GENRE: DOCUMENTARY
TOPICS: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: ISOLATION | ADDICTION | HOMELESSNESS | TRAUMA | ABUSE | SCHIZOPHRENIA

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 addiction and schizophrenia. We hope to destigmatize these circumstances and create a space for dynamic conversation that lead 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.

Hashtags: #RWMFEST #MindtheGaps #ATTILAfilm

Masking is required at all Rendezvous events for everyone’s safety (masks provided) Thank you.

HOW TO SAVE A DEAD FRIEND  
Marusya Syroechkovskaya | 2022 | Sweden, Norway, France, Germany | 103 minutes | Russian with English subtitles | Ontario Premiere

OPENING NIGHT FILM

On October 27th enjoy Rendezvous With Madness opening night film How To Save A Dead Friend by Marusya Syroechkovskaya.  Filmed over the course of 12 years, this film is a personal cry from the heart and a message from a silenced generation. It is an unbreakable love story existing in a destructible world. Post Film talk featuring the director.

How To Save A Dead Friend, it’s 2005, and Russia is governed by leaders who are keen to uplift their authoritarian dream. Millennial suicides have become omnipresent — a last act of self-will among a generation denied the chance to envision a better future. Marusya, 16, has decided this will be her year to die.

Muzzled by the increasingly autocratic regime of the “Depression Federation,” Marusya decides to join her generation’s suicide statistics by the end of the year. Then, she meets Kimi and an unexpected love story begins between the two millennials caught in the undertow of their oppressive government. Together, Marusya and Kimi film the euphoria, anxiety and despair of their youth, burning the candle at both ends fueled by drugs and music. When Kimi’s addiction threatens to make him fade away forever, Marusya’s camera becomes her last chance to save some part of his fragile soul.

For accessibility How To Save A Dead Friend is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27, 8 PM – 12 AM ET across Canada; October 28 – November 6 in Ontario

Keywords:  Suicide | Addiction | Authoritarianism | Youth | Depression
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

IF YOU ASK ME

Sameena Anis, Mikaela Cordero, Shian Grace, Corinne Langmuir, Gladys Lou, Sanskruti Marathe, Lee Nisar, Esteban Powell, Roberto Santaguida, Agnes Wong |  2022 | Canada | 60 minutes | World Premiere | English 

November 5th at Rendezvous With Madness enjoy an in person screening of recent short films by This year’s If You Ask Me cohort.

For the sixth consecutive year, If You Ask Me (IYAM) has supported emerging filmmakers with lived mental health and/or addiction experiences 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 August – October 2022 under the guidance of Roberto Santaguida, along with IYAM alumni Angela Feng, Maud Mostly and Vyom Malhotra 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 2021. 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. 

For accessibility the If You Ask Me shorts program is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022

Keywords: Addiction | Trauma | Mental Health | Youth
Genre: Shorts
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

MIDWASTE
2021 | Liz Roberts | USA | 23 Minutes | English

Artist spotlight

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the short film Midwaste directed by Liz Roberts available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

Midwaste addresses the Midwest region, midlife, and various notions of wasted. Roberts’ connection to drug subculture is inextricable from her relationship to the camera. She started making Super 8 films as a teen, shooting friends she became intimate with in circles of drug use. Her methods are palpable and relational; retracing her steps, interviewing friends about their memories of the past, and revisiting footage taken at various stages of her youth.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Liz Roberts is running a virtual workshop on Tuesday, November 1 on creating autobiographical films please visit workmanarts.com for more details.

Keywords: Artist | Healing | Addiction | Autobiography
Genre: Short
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

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

GEMMEL & TIM
Michiel Thomas | 2021 | United States | 91 minutes | English

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the award-winning documentary film Gemmel & Tim directed by Michiel Thomas  available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

In the span of 18 months, two gay Black men died of drug overdoses inside the West Hollywood home of political donor Ed Buck. Yet, it was four years (and many public protests) before a federal jury convicted Buck for his crimes. Writer-director Michiel Thomas’s documentary Gemmel & Tim tells the story of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, the two men who died in Buck’s home under suspicious circumstances.

Throughout the film, their family and friends reminisce about their lives and share the shocking details surrounding their deaths. The film paints a touching portrait of love and regret as friends and family come to grips with the tragic loss of their loved ones. Gemmel & Tim is also a scathing indictment of America’s broken justice system, calling out the blatant racial inequalities persisting decades after the abolition of Jim Crow.

Screening with

Lay Me By The Shore | David Findlay | 2022 | Canada | 18 minutes | English

Introducing a young cast of first-time actors, Lay Me by the Shore follows a week in the life of Noah, a high school senior in his final days of school as he comes to terms with his best friend’s passing. Bathed in the warm light of long June days and with the intimidating spectre of an unknown future looming, the tale is told from the perspective of the recently departed. Through the prism of grief, the film highlights the raw and potent emotions of youth.

Keywords: Addictions | Racism | Class | Overdose | Trauma
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion