HIFF Newsletter • October 22, 2020
OFFICIAL SELECTION
THE GIVERNY DOCUMENT (SINGLE CHANNEL)
dir. Ja’Tovia Gary
November 13 • 9 PM • Available in Nova Scotia
On day two of HIFF 2020, we're thrilled to present The Giverny Document (Single Channel), the triumphant, can't-miss visual poem from American filmmaker Ja'Tovia Gary.
Combining direct animation on archival 16mm film, found video footage, woman-on-the-street interviews, and montage editing techniques, The Giverny Document explores the creative virtuosity of Black femme performance figures and interrogates the histories of those bodies as spaces of forced labour and production.
Reserve your free ticket here.
"If there is one overriding impression one takes away from The Giverny Document, it is Gary’s insistence that making the world not just a safe but a joyful place for black women is going to take every resource available. But I’m inclined to agree that she can’t lose."—Michael Sicinski, Cinema Scope
"Giverny paints a prismatic portrait of contemporary black womanhood ... and modulates within the whole spectrum of human emotion, from ecstasy to grief."
—Vikram Murthi, rogerebert.com
Check out the trailer below:
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
LA FLOR
dir. Mariano Llinás
November 12 • 11:59 PM • Available in Nova Scotia
This year, HIFF is proud to bring you a special presentation of Mariano Llinás' La Flor—all 13-plus hours of it—beginning at 11:59 p.m. on November 12 and available to watch at your own pace for the remainder of the fest.
Shot sequentially over the course of a decade, La Flor was filmed in no less than six countries and seven languages, and captured on everything from MiniDV camcorder to camera obscura. The result is a genre-bending and -breaking exploration of the creative impulse, and after gaining word of mouth through screenings at TIFF, NYFF and Locarno it became the unlikely cinephile event of the year.
Reserve your free ticket here.
"One of the longest and strangest and most beguiling/maddening movies ever made." —Mike D'Angelo, The AV Club
"To say that the experience was worth the wait—or that the rewards of this movie are worth the sit—would be to settle for a kind of descriptive cliché that the extraordinary, unclassifiable La Flor itself seems determined to avoid." —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
Watch the trailer here:
ATLANTIC AUTEURS SPOTLIGHT
Where are you from?
I'm from Amherst, NS.
What was the inspiration for the film you’re presenting at HIFF?
Bedtime is influenced by the six paper dolls from the '50s I bought at the Halifax flea market at the Forum. The '50s were a high point of Western capitalism and these characters were waiting to be satirized.
What’s the pastime that’s saved you during the pandemic?
I ruptured my Achilles tendon two months before the pandemic, so I was already in "lockdown" in my home. Since I couldn't go anywhere because of my operation and then the lockdown of the pandemic, the only available art form I practiced was writing, and basically the writing of fairytales, which is really an extension of my animation stories to some extent.
Last year we asked filmmakers about their most memorable experiences in a cinema. In the spirit of our virtual fest, what’s the most memorable experience you’ve had watching a film at home?
I had access to Netflix, so I binged on anime, the Japanese animation style, with my leg raised up on a pillow. It was wonderful, especially the more professional and historical ones with wonderful colour and beautiful animation.
What's your favourite (or worst/weirdest) memory of making this film?
I first shot the film on the Oxford animation stand, but it turned out to have a scratch all the way though it, so I had to turn to digital and redo it.
Where are you from?
I’m from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island! But my Island Shame is that I was born in Moncton, New Brunswick.
What was the inspiration for the film you're presenting at HIFF?
I’ve always been fascinated with the Irving tower and its history. One September evening, I dragged my mom out there to film the building at magic hour. We ended up having a conversation with a stranger that I thought encapsulated everything I love about conversation on PEI—talking about the real issues in a roundabout, gossipy way. When I got back to Halifax I hoped that the conversation had been captured and I was lucky that it had been!
What films or filmmakers inspired you to make your own?
My professors at NSCAD were definitely the first people to push me and inspire me to make my own films. Marcia Connolly, specifically, really pushed me to try directing and writing.
Through my NSCAD classes I was exposed to local talent like James MacSwain and Heather Young, who I feel really inspired by. I love Agnès Varda, Amy Lockhart, and fellow Islander Jeremy Larter’s work—especially his and Adam Perry’s web series Profile PEI. Any PEI comedy, I’m in. Writers and performers Rob MacDonald and Graham Putnam are big influences to me.
What's your favourite memory of making this film?
Post making the film, already having submitted it to a couple festivals, I decided that it was overdue for me to find the anonymous man. I found him in the most PEI way—piecing together where he lived and who he was through what he told me that day and then going door to door around the neighbourhood, talking to people until I found him. I almost wish I had filmed it. It was too perfect.
These films will screen along with eight others made by established and up-and-coming filmmakers from across the region in HIFF's Atlantic Auteurs shorts program, available online Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m. Learn more about the full program here.
Every year, HIFF brings programmers from prestigious Canadian and international festivals to Halifax to take part in the festival, watch local shorts and host one-on-one meetings with regional filmmakers. This year, we’re moving the meetings online! The Programmer Initiative is a unique opportunity for Atlantic Canadian filmmakers to connect one-on-one with programmers from around the world and make meaningful connections within the international film festival circuit.
This year we welcome:
Lisa Haller, International Programmer, Short Cuts, Toronto International Film Festival
Lori McCurdy, Feature Film Executive, Atlantic Region, Telefilm Canada
Linton Melita, Palm Springs International ShortFest
Julian Ross, International Film Festival Rotterdam
Sébastien Simon, Busan International Short Film Festival
Applications for meetings with Lori McCurdy of Telefilm Canada are now open!
APPLY HERE