Anny became a sex worker at the age of 46, and since then has kept returning to the streets of Prague, rain or shine, as cars pass by her at a snail’s pace. Director Helena Třeštíková recorded Anny between 1996 to 2012 as is her unique approach: she follows ordinary people for years in what she’s dubbed “time-lapse documentaries.” These carefully crafted portraits indirectly capture larger lines of histories — in this case, the economic crisis years that sometimes prompt Anny to reflect on communism. Gently edited, this documentary shifts in time between Anny slowly growing older and her daily life that is often challenging, filled with concerns about her grandchildren and her failing health. An insightful portrait of a person who, with courage and determination, carries on despite life’s surprises.

SCREENING WITH SCARS Alex Anna | 2020 | Canada / France | 10 min | French with English subtitles

Alex Anna’s body is a canvas: her scars come to life to tell a new story of self-harming. Live action and animation intertwine in this short and poetic documentary, both intimate and universal.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Q&A Watch a pre-recorded Q&A with Director Helena Třeštíková and learn about her experience documenting the life of Anny over 16+ years. The discussion will be moderated by Jenny Duffy, a representative from Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project.

Keywords: Aging | Class | Gender | Sex work | Trauma

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

Processing Duration is an anthology of recent short films by Workman Arts member artists that contemplate subjects of service, restriction, healing and embodied time. Through movement, ritual,
montage and song, these short films highlight nuance and storytelling. Ice On The Window Like A
Thousand Small Bees, Troubled Amplitude and Ice Into Fire experiment with urban and natural environments as a way to work through layered feelings. Looking inwards, the films Therapy Fragments Body Language, Fuck, Romberg’s Sign and The Space Without use self-documentation to explore vulnerability, growth, and resilience. While, the films Disability Video, The Beats, and Melody prove
the power of nature, music and narrative.

BODY LANGUAGE (Tara Clews | 2019 | 2 min)

DISABILITY VIDEO (Sirene Koser Qureshi | 2021 | 2 min)

FUCK (Emily Schooley | 2021 | 3 min)

ICE INTO FIRE (Anja Sagan | 2020 | 12 min)

ICE ON THE WINDOW LIKE A THOUSAND SMALL BEES (Catherine Jones | 2020 | 3 min)

MELODY (John Perera | 2021 | 3 min)

ROMBERG’S SIGN (Laura Shintani | 2021 | 2 min)

THE BEAST (Amy Ness | 2021 | 10 min)

THERAPY FRAGMENTS (Blanca Lopez | 2021 | 13 min)

THE SPACE WITHOUT (Emily Sweet | 2019 | 3 min)

TROUBLED AMPLITUDE (Jan Swinburne | 2018 | 9 min)

Keywords: Artists | Experimentation | Healing | Music | Resilience

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
FILMMAKERS Q&A
Join the filmmakers for an in-person and virtual Q&A ; moderated by filmmaker James Buffin

Filmed over the course of three years, this documentary begins at the Maine Correctional Center where Jacinta, 26, and her mother Rosemary, 46, are incarcerated together, both recovering from drug addictions. As a child, Jacinta became entangled in her mother’s world of drugs and crime and has followed her in and out of the system since she was a teenager. This time, as Jacinta is released from prison, she hopes to maintain her sobriety and reconnect with her own daughter, Caylynn, 10, who lives with her paternal grandparents. Despite her desire to rebuild her life for her daughter, Jacinta continually struggles against the forces that first led to her addiction. With unparalleled access and a gripping vérité approach, director Jessica Earnshaw paints a deeply intimate portrait of mothers and daughters and the effects of trauma over generations.

SCREENING WITH VERY PRESENT
Conor McNally | 2020 | Canada | 5 min | English
How does prolonged confinement shape our experience of time? Filmmaker Conor McNally explores the question in the company of his brother Riley, a young man who’s learning to cope with a new—yet strangely familiar—reality.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Q&A with Jessica Earnshaw

Keywords: Addiction | Family | Generational Trauma | Prison Industrial Complex

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

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

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