Faces Places (Visages Villages)
JR, Agnès Varda
France
89 minutes
In French with English subtitles

Presented by the Wooly Pub

Synopsis

Agnès Varda and JR have things in common: a passion for and the exploration of images in general, and more precisely, for places and for ways of showing, sharing, and exhibiting them. Agnès chose cinema. JR chose to create open air photography galleries. When Agnès and JR met in 2015, they immediately wanted to work together, to shoot a film in France, far from cities, during a trip in JR's photographic (and magical) truck. Through chance encounters and prepared projects, they reached out to others, listening to them, photographing them, and sometimes putting them on posters. This film also tells the story of Agnès and JR's friendship, which grew stronger throughout the film shoot, between surprises and teasing, and while laughing about their differences.

About the Directors

Agnès Vardais a Belgian-born film director who has spent most of her working life in France. Her films, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary with a distinct experimental style.

JRis a muralist who creates "Pervasive Art" that spreads uninvited on the buildings of the slums around Paris, on the walls in the Middle-East, on the broken bridges in Africa or the favelas in Brazil. People who often live with the bare minimum discover something absolutely unnecessary. And they don't just see it, they make it. Some elderly women become models for a day; some kids turn artists for a week. In that Art scene, there is no stage to separate the actors from the spectators.

As he remains anonymous and doesn’t explain his huge full-frame portraits of people making faces, JR leaves the space empty for an encounter between the subject/protagonist and the passer-by/interpreter. That is what JR's work is about, raising questions...

Post Film Discussions:

Local artist Gregory Denton will lead a post-film discussion.

Let There Be Light
Mila Aung-Thwin & Van Royko
Canada
80 minutes

A Hot Docs Showcase Presentation

 Synopsis

In the south of France, scientists from 37 countries are building the most complex machine ever attempted: an artificial sun. If they get it right, it will illuminate the way to produce clean, cheap, abundant energy for millions of years. If they fail, it will be one of the biggest scientific failures of all time.

Nuclear fusion has been the holy grail of energy for many decades now. It’s the process that drives stars, the ultimate source of energy in the universe. The possibility that fusion might be achievable on Earth as an energy source has driven scientists to the edge of reason for almost a century.

About the Directors

A two-time Emmy winner, Mila Aung-Thwinwas named on Playback magazine’s “Next 25” list as an emerging producer/director. He is co-founder and co-owner of EyeSteelFilm, a documentary film and interactive media company that is dedicated to bringing social and political change through cinematic expression.

Van Royko, MA, CSC, is a filmmaker and director of photography from Montreal, Quebec.He is best known for his award-winning cinematography for the feature documentaries Monsoon and Koneline.Over the course of his career, Royko has collaborated with world-renown directors and producers Yung Chang, Mila Aung-Thwin, Nettie Wild, Sturla Gunnarsson and Denys Arcand.

Fixed!
Cat Mills
Canada
13 minutes

Synopsis

FIXED! is a short documentary about the Repair Cafe in Toronto, Ontario. The Repair Cafe is an international movement where volunteers gather together once a month and fix broken items from members of the community...for free. In this 14 minute documentary, we meet people who have come to the Repair Cafe in Toronto to get their beloved broken items fixed: Ishi and her blender, Rodney and his CD player, Nancy and her family bible, Smith and his singing robotic turtle, and ShirleyAnne and her vibrating hairbrush. They get paired with our expert volunteer Fixers: Paul, Tim, Andy, Ed and Louis. Together these perfect strangers will try to resurrect their broken items. Will they succeed or will these five items be tossed into the landfill?

Globally, we throw out 50 tons of household waste every second. Much of that waste is not garbage but items that can be given a second life through repair. FIXED! challenges our throw-away culture in a lighthearted and empowering way.

About the Director

Cat Mills is an award winning documentary Director/ Producer based in Toronto, Canada. She is a fellow of the Canadian Film and Television and Producers Internship program and a fellow of the documentary Channel Doc Accelerator Program where she was selected as 1 of 8 emerging filmmakers nationwide. Cat is current in post-production on her short film, FIXED!, about the Repair Cafe in Toronto. The film won the 2016 Hot Docs Short Film Pitch competition.

Unarmed Verses
Charles Officer
National Film Board
Canada
86 minutes
With visiting director Charles Officer

Synopsis

This feature documentary presents a thoughtful and vivid portrait of a community facing imposed relocation. Toronto Community Housing’s Villaways neighbourhood was built in the 1970s in an isolated and marginalized part of the city. It’s been designated for redevelopment and during construction all the current residents will be relocated. The revitalization promises a fresh start, but for those who call Villaways home, the transition is a major disruption amidst their ongoing struggles. 

At the centre of the story is a remarkably astute and luminous Fancine Valenite, a 12-year-old growing up in the area. Her world revolves around her friends and family. By joining the local Arts Starts’ Up & Rooted music program she embraces the opportunity to express herself with honesty and beauty, giving voice to those rarely heard in society.

Through her words and following her daily routines, director Charles Officer has created a poetic work of cinema that transcends social observation.

About the Director

Charles Officer is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, actor, director and former professional hockey player. Charles was the recipient of the Ontario Premier’s Emerging Artist Award and his first feature documentary Mighty Jerome: The Greatest Comeback inTrack & Field History won four Leo Awards and nominated for an Emmy Award in 2012. His most recent film Unarmed Verses was named Best Canadian Feature at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Post Film Discussion:

Director Charles Officer will be in attendance to lead a post-film discussion.

National Film Board
Canada
101 minutes
presented by CFRU

Synopsis

A musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. The Road Forward’s stunningly shot musical sequences, performed by an ensemble of some of Canada’s finest vocalists and musicians, seamlessly connect past and present with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats. A rousing tribute to the fighters for First Nations rights, a soul-resounding historical experience, and a visceral call to action.

About the Director

Marie Clements is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. Marie was founding artistic director of urban ink productions, and is currently co-artistic director of red diva projects, and director of her new film company Working Pajama Lab Entertainment. Clements lives on Galiano Island British Columbia Canada. As a writer Marie has worked in a variety of mediums including theatre, performance, film, multi-media, radio, and television.

Post Film Discussion:

Carol Tylerwill lead a post-film discussion. CarolTyler is a respected elder in our community, weaving a network for people who identify as First Nations, Metis, Mixed Ancestry, Inuit as well as allies, to share, learn and grow together!

Unrest
Jennifer Brea
USA
97 minutes
In English and Danish with English Subtitles

A Hot Docs Showcase Presentation

Synopsis

Jennifer Brea is an active Harvard PhD student about to marry the love of her life when suddenly her body starts failing her. Hoping to shed light on her strange symptoms, Jennifer grabs a camera and films the darkest moments unfolding before her eyes as she is derailed by M.E. (commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), a mysterious illness some still believe is “all in your head.”

In this story of love and loss, newlyweds Jennifer and Omar search for answers as they face unexpected obstacles with great heart. Often confined by her illness to the private space of her bed, Jen is moved to connect with others around the globe. Utilizing Skype and social media, she unlocks a forgotten community with intimate portraits of four other families suffering similarly.  Jennifer Brea’s wonderfully honest portrayal asks us to rethink the stigma around an illness that affects millions of people. Unrest is a vulnerable and eloquent personal documentary that is sure to hit closer to home than many could imagine.

About the Director

Jennifer Breais an American documentary filmmaker and activist. Her debut feature, Unrest, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and received the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award For Editing.

Post Film Discussions:

Dr. Michelle Cali, BSc, ND, of the Guelph Naturopathic Healthcare Clinic will be leading a discussion after the film.

Trailer

Bugs: A Gastronomic Adventure with Nordic Food Lab
Andreas Johnsen
Denmark
73 minutes

Synopsis

Insects as food is a hot topic. Particularly over the last few years, since the UN recommended edible insects as a resource to combat world hunger, they have been heralded for their taste by cooks and gastronomes, for their low ecological impact by environmentalists and for their nutritional content by public health scientists. It would seem that insects are the new superfood that will fix all our problems of global food security.

For the past three years a team from Copenhagen-based Nordic Food Lab, made up of chefs and researchers Josh Evans, Ben Reade and Roberto Flore, has been travelling the world to learn what some of the two billion people who already eat insects have to say. In BUGS, film director Andreas Johnsen follows them as they forage, farm, cook and taste insects with communities in Europe, Australia, Mexico, Kenya, Japan and beyond. During their journey they encounter everything from revered termite queens and desert-delicacy honey ants to venomous giant hornets and long-horned grasshoppers trapped using powerful floodlights, that sometimes cause their catchers temporary blindness.

Throughout the team’s experiences and conversations in the field, at the lab, at farm visits and international conferences, some hard questions start to emerge. If industrially produced insects become the norm, will they be as delicious and as beneficial as the ones in diverse, resilient ecosystems and cuisines around the world? And who will actually benefit as insects are scaled up? Are insects a mirror that reflects our broken food systems, or the silver bullet that will fix them?

About the Director

Andreas Johnsen(born 1974) is a Danish documentary director, producer, cinematographer. He is best known for the film Ai Weiwei The Fake Case(2013), about the Chinese artist and activist's life and battle against charges placed against him by the Chinese government. Johnsen's films often look at social issues in many different parts of the world, including Kidd Life (da)(2012), about the Danish rapper and YouTube star Nicholas Westwood Kidd, and Man Ooman(2008), which looks at sex and gender relations in Jamaica through dancehall culture. In 2014, the Danish Film Critics Association granted him the Bodil Award for Best Documentary.

Our People Will Be Healed
Alanis Obomsawin
Canada
84 minutes

Synopsis

Legendary documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin provides a glimpse of what action-driven decolonization looks like in Norway House, one of Manitoba's largest First Nations communities.

The film explores the Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre, an N-12 Frontier School Division school in Norway House, Manitoba where Cree students are taught about their own history and culture alongside the regular Manitoba school curriculum.

Obomsawin previously filmed at the school during the production of We Can't Make the Same Mistake Twice to document the story of Jordan River Anderson, a Cree child whose death became the basis of Jordan's Principle, a federal government commitment to funding services for Indigenous children. Impressed by the school's success in helping to develop strong, healthy children, she decided to tell its story in a standalone film. The title, Our People Will Be Healed is a quote from someone interviewed in the film, and Obomsawin has said she sees a new optimism for Canadian Indigenous people.

About the Director

Alanis Obomsawin, OC GOQ is an American Canadian Abenaki filmmaker. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues.

Post Film Discussions:

Jan Shermanwill lead a post-film discussion. Jan is an Anishnabe mother, culture keeper, storyteller, drummer, and spiritual guide has spent the last 25 years of her life helping people remember ancestral earth teachings in relation to our personal spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical journeys on Mother Earth. Jan has gathered knowledge and wisdom from Grandmothers and Aunties from around the world which she shares to support individual inner peace that she believes will become community and global peace.

Ramen Heads
Koki Shingeno
Japan
93 minutes
Japanese with English subtitles
Co-presented with Crafty Ramen

 A Hot Docs Showcase Presentation

Synopsis

In 'Ramen Heads,' Osamu Tomita, Japan's reigning king of ramen, takes us deep into his world, revealing every single step of his obsessive approach to creating the perfect soup and noodles, and his relentless search for the highest-quality ingredients. In addition to Tomita's story, the film also profiles five other notable ramen shops, each with its own philosophy and flavour, which exemplify various different aspects the ramen world. Mixing in a brief rundown of ramen's historical roots, the film gives viewers an in-depth look at the culture surrounding this unique and beguiling dish. This is a documentary record of 15 months in the lives of Japan's top ramen masters and their legions of devoted fans.

Post Film Discussions:

The co-owner of Crafty Ramen, Jared Ferrall, will lead a post-film discussion at the Nov. 13th screening.

Birth of a Family
Tasha Hubbard
Canada
84 minutes

With support from the London House Bed and Breakfast

Synopsis

Three sisters and a brother, adopted as infants into separate families across North America, meet together for the first time in this deeply moving documentary. Removed from their young Dene mother’s care as part of Canada’s infamous Sixties Scoop, Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie and Ben were four of the 20,000 Indigenous children taken from their families between 1955 and 1985, to be either adopted into white families or to live in foster care. As the four siblings piece together their shared history, their connection deepens, bringing laughter with it, and their family begins to take shape.

About the Director

Tasha Hubbardis a First Nations/Métis filmmaker and educator living in Saskatoon, whose credits include two National Film Board of Canada documentaries exploring Indigenous rights in Canada: Two Worlds Colliding, a Canada Award-winning short film about the Saskatoon freezing deaths,and most recently the 2017 feature-length documentary Birth of a Family, about four siblings separated during Canada's Sixties Scoop.

Post Film Discussion:

Visiting director Tasha Hubbard will lead a post-film Q&A.

Accidental Anarchist
John Archer, Clara Glynn
UK | Iraq | Spain | Syria | USA
84 minutes

Presented by OPIRG Guelph

Synopsis

Carne Ross was a government highflyer. A career diplomat who believed Western Democracy could save us all. But working inside the system he came to see its failures, deceits and ulterior motives. He felt at first hand the corruption of power. After the Iraq war Carne became disillusioned, quit his job and started searching for answers. This film traces his journey across the globe as he tries to find an answer to the question so many people today are asking themselves - isn't there a better way? For Carne there is. Anarchism offers a solution to the brutalities of Capitalism and the dishonesties of Democracy. It offers a world where people have control over their own lives. From the protesters of Occupy Wall Street, to an anarchist collective in Spain, to Noam Chomsky, the grand old man of anarchism himself, Carne finds people who are putting the theory into practice.

About the Director

John Archeris the producer of the fifteen hour long Peabody Award winning The Story of Film: An Odysseywhich premiered at TIFF, selling to 35 territories. He has produced over 600 hours of UK network television, including The Director’s Place and has two BAFTA awards. He has directed films for the BBC and Channel 4. As founding Chief Executive of Scottish Screen he backed My Name is Joe, Morven Callar, Sweet Sixteenand The Magdalene Sisters. In 2015 he produced two new feature documentaries which premiered at international festivals: Mark Cousins’ I Am Belfastand Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise.

Clara Glynnis an award winning writer and director who works in drama and documentary.  Her documentaries include I Met Adolf Eichmannand Iran Hostage Crisisfor the BBC and Hidden Jews of Berlinfor Channel 4. As well as television drama she has written theatre plays, radio drama and an opera libretto.

Post Film Discussions:

The film's researcher, Liam Barrington-Bush, will be taking audience questions after the screening. Liam is an activist, researcher and author, who has worked extensively with Carne Ross on multiple projects since 2012. He has taken part in and documented autonomous grassroots social movements in Canada, the UK and Mexico and wrote a book on self-organizing within hierarchical non-governmental organizations, called Anarchists in the Boardroom.” To find out more about Liam, please visit: http://www.accidentalanarchist.net/liam-barrington-bush/

The Grown-Ups
Maite Alberdi
Chili/Netherlands/France
82 minutes
Spanish w/ English subtitles

Synopsis

In a school for individuals with Down Syndrome, four middle-aged friends yearn for a life of greater autonomy in a society that marginalizes them as disabled. They always believed that they would be able to do everything they weren't allowed before, like living on their own, driving, hanging out, having sex, being parents, getting married, and having a real job. But things are not changing for them, they have Down Syndrome and they have to deal with the frustration of living as if they were still ten years old, when they are almost fifty. The Grown-Ups is a humorous and at times sad and uncomfortable look at the tragic limbo of conscious adults

About the Director

Maite Alberdiis a Chilean film director, documentarian, and writer. Her nominations include the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film, and the European Film Award for Best Short Film.

In Pursuit of Silence
Patrick Shen
USA
81 minutes

Synopsis

In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound and the impact of noise on our lives. Beginning with an ode to John Cage’s ground-breaking composition 4’33”, In Pursuit of Silence takes us on an immersive cinematic journey around the globe– from a traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, to the streets of the loudest city on the planet, Mumbai during the wild festival season – and inspires us to experience silence and celebrate the wonders of our world.

About the Director

Patrick Shen is a filmmaker and the founder of Transcendental Media. Patrick’s work, which includes the award-winning films Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality, The Philosopher Kings, and La Source, has screened at over 120 film festivals across the globe, broadcast in over 25 territories, received 20 awards and 10 nominations, and has been featured on CNN, Huffington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, and the Washington Post.

Post Film Discussions:

Ben Grossman will lead the post-film discussion. Grossman is the founder of the SILENCE performance space in Guelph and is a busy musician: improviser, studio musician, composer, noisemaker and audio provocateur. He works in many fields, having played on over 80 CDs, soundtracks for film and television, sound design for theatre, installations, work designed for radio transmission, and live performances spanning early medieval music to experimental electronica. Ben's tools of choice are electronics, percussion, and, especially, the hurdy gurdy (vielle à roue), a contemporary electro-acoustic string instrument with roots in the European middle ages. Through extended techniques, live-looping and processing, Ben seeks to use it as a physical interface into improvised sound creation, spontaneous composition and the exploration of acoustics, form and extended aesthetics.

Julian and his pet pigeon are fixtures in downtown Guelph. This film brings to light an earlier chapter of his life, when he was living in an old warehouse in Belgium (for twelve years) building harpsichords. Facing eviction from his live-in workshop, he is confronted with the fact that he has neglected himself as a human being and he is suddenly aware of pressing questions about his future and his purpose in life.

Director Julia Furer

Julia Furer grew up in the region of Bern, Switzerland. After working as a photographer and several internships in film, she gratuated 2011 at the F+F, School of Art and Mediadesign, in Zurich. In the following summer she started her studies at the school of Art and Design, Bachelor of Arts in Film with focus in documentary film. In 2015 she successfully graduated with her diploma film „Julian“, which also won the advacement price oft the „zeugindesign foundation“. Since then she is working as a freelancer filmmaker.

Jeff Malmberg & Chris Shelle
USA
Running time: 89 minutes
Italian w/ English subtitles

Synopsis

"Once upon a time, a tiny town in Tuscany turned its life into a play..."

Several decades ago, a tiny town perched on a hill in Tuscany came up with a unique solution to the problems they were facing. They got together and worked on turning their lives into a play, allowing them to creatively and openly talk about issues and create resolutions. The singular experiment soon became a tradition that continues to this day. Every year, for the past 50 years, their piazza becomes their stage and villagers from 6 to 90 play a part - the role of themselves. This process has brought to light various struggles and challenges they face, both as individuals and as a collective community. In this village theatre isn’t just art, it’s a way of life.

David Rane & Neasa Ní Chianáin
Ireland
99 minutes

Synopsis

A heartfelt and funny film in which two inspiring teachers working at the only boarding school in Ireland for children ages 7 to 12 are followed for a year. Long careers are drawing to a close for John and Amanda, who teach with the mantra: "Reading. 'Rithmetic. Rock 'n' roll!" But leaving is the hardest lesson. A keen-eyed documentary that celebrates contemporary, constructive methods of elementary education.

About the Directors

Neasa Ní Chianáin is an Irish documentary filmmaker. Ní Chianáin studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She worked as freelance art director on several Irish feature film and television projects, such as All Soul’s Day, Angela’s Ashes and A Love Divided, and also on the BBC TV series Rebel Heart.

Her first documentary was No Man’s Land (2001), about the asylum process in Ireland. In Loco Parentis/School Life premiered at IDFA 2016, and was thereafter invited to Sundance Film Festival 2017, and other international film festivals, at several of which it has won awards. Fairytale of Kathmandu also premiered at IDFA 2007, and was invited to over 30 other international film festivals.

Since 2006, Neasa has been co-director of the Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival, Gortahork, County Donegal.

David Rane is a BAFTA-winning producer and director, who over the last 20 years has produced many award-winning documentary films for national and international broadcasters, a number of animated films, and a number of short fiction films.

Post Film Discussions:

Two well known local elementary school teachers, Monique Cadieux and Aaron Senitt, will lead a discussion after the film.

Bluefin
John Hopkins
Canada
53 minutes

Synopsis

In the stunning documentary Bluefin, director John Hopkins crafts a tale of epic stakes set in the “tuna capital of the world.” Filmed in North Lake, Prince Edward Island, Canada, the film explores the baffling mystery of why the normally wary bluefin tuna no longer fear humans. Hopkins documents this phenomenon with breathtaking cinematography and brings the issues into sharp focus, at the heart of which lies a passionate concern for the fate of these giant fish.

About the Director

John Hopkins is a doc and TV producer, writer, and director. He has won numerous awards for his work. His film Bluefin recently won the Wildlife Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Best Atlantic Filmmakers at Lunenburg DocFest, an Official Selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Social Justice Competition, and Nominated for a Yorkton Golden Sheaf in the Nature and Science category. It features best selling author Carl Safina, famed National Geographic underwater Brian Skerry, leading ocean ecologist Boris Worm, and some seasoned tuna fishermen not afraid to speak their mind.

Post Film Discussions:

Jen Whyte of Taste of Craft will be leading a post-film discussion.

“This is an important story about greed and shortsightedness that are driving one of the ocean’s most magnificent animals to extinction.  But bluefin tuna have surprised us in Canada, offering us a chance to save this charismatic creature if we care enough.”   – David Suzuki

Winner! 2017 San Francisco International Ocean Festival Wildlife Award. Winner! Lunenberg DocFest Best Atlantic Filmmaker Award – John Hopkins, Bluefin

Accompanied by the short Film:

Invading Giants
Kevin A. Fraser
Canada
13 minutes

Synopsis

A documentary about icebergs and the people who love them.

Every year residents of Newfoundland and Labrador look to the north with baited breath hoping the Atlantic Ocean will deliver to them a parade of ancient icebergs. Each one formed over 10,000 years ago and traveled thousands of kilometers before finally drifting into “Iceberg Alley” where they become accessible to a cast of characters who’s livelihood depends on them.

Brimstone and Glory
Viktor Jakovleski
USA I Mexico – 67 MIN
Spanish w/ English subtitles

Synopsis

Tultepec is what you might call an “explosive” Mexican city—over two-thirds of its residents manufacture fireworks. Each year, the town’s inhabitants cautiously begin the dangerous work of crafting handmade fireworks for the annual National Pyrotechnic Festival that attracts thousands of spectators. Neighbourhoods contribute by constructing house-sized papier mâché bulls that when set ablaze are wheeled wildly through the crowds. With droves of ambulances and paramedics standing by, people come from all over, believing that dancing and revelling treacherously close to the flaming bulls and fireworks will bless them and their communities for the year to come. Director Viktor Jakovleski uses GoPros and a flying drone that soar high above, abstracting and widening the vista of the festival and taking viewers on a magical cinematic journey through the sparks and flames that ignite the night skies.

About the Director

Viktor Jakovleski, born in West Berlin in 1983, attended the German Film and Television Academy, spent time as a Hollywood personal assistant and driver, and worked with Benh Zeitlin as a co-producer and assistant director on the short film GLORY AT SEA (2008). He is a producer of LENALOVE, which opened in 2016. His documentary feature BRIMSTONE & GLORY (2017) was produced with the Court 13 collective

The Band

Lemon Bucket Orkestra

Lemon Bucket Orkestra is an underground favourite; once you hear them, you’ll be a fan for life. This Toronto-based band fuses traditional Serbian, Ukrainian and Turkish folk sounds with a modern musical flare. You’ll be guaranteed to be up dancing.