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

GENRE: Fiction (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Alzheimer’s, Aging, Caregiving, Family

Aziz, an 80-year-old matriarch lives with progressive dementia and requires constant caregiving by her children. Anoush, her youngest son, who is about to get married, loves and takes care of his mother more than his siblings. Aziz lost her husband years ago and is suddenly professing her love to someone while her family engages in a search for this mysterious man. They eventually discover Aziz is in love with her younger son.

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

Dance Synopsis
We Lost You A Long Time Ago is a poignant contemporary dance piece by Nicole Descey Dance Projects, running 20-30 minutes, that delves into the emotional turmoil of losing a close friendship. This work explores the unraveling of a bond that once felt familial but disintegrates seemingly without warning or closure, reflecting on the deep, often unspoken grief that accompanies the loss of a friendship. Choreographer Nicole Descey draws from her personal experience of watching a friend struggle with mental health, leading to an inevitable and painful separation. Through intricate, expressive movements, dancers Nicole Decsey, and Melissa MacTavish bring to life the stages of emotional turmoil – such as grief, anger, confusion, and sorrow, offering a raw portrayal of the longing for answers and closure that never comes.

Accompanied by a live musical track composed and performed by Luc Gaylie, the choreography takes audiences through memories and moments of connection and the chaotic aftermath of a friendship slowly fading, highlighting the complexity of coping with the absence of resolution. In this powerful exploration of mental health, friendship, and the enduring pain of relationships that cannot be mended, We Lost You A Long Time Ago resonates as a moving portrayal of loss, acceptance, and the memories of a bond that can now only be mourned and remembered.

Keywords: Grief, Trauma, Loss

Accessibility: Active Listener on-site

GENRE: Short films
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
Featuring artists: Cai Bell-Jerome, Noor Gatih, Hanna Gulzar, Mio Muyoboke, Katrina Rodriguez, Kurtis Watson, Sydney Waters

For the eighth consecutive year, If You Ask Me (IYAM) has supported emerging filmmakers with lived mental health and/or addiction experiences to create new short films. This year’s program features shorts by filmmakers from across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). These new films were developed from July – September 2024 under the guidance of Robin Riad, along with IYAM alumnus Esteban Powell serving as mentor. Equipment rentals and facilities were generously provided by our community sponsor and partner, LIFT. 

GENRE: Documentary + Fiction (shorts)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON

Join us for a program of short films from recent editions of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF). Stick around afterward for discussions with staff from the festival who will talk about the films and share how the SMHAF is organized.  This year’s Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival takes place across Scotland from 10 – 27 October 2024, exploring the theme of ‘In/Visible’. You can learn more at www.mhfestival.com.

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 Desmoskoff | 2018 | Canada | Documentary | 3 minutes | English

GENRE: Fiction (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Poverty, Housing, Intergenerational Trauma, Family, Fiction

Writer-director Pedro Freire’s feature debut Malu offers a raw and emotional exploration of motherhood and the circumstances perpetuating transgenerational trauma. Amid the many sequences of emotional chaos, Malu emerges as a touching story about healing, forgiveness, and learning to see the people we love for who they truly are rather than who we expect them to be.

GENRE: Experimental Documentary (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Schizophrenia, Housing, Experimental Documentary

Pushing at the limits of non-fiction cinema, A Man Imagined is a bracingly intimate and hallucinatory portrait of a man with schizophrenia surviving amidst urban detritus and decay. Made in close collaboration with 67-year-old Lloyd, this immersive documentary fable follows the jagged path of a decades-long street survivor, across harsh winters and blistering summers, as he sells discarded items to motorists, sleeps in junkyards and lapses into near-psychedelic reveries.

When Lloyd reveals a startling detail from his past, the filmmakers try to help him piece together a story that spills out in fragments—a jigsaw puzzle of painful childhood abstraction that seems to hold an unspeakable mystery at its core.

With its subjective, lyrical camerawork and expressionistic sound design, the latest feature from directors Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky finds poetic power and transcendence in the harrowed mind of its protagonist, delivering a poignant meditation on life at the margins.

WITH SHORT FILM ——-Uncle Bardo —— Luke Mistrucci | 2024 | Canada | Documentary | 14 minutes | English

GENRE: Documentary (feature)
TYPE: FILM | IN-PERSON
KEYWORDS: Postpartum depression, Women’s issues, Stress, Family

Unemployment, poverty, disease and domestic violence are commonplace in the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg. For young mothers, who often have to raise their children alone, they barely have time for themselves and their babies. A group of women from the Ububele Home Visiting program are working to transform the neighborhood by improving the mental well-being of mothers and their babies.

WITH SHORT FILM ——— Beyond Recall —— Ajay Kumar | 2024 | Canada | Fiction | 11 minutes | English