CineSiege 2012

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 — 7:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox
350 King St. West, Toronto

Admission: Free

HomeThe JuryNominees INominees INominees IIAward Winners
CineSiege 2012 is a juried showcase screening of outstanding productions created in 2011-12 by talented young filmmakers in AMPD’s Department of Cinema and Media Arts.

The program will feature a selection of short films – riveting dramas, cutting-edge experimental works and provocative documentaries – chosen by five external jurors. Their CineSiege picks are selected from a shortlist of 19 productions nominated from the total pool of 144 films made at York last year.

Jurors will be on hand at CineSiege to introduce the winning films and explain why they were selected.

CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of  Cinespace Film Studios

Jury

Karen Gordon is a Toronto-based a writer, broadcaster, producer, story editor and film reviewer. Her credits as writer and story editor include numerous telelvision documentary and lifestyle series ranging from “The Nature of Things” (CBC) to “Ol Pej Diaries” (Knowledge Network) to David Rocco’s “Dolce Vita” (Food Network Canada). Her broadcast credits include a variety of CBC Radio One shows, notably “As It Happens” and “Fresh Air”. Currently she is the film critic for CBC Radio One’s flagship program, “Metro Morning”.
Rick Hancox grew up in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, and all three locations have informed his finely crafted experimental documentaries, which fuse personal landscapes with issues of time, memory and history. His work demonstrates, through the cinematic image, how personal memory is mediated by social and historical contexts.Hancox often blends the poetic with the cinematic, as in his trilogy of “poetry films” – Waterworx (1982), Landfall (1983) and Beach Events (1985). He is also known for autobiographical documentaries such as Home for Christmas (1978) and Moose Jaw (1992), which hailed by Take One magazine as one of the ten best films made in Canada at the time.Hancox taught at Sheridan College for 12 years, where he influenced a generation of Canadian independent filmmakers including documentarians Alan Zweig, Janis Cole and Holly Dale, and experimental filmmakers Richard Kerr, Philip Hoffman, Mike Hoolboom and others, who, along with Hancox, have been recognized as belonging to a movement in Canadian cinema known as the Escarpment School. He has been professor of film in the Communication Studies Department at Concordia University since 1985.
In 1972, as a graduate student at McGill University, Robert Lantos co-founded the company that ultimately morphed into Alliance Communications, Canada’s largest film and television production/distribution company and a leading broadcaster. He served as chairman and CEO of Alliance, taking the company public in 1993 and selling his controlling interest in 1998. He currently makes films at his Serendipity Point Films shingle.Lantos has produced some 40 motion pictures. Highlights include: Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee Barney’s Version; Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eastern Promises; Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Being Julia; Golden Globe nominee and European Film Award and Best Picture Genie Award winner Sunshine; Cannes Grand Prix winner, Academy Award nominee and Best Picture Genie Award winner The Sweet Hereafter; Cannes Special Jury Prize winner Crash; Best Picture Genie Award winners Black Robe and Ararat. His long-running, award-winning television series include “Due South”, “E.N.G”, “North of 60”, “Counterstrike” and “Night Heat”.Lantos is a member of the Order of Canada and holds an honorary doctorate from McGill University. He sits on the board of directors of eOne.
Patricia Rozema‘s feature films include I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, White Room, When Night is Falling, Mansfield Park, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and Grey Gardens. I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and that year was voted one of Canada’s ten best films ever as polled by 100 international critics.Rozema won an Emmy Award and was nominated for a Grammy for her film Six Gestures, part of the series Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach. Her work on the HBO movie Grey Gardens, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, earned her a PEN USA nomination and an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing.Other television credits include the The Beckett Film Project’s Happy Days, the pilot and two subsequent episodes of the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me, and most recently, an episode of the HBO series In Treatment. Most recently she directed several episodes of the CBC series Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays. Projects in development including an adaptation of Robert Munsch’s beloved classic, The Paperbag Princess.
Documentarian Alan Zweig frequently uses film to explore his own life. In Vinyl (2000) he investigates what drives people to become record collectors, using his own experience to delve into the effects of this passion on a life. I, Curmudgeon (2004), a film about self-declared curmudgeons, shot on a camcorder with Zweig using a mirror to record his own experiences, won a Silver Hugo at the 2005 Chicago International Film Festival. Lovable (2007) addresses our (and his) preoccupation with finding romantic perfection.Zweig moved from autobiographical subject matter to explore the struggle of ex-convicts to lead normal lives in A Hard Name (2009), which received a Genie Award for best documentary. Many of Zweig’s films have premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which devoted its Focus On screening series to Zweig’s work in 2012.

Nominees I – externally juried 3rd & 4th year productions

A Slice of Life
15 min.
Director/Writer: Emily Powell
Producer: Emily Powell and Nancy Rutherford
Director of Photography: Thaddeus Eng, Ada Guna, Matthew Kennedy, Jake McDowell
Editor: James Elias Island
Sound: Location: Trevor Chartrand,  Post: Andrew Bundas, Original Music: Daniel KornEvery year, the town of Warkworth, Ontario hosts The Perfect Pie Contest. This year, a filmmaker attempts to bake a pie worthy of the competition.
Bad Movie
13:30 min.
Director/ Producer: Trevor Chartrand
Director of Photography: Joel Varickanickal
Editor: Reid Asselstine
Sound: James Young and Martin KesslerA documentary tribute to films that fail.
Breaking Over Me
14:33 min.
Director: Luise Docherty
Writer: Luise Docherty and Kelly Paoli
Producer: Luise Docherty and Mati Kuld
Director of Photography: Mati Kuld
Editor: Dylan Pouliot and Earl Oliveros
Sound: Tanner ZurkoskiA story of loss and friendship.
The Daily Special
9:53 min.
Director: Steffi Tupe
Writers: Rodrigo Hererra and Steffi Tupe
Producers: Steffi Tupe, Mark Baluk, Vibhuti Rathod, Alisha Vander Ahe, Andrew Bundas
Director of Photography: Mark Baluk
Editor: Alisha Vander Ahe
Sound: Andrew BundasJames may be the coolest kid at school, but when his older-brother duties and drug dealing tasks get mixed up, he just doesn’t know how to handle it.
Erasermen
15 min.
Director/Writer: Jeff Garneau
Producers: Danny Di Giovine and Jeff Garneau
Director of Photography: Marco Torralba
Editor: Joel Varickanickal
Sound: Nik BennAlex works at a company that erases online identities after death. He holds a prime position to turn this access into intimacy.
Free Parking
9:08 min.
Director: Adrian Murray
Writers: Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan
Producer/Production Manager: Matthew Shoalts
Director of Photography: Thaddeus Eng
Editor: Aaron Keogh
Sound: Tanner ZurkoskiAgainst his mother’s wishes, a young man drives to the big city in search of ‘the protest’.
Guerilla
15:50 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer/ Director of Photography: Saeid Zargar (Arya)
Editor: Yasaman Gerami
Sound: Saeid Zargar and Sadiar A. Babak Z.The story of two old Iranian men who were on opposite sides during Iran’s underground armed uprising in the 1970s.
Home
13 min.
Director/ Producer/ Director of Photography/ Editor/ Sound: Matthew Kennedy
Writer: Matthew Kennedy and Zhao Chun YanThis is a journey through the subconscious, exploring place and memory from the perspective of a newly landed Chinese immigrant in Canada. Travelling both physically and metaphorically, from China to Canada and from her past into the present, Chun Yan reflects on what she has given up while struggling to understand her place in the new world.
Josh Schonblum’s Currently Untitled 4th Year Film with Continuous Dolly Action
11 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer/ Editor/ Sound: Josh Schonblum
Director of Photography: Andrea CudaDolly Action
Loss Together
12 min.
Director: Earl Oliveros
Writers: Rodrigo Herrera and Earl Oliveros
Producers: Earl Oliveros and Lester Millado
Director of Photography: Lester Millado
Editor: Christine Wang
Sound: Andrew BundasHow do you mourn for someone you don’t really know?
Nebula
9:30 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer: Rebecca Lugo
Director of Photography: Lester Millado
Editor: Ryan Haas
Sound: Andrew BundasA dream in death, the search for meaning and a gentle caress.
The Neoist
10:05 min.
Director/Producer/ Director of Photography: Nikita Mor
Editors: Nikita Mor, Arnav Thadani
Sound: Adam CzechowskiAre coat hangers really telepathic devices? The Neoist  provides the answer to this nervewracking question. You may just be inspired to set your steam iron on fire!
The Optimistic Sun
13 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer/ Director of Photography/ Editor: John Palanca
Sound: Andrew Bundas & Matt DaileyA film in two parts which echo each other. Anne and James are near the end of their long and dreadful relationship. Illuminated by small gestures and changing spaces, The Optimistic Sun juxtaposes a young couple’s unfortunate reality and a dream that could never be.
Schedz.
9:30 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer/ Director of Photography/ Editor/ Sound: Abeer Qa’atySchedz. captures the world from the perspective of a young woman who suffers from schizophrenia.
Shadowboxing
13 min.
Director/Writer: Eric McIntyre
Producer: Jenna Elzein
Director of Photography: Andrea Cuda
Editor: Miguel Castillo
Sound: James Young
Silence of the New
12:45 min.
Director: Arnav Thadani
Director of Photography: Vincent Pun
Editor/Sound: Lester CallejaA feeling of the loss of home and overpowering silence. A personal account of culture shock, told from the point of view of four people.
Sticks and Wheels
9:30 min.
Director/Editor: Arnav Thadani
Director of Photography: Alexander Granger
Sound: Lester CallejaPower hockey is a sport played in wheelchairs, devised for people who are paraplegic. The film focuses on the relationships of these players.
The Way of the Drum
12:48 min.
Director/Producer: Nikita Mor
Directors of Photography: Vibhuti Rathod, Nikita Mor
Editor: Richard Powell SmithThe Way of the Drum rediscovers and celebrates the spirit of native culture in contemporary times, and for the future generations to come.
White
12 min.
Director/ Producer/ Editor: Sam Alex Kay
Director of Photography: Veronica Ladico
Sound: Taylor BloomAn existential tale inspired by the paintings and subject matter of artist David Blackwood (featuring a somewhat optimistic vision of global warming).

Nominees II – internally juried

1st year productions

Asanam Karoti
5.14 min
Directors: Rodrigo Michelangeli & Alec BellA young monk struggles with sacred practices in the shadows of a secret temple.
The Intruder
5.43 min
Director: Andy KloskeIn-trud-er! Noun: A person who intrudes, esp. into a building with criminal intent.
 Malachim
4.38 min
Directors: Harrison Kozak & Ashlee MitchellWe looked to dance as a manner of conveying narrative.

2nd year productions

Break
8.55 min
Director: Matthew Pannozzo
Directors of Photography: Max Vlassenko
Editor: Spencer Hahn
Sound: Jennifer StorrarAn elementary school boy is pressured by his best friend to damage their teacher’s car.
Breaking Limits
9 min
Director: Jillian Dobson
Directors of Photography: Marta Portales
Editor: Matt Pancer
Sound: Matt PaivaSacrifice, effort and hopes are all there when training for performing gymnastics.
My Brother Michael
8.42 min
Director: Gabrielle Bleyendaal
Directors of Photography: Nikita Mor
Editor: Erin Buelow
Sound: Sarah PidgeonAn intimate look into the life of Michael, soon to be 17 and struggling with a drug addiction he developed at the age of 10.

Nominees II – Internally juried 1st & 2nd year productions

Bathroom Bathroom
3:50 min
Directors/Producers/Editors: Victor Ostrovsky, Ros MacDonald
Writer: Ros MacDonald
Directors of Photography: Ros MacDonald
Sound: Victor OstrovskyDreamy abstraction of a bathroom from an innocent, yet sinister point of view.
The Forbidden Room The Forbidden Room
9:59 min
Director/Writer: Kristina Mileska
Producer: Andy Kloske, Kristina Mileska
Director of Photography: Andy Kloske
Editor: Mathew Murray
Sound: Josh DevenyiWilliam is a curious boy with hemophilia.
Generations Generations
6:45 min
Directors/Producers/Editors: Mathew Murray, Kristina Mileska, Jenn Lund
Directors of Photography: Mathew Murray, Kristina Mileska
Sound: Jenn LundA short documentary told through a series of interviews featuring people of The Silent Generation (born 1920s -1940s), who pass down their stories and wisdom regarding youth, morality, family, death and our ever-changing world.
Noise: BOMB Noise: BOMB
3:32 min
Director/Producer/Writer/Editor: Peter Howie
Directors of Photography: Peter Howie, Christian Harrison
Sound: Eric Swiatoschik
A man who is plagued by night terrors is put through emotional and terrifying paces that never seem to feel routine.
The Last Chapter The Last Chapter
13:25 min
Director/Producer/Writer: Esery Mondesir
Director of Photography: Esery Mondesir
Editors: Esery Mondesir, Layan Mahshi
Sound: Esery Mondesir, Jessica TatWe lose a little bit of ourselves when a bookstore closes, but is the last chapter of the Toronto Women’s Bookstore also the last breath of feminism in the city?
Persolus Persolus
3:45 min
Director: Alanna Smith
Producers: Madeleine Patton, Alanna Smith
Writer: Madeleine Patton
Director of Photography: Alanna Smith
Editors: Madeleine Patton, Alanna Smith
Sound: Alanna SmithIn an allegory of social anxiety disorder, the last person on earth reflects on the time before the apocalypse.
The Redo The Redo
4:15 min
Directors/Producers: Cristina DiGiulio, Adrian Cheung
Writer: Cristina DiGiulio
Director of Photography: Adrian Cheung
Editor/Sound: Cristina DiGiulioSometimes once isn’t enough.
Sit Boy Sit Sit Boy Sit
10:45 min
Directors: Julian Papas, Jesse Wyatt
Writer: Akash Bansal
Director of Photography: Ryan McIntyre
Editor: Julian Papas
Sound: Imaad BhattyA seemingly ordinary day takes an unexpected turn for two high school friends.

Award Winners

Outstanding First-Year Film Asanam Karoti
5.14 min
Directors: Rodrigo Michelangeli & Alec Bell
Outstanding Second-Year Film Break
8.55 min
Director: Matthew Pannozzo
Directors of Photography: Max Vlassenko
Editor: Spencer Hahn
Sound: Jennifer Storrar
Best Fiction Film Erasermen
15 min.
Director/Writer: Jeff Garneau
Producers: Danny Di Giovine and Jeff Garneau
Director of Photography: Marco Torralba
Editor: Joel Varickanickal
Sound: Nik Benn
Best Documentary Film Guerilla
15:50 min.
Director/ Writer/ Producer/ Director of Photography: Saeid Zargar (Arya)
Editor: Yasaman Gerami
Sound: Saeid Zargar and Sadiar A. Babak Z.
Best Alternative Film Home
13 min.
Director/ Producer/ Director of Photography/ Editor/ Sound: Matthew Kennedy
Writer: Matthew Kennedy and Zhao Chun Yan
Best Cinematography – Kodak Award  Andrea Cuda for Shadowboxing
13 min.
Director/Writer: Eric McIntyre
Producer: Jenna Elzein
Director of Photography: Andrea Cuda
Editor: Miguel Castillo
Sound: James Young
Best Screenplay Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan for Free Parking
9:08 min.
Director: Adrian Murray
Writers: Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan
Producer/Production Manager: Matthew Shoalts
Director of Photography: Thaddeus Eng
Editor: Aaron Keogh
Sound: Tanner Zurkoski
Best Sound James Young for Shadowboxing
13 min.
Director/Writer: Eric McIntyre
Producer: Jenna Elzein
Director of Photography: Andrea Cuda
Editor: Miguel Castillo
Sound: James Young
Best Editing Christina Wang for Loss Together
12 min.
Director: Earl Oliveros
Writers: Rodrigo Herrera and Earl Oliveros
Producers: Earl Oliveros and Lester Millado
Director of Photography: Lester Millado
Editor: Christine Wang
Sound: Andrew Bundas