Wed. Dec 4th, 2024

20th Annual ReelHeART

July 08-14, 2024 - Live! Online!

Toronto Community Film Day – Palmerston Library

One ticket $ 3
Two tickets $ 5

TORONTO COMMUNITY FILM DAY!

Admission *PWYC or *Non-Perishable Food Donation

(*per person To ANY Film Block below (12:30PM, 2:45PM or 5:10PM))

Palmerston Library (Google Maps)
560 Palmerston Avenue
Toronto, M6G 2P7, ON

Thursday June 28 – 12:30PM-2:40PM

OPERA

“The People’s Tenor” (Scotland/UK)
Co-Directors, Mark Ubsdell and Roger Grant
Short Documentary 59:14

Scottish Opera singer, John Innes, performs on the streets for over 13 years selling his home recorded CDs. At 47, and fearing his time to ‘make it’ is running out, he desperately gambles his life savings to record his debut album with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and then launches a UK concert tour to promote it! Filmed in 3 countries over 2 years, John’s heart wrenching journey will make you both cringe and cheer, and may even make you rethink the definition of success.

“a particularly impressive film and very thought provoking experience”
~Tom Clarke, CBE, Member of Parliament and former Minister of Film
“an inspiring tale” ~ Scottish Sunday Post
“a poignant message about the TV talent show culture” ~ Edinburgh Evening News

Keywords: Independent, Culture, Art, Music Profile, Biography, Opera, Scotland, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Katherine Jenkins

“Gottfried Helnwein And The Dreaming Child” (Austria/USA)
Director, Lisa Kirk Colburn*
Feature Documentary 1:12:03

A feature documentary about a world famous artist, Gottfried Helnwein, and his work designing the costumes and sets for the never before seen opera in Tel Aviv, Israel. This new opera was written by Israel’s most famous playwright, Hanoch Levin, who passed away in 1999. Gottfried feels his work is so similar to Hanoch’s words he holds true to the story with his profoundly disturbing images, only to discover the opera’s Director has different ideas of how the story should be presented. Gottfried’s conflict with the Director creates tension for the entire creative team. After opening night, the Israeli press writes, “RUN don’t walk to see The Child’s Dream”.

Keywords: Drama, Educational, Children Live Action, Avant-garde, Dance, Human Rights, Independent, Period/Historical, Culture, Art, Spiritual, Social Issue, History, Music, Opera, Halocaust, Art Design, Children’s Rights, Hanoch Levin, Israel

One ticket $ 3
Two tickets $ 5

Thursday June 28 – 2:45-5:00PM

ACTIVISM

“From Nomad to Nobody” (Tibet/CAN)
Director, Michael Buckley
Short Documentary 14:51

Shot on location with small HD cameras in Tibet and in northern India, this film is a personal take on the plight of Tibetan nomads, who are being forcibly relocated by Chinese officials–shifted off their traditional grazing lands into concrete ghettos. Previously, when grazing yaks, these nomads were self-sufficient and lived in an entirely sustainable way. Now they are unemployed, and dependent on the Chinese government for hand-outs–and for food. In an era where sustainability is the mantra, Chinese policy makes no sense. The policy is designed to wipe out nomad culture.

Keywords: Documentary, Human Rights, Environmental, Chinese Culture, Tibetan Culture, Chinese Government, Tibetan Nomads, Social Issue, Native/Aboriginal Peoples, Asian, Third World, Buddhist

“A Wild Idea” (Ecuador)
Director, Verónica Moscoso
Short Documentary 26:06

A Wild Idea is an award-winning documentary about the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, Ecuador’s unprecedented proposal for fighting global warming. In exchange for payments from the world community, the country will leave untouched its largest oil reserves. If the proposal is accepted, it will conserve the Amazon’s biodiversity, protect the rights of indigenous people and avoid the emission of millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Keywords: Global Warming, Environment, Globalization, Sustainability, Climate change, Social Justice, Developing World, Indigenous Peoples, Amazon

LOVE

“The Magic Rabbit 2” (Japan/Norway)
Director, Tatsuhiro Kimijima
Music Video 05:00

“The Magic Rabbit 2” tells a story, with music by Ketil Bjornstad (Norway), of a girl’s desperate search for her ex-boy friend, who returned to Japan after their romantic relationship has failed.  The short movie was filmed in Tokyo, Japan in 2012.

“From The Ashes” (London, UK)
Director, Kenya Brading
Experimental Short Film 05:30

al•che•my |ˈalkəmē| transformation • divine magic “From The Ashes” is an experimental film exploring the seven stages of the alchemist’s Great Work, a spiritual journey undertaken in the pursuit of enlightenment and Philosopher’s Stone.

Keywords: Nature, Fantasy, Art, Spiritual, Philosopher’s Stone, Alchemy

“Emotions”
Director, Mark Magro*
Experimental Short Film 08:27

Memories. Fragments in Time. Lost Love. An internal war of emotions. Based on Mark Magro’s poetry book, “Rites of Passage” where nothing is black or white. Written in words and painted with film, this is the internal mechanism of the soul.

Keywords: Love, Pain, Love Lost

“Dust Bunnies” (CAN)
Director, Katarzyna Kochany*
Animated/Live Action Film 12:00

Dust Bunnies is a short romantic comedy about the reality of happily ever after. When newlyweds Adam and Eve move into their dream home, dust bunnies threaten to ruin their marriage. Love conquers all… but will it conquer dust bunnies?

Keywords: Love, Acceptance, Bunnies

“Last Supper” (Italy/USA)
Director, Leo Fiorica
Short Film 09:42

A young American guy in Italy for only two days decides to see da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. When denied entry to the museum he meets a young girl who charms him with her story of seeing the painting.

Keywords: Drama, Religious, Art, Italy, Reality, Spiritual, Asian, Asian American, Christian, Women, Student

‘Until Her Light Is Extinguished” (Thailand)
Director, Naween Noppakun
Short Film 10:50

A woman awakes from a nightmare and confesses it to her Buddha statue. She seeks the light to affirm she is not living in disgrace. But when the answer from the statue is not what she expects, She is lead into a labyrinth of darkness and struggle.

Keywords: Thailand, Rape, Buddism, Spiritual, Asian Women, Drama, Religious, Cult, Neo-noir

“What Light” (USA)
Director, Tom McIntire*
Short Film 13:56

Driven into the arms of a stranger by a beautiful vision, Sara gets a glimpse into the life of her unlikely rival.

Keywords: Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Women, Independent, Magical Realism, Supernatural, Shakespeare

ART

“Sinisis” (Spain)
Director, Carmen Lloret
Animated Film 02:00

Lloret’s fundamental aim is theoretical research and the plastic expression of movement. She has mounted over 130 individual and collective exhibitions in Chile, England, Switzerland, Mexico and Taiwan. In this film, her plastic strings strive to overtake the place of the one another.

Keywords: Independent, Art, Music, Animation, Plastic Arts, Plastic Expression of Movement

“HotStuff” (USA/ Italy)
Director, Robin Lehman*
Short Documentary 50:12

Directed by 2-time Academy Award winning Live Action short director Robin Lehman, this documentary about six of the greatest living glass artists immediately reels you into the somewhat sensuous world of hot glowing glass being worked, stretched, twisted, spun and cut. This is hot glass as you’ve never seen it.

Keywords: Documentary, Glass Blowing, Pino Signoretto, Lino Tagliapietra, Vittorio Constantini, Mark Matthews, Paul Stankard, Venetian Glass, Art, Biography, by Academy Award Short Live Action Doc Winner and Director Robin Lehman (1975 “Don’t”, 1976 “End of Game”)

One ticket $ 3
Two tickets $ 5

MUSIC & DANCE

Thursday June 28 – 5:10-8:00PM

“I’m Right Behind You” (CAN)
Director, Jeffrey P. Nesker*
Dance Related Short Film 05:30

There is no competition more terrifying than yourself.

Biography as dream. The life story of the Founder, Artistic Director and Lead Dancer of Toronto based modern dance Company, The Chimera Project, Malgorzata Nowacka, told sideways. The culture shock of moving from 1980’s Poland to present-day Canada. The constant struggle of the female in a patriarchal society. A new way to present the high impact, heavily erotic and athletic dance that has won her and her company accolades the world over.

Keywords: The Chimera Project, Malgorzata Nowacka, Contemporary Dance, Avant-garde, Choreography

Shag Nation (USA)
Director, Brittany Brothers*
Dance Related Short Documentary 18:52

‘A cold beer on a warm night with a hot date and no plans for tomorrow.’ This is the soul of the Carolina Shag. Born out of nightclubs on the beaches of North and South Carolina in the early Thirties and Forties, the Shag was danced by lifeguards, ‘stranders’, and beach bums alike on those lazy summer nights. Through the voices and moves of these Shaggers, Shag Nation delves into this quirky subculture as well as explores the preservation and future of the dance.

Keywords: Dance, Dance Crazes, Shag, Carolina Shag, Jitterbug, West Coast Swing, South Carolina, Beach Life, Music, Sub Culture

“Joe Camilleri: Australia’s Maltese Falcon” (Australia)
Music Related Feature Documentary 1:49:13
Director, Fiona Cochrane

Joe Camilleri has been rocking the pubs and clubs of Australia for more than 4 decades, as well as making close to 30 CDs and producing countless more. This is an intimate portrait of the man and his passion for music.

The documentary has multiple threads – the migrant story of Joe’s family spanning from Malta to Melbourne, a history of the Australian music scene over the last 40 years via Joe’s two main bands Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons and The Black Sorrows, and a studio insight into the making of his latest triple album which is due for release in 2012.

Keywords: Independent, Culture, Art, Music Profile, Biography, Australia

Please Note: Seating is on a 1st Come 1st Served basis.
Please RSVP the # number of Seats you want.
*Filmmaker will be in Attendance for a Q&A*

[xyz-cfm-form id=1]

Short URL 🔗
https://reelheart.org/en/jvu6