CineSiege 2006

CineSiege 2006 is a juried showcase screening of outstanding productions of 2005-2006 by talented young filmmakers in York University’s Department of Film.

The program will feature a selection of short films — riveting dramas, cutting-edge experimental works and provocative documentaries — chosen by five external jurors.

The CineSiege picks were selected from a shortlist of 23 productions nominated from the overall pool of 172 films made at York last year.

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

Jurors:
Salah Bachir, President, Cineplex Media
Brian D. Johnson, film critic, Maclean’s
Midi Onodera, filmmaker
Gail Singer, filmmaker
Clement Virgo, filmmaker

CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of

Jury

	Salah Bachir is president of Cineplex Media, a division of Cineplex Entertainment LP. He oversees sales and production of on-screen and in-theatre advertising at Cineplex Odeon, Famous Players and Galaxy Cinemas and other represented chains, and is publisher of the in-theatre magazines Famous, Famous Québec and Famous Kids. Bachir served for nine years on the board of directors of the Canadian Film Centre. Currently, he is vice-Chair of the board of the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, Chair of the 519 Church St. Community Centre capital campaign, and a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s capital campaign committee. He is an avid art collector and patron, with a particular interest in contemporary art.
	Brian D. Johnson has been the entertainment writer and film critic for Maclean’s, Canada’s weekly newsmagazine, for twenty years. Previous journalistic credits include the Montreal Gazette and The Globe and Mail. The recipient of three National Magazine Awards, he has written feature stories for many other publications including Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, Flare and Rolling Stone. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, and co-hosted CBC Newsworld’s On the Arts for three seasons. Johnson covered the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as a journalist for two decades, and in 2002 he published a history of the festival, titled Brave Films, Wild Nights: 25 Years of Festival Fever. He made his professional directorial debut with the short film Tell Me Everything, which premiered at TIFF this year. In addition to his work as a film writer, Johnson is a novelist, poet and musician. He toured and recorded in Canada and the US as percussionist with a series of rock and reggae bands, and has composed and recorded soundtracks for two feature-length documentary films.
	Midi Onodera is an award-winning Toronto-based filmmaker who has been directing, producing and writing films for over twenty years. Her credits include more than 25 independent short films as well as a theatrical feature, Skin Deep. Her productions The Basement Girl, Slightseer and Nobody Knows involve a collage of formats and media ranging from 16mm film and Hi8 video to digital video and digital toy formats such as a modified Nintendo Game Boy Camera and the Intel Mattel computer microscope. She recently completed a feature-length video titled I Have no Memory of my Direction. Her current project is amovieaday, the creation and online publication of an original video miniature each day for 365 days. Onodera’s works have been screened to critical acclaim in numerous venues internationally, including the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the International Festival of Documentary and Short Films in Bilbao, Spain, and the international film festivals of Rotterdam, Berlin and Toronto.
	Gail Singer is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter whose works have been presented worldwide at festivals, in theatres and on television. Her credits include dozens of films on a wide range of topics and in various genres, including feature-length fiction and documentary, television and IMAX productions. Among her productions are the films Watching Movies, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Lady and Wisecracks, and sequences in the IMAX films Blue Planet and Destiny in Space. Singer has directed films in the UK, South America, Japan, Russia, Thailand, South Africa, Nepal and Israel as well as Toronto, where she taught at York University for nine years. She also writes on popular culture for magazines and newspapers. She recently participated in a collaborative installation at Harbourfront Centre and is currently developing a multicultural kitchen museum for the City of Toronto.
	Film director, writer and producer Clement Virgo was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Canada at the age of 12. His first feature film, Rude, received its world premiere as an official selection of the 1995 Cannes International Film Festival, and went on to play at other major festivals worldwide, including Toronto, Sundance, Chicago, Jerusalem, Munich and Valladolid. Virgo’s second feature, Love Come Down, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2000, followed by screenings at the Berlinale and festivals in Tokyo, Singapore, Jeonju, Melbourne and Chicago. It took won top prize at a number of Black film festivals including New York City’s Urbanworld Fest, Acapulco, Jamerican and British Black Filmmakers Festivals. Lie With Me, his third feature, premiered at TIFF in 2005 and has been seen at the international film festivals of Pusan, Korea; Berlin; and Sydney. Virgo has also received acclaim for his work in short film and television. His short film, Save My Lost Nigga’ Soul (1993), won best film at the Toronto, Fespaco and Chicago festivals. More recently, he has directed a number of episodes for HBO & Showtime TV, including the one-hour dramas The Wire, Soul Food and The L Word.

 

Nominees

	We’re on our Way 10 min. Director / Writer : Lindsay MacKay Director of Photography : Chuck Taylor Production Designer : Amanda McCavour Editor : Dusty Mancinelli Sound Editor : Rachelle Audet Composer : Mathieu MartelA film about three kids, a tape recorder and a plan to get their bus driver fired.
	So You Want to Go to Film School 6.5 min. Director : Kiran Singh Director of Photography : Frances Lai Sound Design : Dylan Hayward Editor : Ron SlyA short educational documentary for anybody needing information before applying to film school.
	So What? (mini DV, Super 8, 16mm) 9 min. Director : Maya Bankovic Editor : Nadia TanAn attempt at understanding the things we want, the things we need, and the thin line between them.
	Secrets 15 min. Director / Editor : Nadia Tan Directors of Photography : Maya Bankovic, Lindsay Mackay, Dusty Mancinelli, Mathieu Martel, Jared Raab, Nadia Tan, Chuck Taylor, Grant WoodA collection of anonymous audio recordings of real secrets illustrated through both concrete and abstract images.
	Search 15 min. Director / Editor : Chris Wiseman Director of Photography : Josh Warburton Assistant Editor : Cathryn MallinsonA philosophical, high-energy burn from Toronto to the head offices of Google in California, this film takes a look at the questions that drive us.
	Quebec, Quebec 14 min. Director : Gabrielle Nadeau Production Manager : Meng Wong Director of Photography : Roland Echavarria Camera Assistant : Grant Wood Editor : Lindsay Petric Sound Recording / Editing : Sean MasseyOn the day of the 1995 referendum, Jonathan wakes up in his home in rural Quebec to find that he can no longer speak French – only English.
	Power Cheerleading 11 min. Director / Producer : Chris Sanchez Editors : James David Findlay, Lola Davidson Directors of Photography : Jesse Blight, Maya Bankovic Camera : Shannon Hanmer, Cathryn Mallinson, Jeffrey Zablotny Composer : Robert Kingsbury Sound Editor : Stephen BroomerWe’re here. We cheer. Get used to it.
	Plume 12 min. Director : Chelsea McMullan Producer/Production Manager : Jaspreet Sandhu Director of Photography : Matt Lloyd Editors : Kathryn Mallinson, Chelsea McMullan 1st Assistant Director : Raha EsfahaniTwo boys pick pockets to make enough money to have their first sexual encounter in a brothel.
	Park of Lonely Benches 11 min. Director / Writer / Producer : Mikhail Petrenko Director of Photography : Mehran Jabbari Sound : Amar Wala Editors : Mehran Jabbari, Amar Wala Music : Fariborz LachiniThey are destined to live on opposite sides.
	My Matsura 6 min. Director : Lesley ChanFrank Matsura photographed a time of transition in 1903 Concully. His arrivals are uncertain.
	My Grandfather’s Voice 11 min. Director : S. Brent Martin Director of Photography : Joyce Wong Editor : Lindsay Petric Sound Design & Mix : Sean Massey Sound Recording : Karis MalszeckiA grandson unearths audio chronicles of a Canadian radio pioneer and searches for meaning 21 years after his death.
	Mandrake 14 min. Director / Writer / Composer : Farhad Farazmand Producers : Farhad Farazmand, Lola Davidson Director of Photography : Pavel Patriki Editor : Kosta Konstantakiswww.mandrakefilm.com A true story… based on a dream. Sameer is a political refugee, but his only refuge is his dreams. While working illegally to send money back home, he learns that reality is a fine line between his dreams and nightmares.
	Jew-Boy 10 min. Director : Jared Raab Director of Photography : Jesse Blight Editor : Chris Wiseman“The most religious I have ever felt was the time that I snuck out of synagogue to get high with a couple of friends. After that, I just kind of forgot about Judaism entirely… until Sarah.” – How un-kosher can you get and still be a Jew?
	Home Matters 10 min. Director / Producer / Director of Photography / Sound Mix : Jaspreet Sandhu Editor : Rachelle Audet Sound Recording : Lesley Chan Sound Mix : Karis Malszecki Composer : Kamaldeep Suri, Sean Penny Additional Camera : A.J. MatiasThis film uses a variety of lyrical and rhythmical techniques to explore the deeply disabling effects of domestic violence on children.
	The Great Fear 19 min. Director : Jamie Cussen Producer : William Beauchamp Director of Photography : Russell Bell Editor : Chris Murphy Sound Recording & Mix : Sean MasseySet in the time between the two world wars, this is a story about a mother and son trying to survive a harsh winter on the family farm. Their delicate existence is challenged by the arrival of a drifter whose presence disrupts the normal flow of life.
	Fly Away 20 min. Director : Will Beauchamp Director of Photography : Russell Bell Editor : Chris Murphy Sound : Sean MasseyA father who is diagnosed with cancer conceals his illness from his young son by pretending that his inevitable progression towards death is actually his transformation into a magical superhero.
	Deflowering Bollywood 9 min. Director : Shetu Modi Director of Photography : Joyce Wong Sound Recording : Kitty Wong, John Ibbitson Editor : Avril JacobsonSecond-generation Indo-Canadians express their love and affection for Bollywood through interviews and dance, but are also dismayed by the ways in which the West has influenced this cinema’s supposed purity and innocence.
	Compost Mon Amour 10 min. Director / Writer : Lesley Chan Director of Photography : Jared Raab Editor : David Frankovich Sound : Darby MacInnis”This is Louanne Chan.”
	The Battery-Powered Duckling 17 min. Director / Writer / Co-Producer : Igor Drljaca Producer : Lola Davidson Director of Photography / Composer : Roland Echavarria Editor : Albert ShinWill’s inability to deal with the loss of his brother disconnects him from the world around him.
	Banana Bruises 14 min. Director : Joyce Wong Director of Photography : Chuck Taylor Editor : Darby MacInnis Production Design : Lesley Chan Sound Design : Emiliano Paternostro 1st Assistant Director : Ryan KnightBanana (b…-n_n”…) n. 1. An elongated edible fruit, having a thick yellowish skin and white seedless pulp inside. 2. Derogative slang used to describe Asians who are ethnic in appearance but completely assimilated into Western culture.
	All the Time in the World 14 min. Director / Writer / Editor : John McNab Producer : Sarafina DiFelice Director of Photography : D.P. Clark Camera Assistant : Mike Schwartz Sound Recording : Avril Jacobson, Darby MacInnis”It’s about looking backward instead of forward. It’s about the American invasion of Iraq. It’s about losing and finding love. It’s about board games. It’s about post-graduation atrophy. Mostly, though, it’s about time travel.”
	Act 10:45 min. Director : Matt Greyson Director of Photography : Adam Crosby Production Manager : Blair Higgs Editor : Logan Crowell Sound : Doug NaylerA documentary covering a year in the life of Acting 300.
	Accelerando Decelerando 10 min. Director : Jacques Mindreau Co-editor : Lisa Kenney Actor : Neil CavalierMoving forward in a landscape, the coherent becomes incoherent and experiences are shaped in patterns reminiscent of mysterious dreams. As described by textural sounds, images and moments of pause, the character struggles to find peace in chaos.

Jury’s Selections

	Secrets 15 min. Director / Editor : Nadia Tan Directors of Photography : Maya Bankovic, Lindsay Mackay, Dusty Mancinelli, Mathieu Martel, Jared Raab, Nadia Tan, Chuck Taylor, Grant WoodA collection of anonymous audio recordings of real secrets illustrated through both concrete and abstract images.
	My Grandfather’s Voice 11 min. Director : S. Brent Martin Director of Photography : Joyce Wong Editor : Lindsay Petric Sound Design & Mix : Sean Massey Sound Recording : Karis MalszeckiA grandson unearths audio chronicles of a Canadian radio pioneer and searches for meaning 21 years after his death.
	Compost Mon Amour 10 min. Director / Writer : Lesley Chan Director of Photography : Jared Raab Editor : David Frankovich Sound : Darby MacInnis”This is Louanne Chan.”
	The Battery-Powered Duckling 17 min. Director / Writer / Co-Producer : Igor Drljaca Producer : Lola Davidson Director of Photography / Composer : Roland Echavarria Editor : Albert ShinWill’s inability to deal with the loss of his brother disconnects him from the world around him.
	Banana Bruises 14 min. Director : Joyce Wong Director of Photography : Chuck Taylor Editor : Darby MacInnis Production Design : Lesley Chan Sound Design : Emiliano Paternostro 1st Assistant Director : Ryan KnightBanana (b…-n_n”…) n. 1. An elongated edible fruit, having a thick yellowish skin and white seedless pulp inside. 2. Derogative slang used to describe Asians who are ethnic in appearance but completely assimilated into Western culture.

Award Winners

Best Alternative Film Awarded To – Lesley Chan	Compost Mon Amour 10 min. Director / Writer : Lesley Chan Director of Photography : Jared Raab Editor : David Frankovich Sound : Darby MacInnis
Best Cinematography Kodak Award for Best Cinematography Awarded To – Matthew J. Lloyd	Plume 12 min. Director : Chelsea McMullan Producer/Production Manager : Jaspreet Sandhu Director of Photography : Matt Lloyd Editors : Kathryn Mallinson, Chelsea McMullan 1st Assistant Director : Raha Esfahani
Best Documentary Film Awarded To – Nadia Tan	Secrets 15 min. Director / Editor : Nadia Tan Directors of Photography : Maya Bankovic, Lindsay Mackay, Dusty Mancinelli, Mathieu Martel, Jared Raab, Nadia Tan, Chuck Taylor, Grant Wood
Best Documentary Film Awarded To – Brent Martin	My Grandfather’s Voice 11 min. Director : S. Brent Martin Director of Photography : Joyce Wong Editor : Lindsay Petric Sound Design & Mix : Sean Massey Sound Recording : Karis Malszecki
Best Editing Awarded To – Logan Crowell	Act 10:45 min. Director : Matt Greyson Director of Photography : Adam Crosby Production Manager : Blair Higgs Editor : Logan Crowell Sound : Doug Nayler
Best Fiction Film Awarded To – Igor Drljaca	The Battery-Powered Duckling 17 min. Director / Writer / Co-Producer : Igor Drljaca Producer : Lola Davidson Director of Photography / Composer : Roland Echavarria Editor : Albert Shin
Best Fiction Film Awarded To – Joyce Wong	Banana Bruises 14 min. Director : Joyce Wong Director of Photography : Chuck Taylor Editor : Darby MacInnis Production Design : Lesley Chan Sound Design : Emiliano Paternostro 1st Assistant Director : Ryan Knight
Best Screenplay Awarded To – Farhad Farazmand	Mandrake 14 min. Director / Writer / Composer : Farhad Farazmand Producers : Farhad Farazmand, Lola Davidson Director of Photography : Pavel Patriki Editor : Kosta Konstantakis
Best Sound Awarded To – Maya Bankovic & Nadia Tan	So What? (mini DV, Super 8, 16mm) 9 min. Director : Maya Bankovic Editor : Nadia Tan