GENRE: DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE), DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: YOUTH | CLASS | INDIGENOUS

Co-directed by Nicolas van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf, Alis is a poignant documentary that delves into young womens’ stories of hope and despair. Set in a Columbian group home for teenage girls, the directors ask the young women to conjure an imaginary housemate named Alis. Alis is a blank canvas for the young women to paint vivid portraits of the darkest moments in their lives. 

By projecting their lived experiences onto Alis, they find ways to speak their truths without the burden of shame or stigma. Through a series of candid conversations, the camera captures profound moments of self-reflection in real-time. 

Alis profiles childhood trauma’s insidious influence on the trajectory of one’s life and speaks to the determination required to recover from major setbacks. These bright-eyed and increasingly world-weary young women share stories that will inspire laughter in one moment and tears in the next. Ultimately, Alis is a story about reckoning with the past in order to pave the way for a brighter tomorrow.

Screening with Short Film

Black Hole Legion | Jonathan Omer Mizrahi, Ariel Sereni Brown | Greenland, Germany | 2021 | 12 minutes | Inuktitut with English Subtitles and open captions

On the foothills of Uummannaq mountain, four cybergoth teens are fighting depression. Water contamination spreads throughout the village pipelines and one cybergoth finds herself laying on a hospital bed. The cybergoths show us a post-apocalypse future, that is to say, the apocalyptic qualities of the present; a fragile reality where national, communal, environmental, and mental stability is at risk.

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

GENRE: DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE), DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: IMMIGRATION | TRAUMA | MOBILITY | MUTUAL AID | HEALING

Should we leave our origins behind or can we give them new meaning? This is the question posed by The Dependents, in which the filmmaker combs through decades of diary entries written by her father, a retired immigration officer, interrogating him as he did countless applicants who appeared before his desk in Canadian embassies across the globe. This work is a reflection on the right to mobility for some and not others and the discourses that justify this inequality. Sofia Brockenshire’s film merges the past and present in a bold and sonically rich family portrait about home, displacement, and current forced and voluntary migration movements. — Jason Fox (RIDM, Montreal)

Screening with Short Film

Neighbour Abdi | Douwe Dijkstra | The Netherlands | Doc | 2022 | 29 minutes | Somali and Dutch with English subtitles 

How can you understand a violent past? Somali-born Abdi reenacts his life, marked by war and criminality, with the help of his neighbour and filmmaker Douwe. Through playful reconstructions in a special effects studio, they embark on a candid and investigative journey through a painful history, focusing on the creative process throughout.

GENRE: VARIOUS
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: AUTOBIOGRAPHY | EXPERIMENTAL | PETS & SERVICE ANIMALS | SPOKEN WORD

The short film program “Born To Be An Artist” explores different methodologies in filmmaking as a way to express something that is true or unique to the idea of self. Featured artists: Shabnam Sukhdev and Ishaa Chopra, Don Vaillancourt and Naomi Hendrickje Laufer, Emily Sweet, Shantell Powell, Dorothy Ogda Laxton, Amy Ness, Victoria Brecht and Gladys Lou  

Unfinished | Shabnam Sukhdev And Ishaa Chopra | 2021 | Doc | English, Hindi with open captions

Music Box | Don Vaillancourt and Naomi Hendrickje Laufer | 2023 | Experimental | English with open captions

Interspecies Antics | Emily Sweet | 2020 | Experimental | English with open captions

Chinchilla Theatre Episode 1 – The Director’s Cut | Shantell Powell | 2020 | Experimental 

The Reluctant Messenger  | Dorothy Ogda Laxton | 2023 | Spoken Word | English with open captions

Amys Fight | Amy Ness | Documentary | English with open captions

Coffee & a Smoke | Victoria Brecht | 2023 | Documentary | English with open captions

Breathe Easy | Gladys Lou | 2021 | Experimental/performance art | English with open captions

GENRE: DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: SUICIDE | TRAUMA | FAMILY | OVERSTIMULATION | ANXIETY

back home follows the filmmaker’s pursuit to get to know her older brother, Josh, twenty years after he took his own life. As she connects with the friends who knew him best as a teen, a complex portrait emerges. Through intimate recollections re-imagined on Super8 and 16mm, and lyrical images hand-processed with plants, seaweed, soil and ashes, back home floats between memory and present time in a fragmented meditation on identity, grief and loss: illuminating the transformative power of healing in community.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

It is my pleasure to share my first feature film, “back home,” with you. I was 11 years old when Josh’s death forever changed our family and shifted my perspective on the value of closeness and the impact broader society can have on a young mind. “Back home”’s unique handmade quality recalls the photochemical processes I found solace in during my teenage years when I took refuge in the high school darkroom. The abstract film images represent the changing chemistry of Josh’s brain, as well as illustrating my physical pain – a manifest form of grief.

Screening with Short Film

White Noise | Tamara Scherbak | Canada | Drama | 2023 | 18 minutes | English with open captions

White Noise follows Ava, who suffers from misophonia – an extreme hyper-sensitivity to sound. When this reaches new terrifying heights, her doctor enrolls her in an experimental trial involving an anechoic chamber: the world’s quietest room.

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.

BIGGER THAN TRAUMA
Vedrana Pribacic | 2022 | Croatia | 90 minutes | Croatian with English subtitles

Rendezvous With Madness is pleased to present the extraordinary documentary film Bigger Than Trauma directed by Vedrana Pribacic available for streaming across Canada from October 27th to November 6th 

The brutal Croatian War of Independence came to an end in 1995, but survivors of the conflict continue to feel its devastating effects almost 30 years later. Justice has been slow in coming–if it comes at all–and institutional supports are few and far between, particularly for women who continue to live side-by-side with the very men who captured, tortured and raped them. 

Vedrana Pribacic’s Bigger Than Trauma is an intimate portrait of a group of Serbian and Croatian women who join a groundbreaking and unconventional therapy group to break their long-held silences, share their individual experiences and empower them to begin the long road to healing. However, their journey is not without its fair share of obstacles of pain revisited, cultural friction and resentment. In this tender setting, his documentary gives voice to the oft-forgotten and ignored victims of war for their own self-determination after trauma. 

Screening with
Yaren and the Sun | 2021 | Joren Slaets, Renate Raman | Belgium | 19 minutes | Dutch with English subtitles 

Yaren’s mother died when she was six. Her friend Kato’s father died a year ago. Yet the atmosphere in a therapeutic summer camp is far from mournful when one of the supervisors dances with a girl to the lively song “La Bamba.” It’s fine to have fun, the children learn—it can coexist with sadness.

Keywords: Women’s Issues | Trauma | War | Mutual Aid | Healing
Genre: Documentary (feature) Documentary (short)
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

LES PRIÈRES DE DELPHINE | DELPHINE’S PRAYERS | Rosine Mbakam | 2021 | Belgium / Cameroon | 91 minutes | Toronto Premiere | French with English Subtitles

On October 28th at Rendezvous With Madness enjoy an in person screening of the film Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers directed by Rosine Mbakam. The event features a post-film talk with the director.

Les Prières De Delphine/ Delphine’s Prayers is a brutal and intimate portrait by Rosine Mbakam, a Cameroonian filmmaker based in Belgium who introduces us to her friend and compatriot Delphine, a young Cameroonian girl who after the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father’s parental responsibilities, was raped at the age of 13. She engages with sex work to support herself and her daughter and ends up marrying a Belgian man who is three times her age, hoping to find a better life in Europe. Seven years later, the European dream has faded and her situation has only gotten worse. Delphine, like others, is part of a generation of young African women crushed by patriarchal societies and left with Western sexual colonization as the only means of survival. Winner of the IndieLisboa Award for best film, Les prières de Delphine is a candid story of courage and strength in the face of racism, misogyny and poverty.

For accessibility Les Prières De Delphine | Delphine’s Prayers is also available online via Workman Arts & Cinesend from October 27th to November 6th 2022  

Keywords: Domestic Violence | Racism | Family | Generational Trauma | Colonialism
Genre: Documentary
#RWMFEST #MoreThanRebellion

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