TIFF 2016: ‘3-Way (Not Calling)’
Let’s Rap co-stars Emma Hunter and Kristian Bruun reunite in Molly McGlynn’s coy short film 3-Way (Not Calling).
Short Film
Wylie Writes @ Toronto Youth Shorts 2016
The Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival is still going strong with a total of 44 locally produced films screening over a two-day period (August 5 and 6).
Wylie Writes’ Two-On-One With Parker Mott and Stephen Chambers
I know Parker Mott as a fellow writer and a friend. We met on the set of Eric Marchen’s television show Cinema Seen years ago (when it was originally titled The Film Slate), and we’ve kept in contact ever since.
The Animation Show of Shows
Toronto audiences will be able to catch the “cream of the short film crop” at Carlton Cinema with this year’s Animation Show of Shows courtesy of the program’s curator/producer Ron Diamond. As much as movie goers should always show support for short films, this year’s showcase (consisting of eleven international films) ranges from ingenious to pointless.
Blood in the Snow 2015: Shahbaz on Short Films
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi The Blood in the Snow Film Festival has returned to offer us a respite from the cold. Unfortunately, this year’s short film picks are disheartening – viewers may be better off wandering the streets and suffering from frostbite. I appreciate this festival for its attention to Canadian cinema, I really do, but this year’s batch of short films feature the sort of films that make Canadians badmouth their own cinema. The majority of these films…
Toronto After Dark 2015: Shahbaz on Short Films
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Once again, the sun sets on another successful edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. On the tenth anniversary of this local darling, I felt it necessary to shine a light on what I have consistently felt to be an important and underappreciated part of this festival: the shorts. The first time that I went to the festival, about six years ago, my first screening was the Shorts After Dark program and I…
Toronto After Dark 2015: Shorts After Dark
Awesome Runaway!! (DIR. Benjamin De Los Santos) By: Addison Wylie Benjamin De Los Santos’ Awesome Runaway!! is…well….awesome…for the most part. Inspired by video game combat, Looney Tunes, and the ‘Safe Haven’ segment of V/H/S/2, the filmmaker has conceived a stylistic treat that will surely delight Toronto After Dark movie goers. From the opening shot up until a final confrontation with an evil kingpin monologuing about nonsense, Awesome Runaway!! plays towards clichés in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The…
Toronto Youth Shorts’ T24 2015: Challenging Perfection
By: Addison Wylie Toronto Youth Shorts’ T24 challenges filmmakers to create, finish, and submit a short film to the festival’s committee within 24-hours. Before heading out to plan their production, each team is given a page-long mission statement for the challenge documenting the themes that their works should fulfill. This year, festival director Henry Wong and his team were inspired by recent, humbling articles complimenting the GTA. The Toronto Youth Shorts committee state the long and…
TIFF 2015: ‘She Stoops to Conquer’
By: Addison Wylie TIFF’s short film programmes have always featured creative work made by gifted people. This year, Peterborough born filmmaker Zack Russell is one of those people. She Stoops to Conquer marks Russell’s filmmaking debut, but he couldn’t be farther from being a beginner. His sweeping theatre experience has allowed Russell to gradually learn how to communicate with actors, how to block a scene, and how to understand the emotions behind a playwright’s work. After watching…
Wylie Writes Rides with TUFF 2015
By: Addison Wylie As the city of Toronto gears up for its most prestigious film festival, passengers of the city’s TTC subway service will be occupied by various one-minute silent short films while they gaze at platform monitors and await their ride. TUFF (the Toronto Urban Film Festival) remains the largest film festival for commuters in North America. From September 12th to the 20th, shorts from around the globe will play on TTC’s 290 available…