The Sweetest Goodbye | DIR. Emily Schooley | Canada | 2023 | 14 | FICTION
Whirling World Walking | DIR. Helen Posno | Canada | 2024 | 2 | EXP / ESSAY
I dont need to ask you to love me because i love myself | DIR. Jet Coughlan | Canada | 2021 | 3 | EXP
Dance Me | DIR. Jamila Balde | Canada | 2023 | 5 | FICTION
Broken | DIR. Brian Demoskoff | Canada | 2023 | 2 | EXP
Teddy | DIR Ardene Shapiro | Canada | 2024 | 2.5 | DOC / ESSAY
a collective loss | DIR Jeyolyn Christi | Canada | 2024 | 2 | DOC / ESSAY
As the Crow Flies | DIR Zan Redcrow | Canada | 2024 | 6 | DOC / ESSAY

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Streaming online November 4-11 (available in Canada)

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LAND OF NOT KNOWING

Steve Sanguedolce, 2017, 16mm/DCP/digital file, 72 minutes, B&W/colour, sound, Canada

‘In this bold experimental documentary, four artists talk about suicide: the role the recurring thought has played in their life and art, the struggle to understand and overcome the impulse, and the ongoing confrontation with a form of stigma that renders the very concept of suicide as a kind of pariah even among mental health issues and discussions. With a frankness that is both bracing and illuminating, Artist Steve Sanguedolce’s subjects tell their stories, and the filmmaker responds with a striking visual scheme that permits us something rarely attempted in the engagement with this most misunderstood of conditions: a sense of first person understanding.’

Geoff Pevere 

Film subjects + actors: Marina Black, Maria de Sanctis, Janieta Eyre, Michael Hoolboom, Vivien Kiss, Lulu Hazel Turnbull, Emily Vey Duke.

Filmmaker: Steve Sanguedolce has been an active member of Toronto’s independent film community for over thirty years winning numerous international awards.  He has had retrospectives at the Cinematheque Quebecoise in Montreal, the National Film Board in Toronto as well as the the Arsenal Institute for Film and Video in Germany.  Over the past 15 years he has been hand developing and hand colouring motion picture film to great acclaim.  Much of his time has been spent teaching at local universities, community colleges or conducting independent filmmaking workshops across Canada..  His work incorporates documentary, narrative and experimental genres.  His film work include Blinding (2011), Dead Time (2005), Smack (2000) and Away (1996). He lives Toronto. 

Programmer: Scott Miller Berry, Managing Director and Programmer, Rendezvous with Madness, Toronto, Canada.  Scott has been working at film festivals for 20+ years – previously as Director of the Images Festival and now at Rendezvous. He’s also a film programmer, instructor and mentor. Since 2009 he has presented touring screenings in Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangalore, Bangkok and Amsterdam, among others. Scott also makes short diary films and is on the Board of the Toronto Media Arts Centre and Long Winter Music + Arts Festival.


Rendezvous With Madness và Hoa Quynh Cinema giới thiệu:

“LAND OF KNOWING NOTHING” (Steve Sanguedolce, 2017, 72 phút)

“Trong bộ phim tài liệu thể nghiệm táo bạo này, bốn nghệ sĩ nói về tự tử: ý nghĩ về việc tái diễn nó đã đóng vai trò như nào trong cuộc sống và trong các thực hành nghệ thuật của họ, những khó khăn để hiểu và vượt qua được cám dỗ của cái chết cũng như cuộc đấu tranh trường kỳ với sự kỳ thị đã khiến khái niệm về tự tử bị bỏ qua như nào trong các cuộc thảo luận về sức khỏe tâm thần. Với sự chân thành mãnh liệt, những nhân vật của tác giả Steve Sanguedolce đã kể lại câu chuyện của mình trong phim. Bằng việc phản hồi lại những câu chuyện đó qua một đường dây hình ảnh ấn tượng, nhà làm phim đem đến cho chúng ta một trải nghiệm mang tính cá nhân hiếm thấy khi đưa người xem trực tiếp tiếp cận với câu chuyện qua một trong những phương diện dễ bị hiểu lầm nhất: cảm thức thấu hiểu từ góc nhìn thứ nhất.” – Geoff Pevere

 – Geoff Pevere

Phim nói tiếng Anh và phụ đề tiếng Việt

Thời gian: 7h30 tối thứ bảy, 9 tháng 12 

Địa điểm: babau AIR, 82A Thợ Nhuộm

Buổi chiếu phim sẽ có sự tham gia góp mặt của tác giả Steve Sanguedolce và giám tuyển chương trình Scott Miller Berry, Giám đốc điều hành và người sáng lập chương trình Rendezvous with Madness, Toronto, Canada.

Steve Sanguedolce là một thành viên tích cực trong cộng đồng phim độc lập của Toronto trong hơn ba mươi năm và đã giành nhiều giải thưởng quốc tế. Anh đã có các buổi triển lãm tại Cinematheque Quebecoise ở Montreal, National Film Board ở Toronto cũng như Arsenal Institute for Film and Video ở Đức. Trong 15 năm qua, anh đã tự tráng rửa, tô màu bằng tay cho những bộ phim và nhận được sự khen ngợi nồng nhiệt. Anh đã dành nhiều thời gian giảng dạy tại các trường đại học địa phương, trường cao đẳng cộng đồng hoặc tổ chức các khóa học làm phim độc lập trên khắp Canada. Công việc của anh bao gồm các thể loại phim tài liệu, phim truyện và thử nghiệm. Các tác phẩm điện ảnh của anh bao gồm Blinding (2011), Dead Time (2005), Smack (2000) và Away (1996). Anh hiện sống ở Toronto. 

Scott Miller Berry, Giám đốc điều hành và người sáng lập chương trình Rendezvous with Madness, Toronto, Canada. Scott đã và đang làm việc tại các liên hoan phim trong hơn 20 năm – nguyên giám đốc của The Images Festival và hiện làm việc tại Rendezvous. Anh cũng là một film programmer, giảng viên và người hướng dẫn. Kể từ năm 2009, anh đã tổ chức các buổi chiếu phim diễn tại Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangalore, Bangkok và Amsterdam, và nhiều nơi khác. Scott cũng làm phim ngắn nhật ký và là thành viên Hội đồng Quản trị của Trung tâm Nghệ thuật Truyền thông Toronto và Liên hoan Âm nhạc và Nghệ thuật Long Winter.

Saturday, December 9th, 2023

19:30 (+GMT 7), babau AIR,
82A Thợ Nhuộm street
Hà Nội, Việt Nam

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ATTILA

Stephen Hosier | 2023 | Canada | 80 minutes | English with open captions | World Premiere

GENRE: DOCUMENTARY
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS:  ISOLATION | ADDICTION | HOMELESSNESS | TRAUMA | ABUSE |  MENTAL HEALTH

Canadian filmmaker Stephen Hosier focuses the lens of his feature debut uncomfortably close to home as he joins his childhood friend, Richard Csanyi, in investigating the life and death of the latter’s twin brother, Attila. Found dead on a Hamilton rooftop in May 2020, the 28-year-old was expelled from a long-term care residence even as he grappled with addiction and schizophrenia. 

A creative expression of grief and healing, this stirring home-grown film compassionately explores the intersection of personal trauma and the systems that fail those in need, while striving toward a place of forgiveness and understanding. ATTILA is a beautiful portrait honouring one man’s tragedy and the family he left behind, while providing the audience with a valuable window into the extreme systemic obstacles experienced by far too many in Canada and around the world.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 marks the 75th Anniversary of World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme  is ‘mental health is a universal human right’. The sentiment aligns with the ambitions of ATTILA the film. In presenting an authentic and local portrayal of homelessness, addiction and schizophrenia, we hope to destigmatize these circumstances and create a space for dynamic conversation that leads to change. 

Join us after the film screening for a post-film panel discussion moderated by Aisha Jamal (filmmaker and film programmer) featuring Dr. Naheed Dosani (palliative care physician and health justice activist), Chris Summerville (Schizophrenia Society of Canada), Diana Chan McNally (community and crisis worker) and other special guests to be announced.

Pre-Festival Event
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

This film is unavailable for streaming.

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IF YOU ASK ME

OLIVIA (AUTUMN) RENNIE, CONSTANT YEN, THE NOISE WITCH, ASHLI AGATE, ALEX FLORAS-MATIC, JAY GEERTS, CARLA SIERRA SUAREZ, SAM GUEVARA, AYSIA TSE, ROBIN RIAD

2023 | CANADA | 60 MINUTES | WORLD PREMIERE | ENGLISH

GENRE: VARIOUS
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORKDS: ADDICTION | TRAUMA | MENTAL HEALTH | YOUTH

For the sixth consecutive year, If You Ask Me (IYAM) has supported emerging filmmakers with lived mental health and/or addiction experience to create new short works. This year’s program features shorts by filmmakers from across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 

These new films were developed from July – September 2023 under the guidance of Robin Riad, along with IYAM alumni Gladys Lou and Esteban Powell serving as mentors. Over the course of three months, filmmakers strengthened their film production skills in the company of peers and industry guests. Rendezvous With Madness is excited to support the production and exhibition of these distinctly personal creative works. 

Equipment rentals and facilities were generously provided by our community sponsor, Trinity Square Video.

 

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: FILMMAKING NOW

The world has changed substantially since If You Ask Me started. This year’s cohort of filmmakers adapted their practices to ever-changing social realities. Join the in-person panel discussion to learn how each artist developed their films.

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November 6 - 19, 2023

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