CANADIAN SHORTS
SHORTS PROGRAM
JUNE 1, 2024 • 11:00 AM
@ THE BUS STOP THEATRE
(2203 GOTTINGEN STREET, HALIFAX)
94 mins
Our annual Canadian Shorts program showcases a selection of bold national shorts that are pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. This year’s program welcomes you into intimate, domestic and familiar spaces. There are themes of loss; of another, a space or parts of oneself, and the resilience of the human spirit to persevere through these periods of immense adaptation. Join us on this contemplative Saturday morning program to watch an inspiring group of Canadian shorts.
PROGRAM LINEUP
Acoustic Shadows
dir. Patrick Bergeron
Quebec / 2 mins
Bergeron combines mathematical data and experimental film, using spectrograms to bring the frequencies of wind movement, once hidden, into a visual space, defamilliarizing and reintroducing viewers to the captivating beauty of the natural world through synthetic manipulation.
Grenfell Adrift on an Iceberg
dir. John Hollands
British Columbia / 10 mins
A surreal retelling of settler Doctor Wilfred Grenfell’s story of being lost at sea. Influenced by early cinema expressionism, Holland plays with history using avant-garde animation techniques and puppetry to tell a tale of glory, faith and madness.
NIGIQTUQ (The South Wind)
dir. Lindsay McIntyre
British Columbia, Alberta / 16 mins
McIntyre creates a story of resilience through an Inuit mother and her young daughter quietly fight to keep their language and culture alive under the suffocating pressure of settler assimilation in the 1930s.
La Lavendières
dir. Laura Kamugisha
Quebec / 4 mins
A portrait of the filmmaker’s mother, reflecting on her hopes, struggles, and determination to find beauty and peace amidst the disruption of her dreams.
All the Days of May
dir. Miryam Charles
Quebec / 7 mins
A reflective examination of the mechanics of body, routine and the passing of time during intense mourning: a light leak on the film becomes an artery of the speaker, moving through the motions of life after losing her daughter.
Four Mile Creek
dir. Ryan McKenna
Manitoba, Quebec / 21 mins
In a spellbinding fusion of narrative and documentary, McKenna draws from his family history to explore the connection we have to the pain of our ancestors. Told through McKenna’s eyes and the words of family, he uses filmmaking to bring light to the past, massaging generational aches.
Discordia
dir. Rowan Gray
Manitoba / 9 mins
A young gymnast navigates an undiagnosed disorder preventing her from continuing practice. Gray draws on themes of isolation due to disbelief or skepticism, and competition in girlhood.
A Crab in the Pool
dir. Alexandra Myotte and Jean-Sébastien
Quebec / 11 mins
A whimsical animation about two siblings delving into the hauntings of imagination while spending a summer day at the community pool; they must come face-to-face with their fears to reconnect with reality and each other.
Today Is Sunday, Tomorrow We Die
dir. Maxime Genois
Quebec / 14 mins
Maxime Genois’ Today Is Sunday, Tomorrow We Die captures the resilience of the human spirit to adapt through life’s struggles, with the knowledge that, despite all, we continue to love immensely.