Shorts Program – Canada Looks South
MEET ME THERE
The fate of a pumpkin-coloured parka, a dancing bird-like figure on a beach, a woman waiting for a promise carried in a tiny vial, messages sent to a faraway friend, an amphibian’s view of solitude, we all arrive here from different places with different desires. With precision and heart, these five shorts by Latin-Canadian filmmakers invite us into distinct, poignant, and wondrous versions of affinity.
Monday, Sept 9 at 4:00 PM
Cineworks
Running time: 65 min
VLAFF Membership required
CORMORANT
Dir. Olga Barrios
Toronto/Colombia | 2024 | No dialogue | 12 min
Migrant bodies. This video dance is an experiment of a camera dancing where videographer and dancer co-habit spaces. The artists working in this video are bodies that migrate and move between Colombia and Canada, as the (diver/flyer) cormorant bird migrates.
Olga Barrios is an award-winning Latin Canadian artist. Video dance creator, choreographer, dancer and teacher has collaborated with theater, music and dance companies as well as in multidisciplinary projects in Canada, the United States and Colombia. She is co-founder of Vanguardia Dance Projects (Canada). Olga is originally from Bogotá-Colombia where she studied the Performing Arts in Dance program at the Academy of Arts in Bogota and holds a Masters in Dance from York University in Toronto. Currently living in Santa Marta (Colombia), she works in exchange projects between Canada and Colombia.
Duck
Pato
Dir. Paola Contreras
Montreal/Mexico | 2023 | Spanish & English with English subtitles | 7 min
In one day, “DUCK” tells the touching tale of an immigrant father’s hard work and the fragility of the early years in a new country.
Paola Contreras was born in Mexico and is now based in Canada, working as a cinematographer and director. Her journey began with studies in film and digital animation in Guadalajara, Mexico, and continued with a focus on cinematography at the renowned International Film and Television School in Cuba. Since settling in Canada, her work has quickly gained recognition, particularly for her contributions to documentaries and narrative projects.
TERESA’S CHOICE
Dir. Marlene Castaños Ortega
Vancouver/Mexico | 2023 | English | 10 min
When the world pandemic strikes, forty-something Teresa must overcome her fear of dying and decide if she wants to have a child conceived as a single mother through artificial insemination.
Also screens before BRIDGES OVER THE SEA on Sept 11.
Marlene Castaños Ortega is a filmmaker interested in telling stories that expand our vision of reality. She focuses on female driven stories and over forty protagonists. She gravitates towards spiritual or psychological topics and her storytelling is influenced by her Mexican roots. Teresa’s Choice is her directorial debut. She founded Divine Spark Films, a boutique production company based in Canada specialized in conscious films.
AXOLOTL
Dir. Gabriel Argüello Tercero
El Salvador/Nicaragua/Montreal | 2023 | French with English subtitles | 20 min
A solitary man becomes obsessed with an axolotl he discovers at the aquarium exhibit of the zoo. The strange creature gradually assumes a mysterious quality as the man’s fascination and growing affinity with the animal intensifies. He is slowly being sucked into axolotl’s universe. Dreams and reality intertwine as he questions his own identity…
Gabriel Argüello Tercero is a Montreal-based filmmaker of Salvadoran and Nicaraguan heritage who graduated from the University of Montreal with a degree in Film Production. Gabriel is fascinated by stories that manipulate time and reality, and he delves into poetic visuals and non-linear narrative structures. Drawing from both his cultural backgrounds, he seeks to bring a touch of fantastical or “magical realism” rarely seen in Canadian cinema. His work has received support from prominent institutions such as the Canadian Council for the Arts, Quebec Arts Council, and National Film Board of Canada.
IRIS
Dir. Gabriela de Andrade
Montreal/Brazil | 2024 | French with English subtitles | 17 min
Ever since Iris, a French-Congolese woman, left Montreal, she has nurtured her relationship with Gabriela through voice messages. In this film, her voice gives hints of a return that exists only through the gaze of director Gabriela’s camera. Exploring the boundaries of documentary language the film conveys us to a dreamlike non-place, where the form of a faceless woman intermingles with the fluidity of waterscapes, of clouds and wind. This ethereal space becomes a haven for their profound, lyrical friendship. Iris is an invitation to reflect on the enduring power of friendship beyond physical distance.
Also screens before MY AUNT GILMA on Sept 8.
Gabriela de Andrade is a Brazilian-born director based in Montreal since 2009. In Quebec, she directed the short film Premier Juillet (Festival International du Cinéma de Femmes de Fort-Coulonge 2019) and the short film Miryam (FIFA 2020). Her new film, Iris, is the second in her poetic trilogy based on the voices of three Montreal women.
Community Partners:
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
