aluCine - OFF THE MENU - Latin Canadian Shorts
Spadina Theatre
24 Spadina Rd, Toronto, ON M5R 2S7, Canada
Ontario
43.6686938
-79.40525819999999
Description
aluCine continues its cherished tradition of showcasing the finest in new Latin Canadian cinema! Locally Sourced Short Films, this vibrant program highlights the creativity of Latin filmmakers in Canada, offering a dynamic platform for their powerful stories and unique perspectives. This year’s lineup features a diverse array of narratives: Broken explores the theme of homelessness, Passiflora delves into folklore, Lupe Q and the Galactic Corn Cake celebrates the cultural significance of arepas, Infinite Distances uncovers forgotten messages, Short Stories takes us on an animation journey, and A’buru introduces ancestral healing traditions. With such a wide variety of themes, this program reflects Latin America's dynamic and multifaceted spirit.
Broken
Joffre Faria Silva
2023- 7’25” Fiction
Toronto Premiere
Honorable Mention at Buenos Aires Indie Film Awards, June 2024
Best Drama Short at F3: Queen City Film Festival, Film Curation & Film Awards, Cincinnati USA August 2023
Best Drama Short at Movie Town Online Festival, USA November 2023
A homeless man searches for the life he once had.
About Joffre:
Born in Brazil, Joffre resides in Toronto, where he is a writer, director, and producer. He holds a BFA in Film Studies from Concordia University in Montreal. Joffre has written, directed, and produced films (short and feature-length) in both Portuguese and English. His movies have been shown in over one hundred film festivals, garnering over thirty awards worldwide. His focus on heartfelt, grounded, and meaningful characters is derived from his life experience and thoughtful, genuine nature. As with all of Joffre’s works, the people and their unique stories fuel his inspiration for evocative filmmaking.
Passiflora
Gabriel Souza Nunes
2023 14’ Fiction
In a modern retelling of Brazilian folklore, nervous and insecure Theo discovers love for the first time at an unbelievable, avant-garde party.
About Gabriel: Gabriel (He/They) is an award-winning gender-queer Brazilian-Canadian Writer & Director based in the so-called "Vancouver," BC. Their work is frequently inspired by Latin American folklore, Magical Realism, and queer & gender expressions, exploring themes like nostalgia, acceptance, and diasporic relationships. In 2022, their mixed-media short “I Remember Everything” won the Best Latin Canadian Short Award at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. In 2023, they were selected as one of the top directors for the Crazy8s Film Society program with the tropical magical realism short “Passiflora.” Gabriel is currently in pre-production with the dance short “CICADA,” set to go to camera in late 2024, and their proof of concept short “Creature of The Night.”
Other info: Passiflora was selected as one of the top6 films for the Crazy8s Film Society program by the DGC BC - the film was completed in only eight days and had multiple of the Vancouver drag icons in the cast (Persephone Estradiol, Genesis, S.O.B, Nimrat The Drag, The Real Human Girl, Rose Butch,
Trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/122kECyFHfkH87330oxaqWn-jBzUwhvUr/view
Lupe Q and The Galactic Corn Cake
Javier Badillo
2023 - 4’23” - Fiction
Lupe doesn’t care about her abuela’s cooking lessons; she just wants to rock with her badass punk band. But when Lupe is battling an alien monster with her band, her abuela's lessons will remind her that connecting to her Latin roots may save their lives.
Director's Bio
Javier Badillo is a Leo-nominated Venezuelan-Canadian writer, director, and producer. After a career as a musician and 2D animator, Javier found a natural fit in independent film. Since 2008, his short films have been selected and won awards at numerous festivals, including the Chicago Children’s Film Festival, Cinéfest Sudbury, Flickers' Rhode Island, and Reelworld.
In 2022, Javier released his first feature film, the war drama ROADS OF ITHRIYAH. It received five Leo Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, and Best Script, and won for best sound. It was also nominated as Best Canadian Film at RIFFA.
Javier is preparing to shoot his second feature film, the Latinx punk rock, sci-fi action comedy LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC EARWORMS. The project received financial support from Telefilm, CreativeBC, Shaw Rocket Fund, CMF, and New Dawn (Nederlands Filmfond).
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/873533740
Infinite Distances
Pablo Alvarez Mesa
2022 - 25’- Documentary
best canadian short @ RIDM
Found answering machine recordings bring voices longing for a receiver into the realm of the theatre, offering hope for connection through a collective experience.
Director's Bio*
Pablo Alvarez-Mesa is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor working mainly in non-fiction, whose films have played and earned awards at international film festivals, including Berlinale, IFFR, Viennale, MoMA, Visions du Reel, and RIDM. His work in cinema lies in the relationship between fact and fiction, between what is recalled and what is inevitably constructed. Pablo is a Sundance Doc Fund grantee, an affiliate of the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling at Concordia University, and a Berlinale Talents, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Canadian Film Centre alumnus.
Short Stories
Gustavo Cerquera Benjumea
2023 - 3’40” - Animation
"Short Stories" is an anthology of five animated short films created between 2021 and 2023. The series uses simple animations and captions to portray isolated characters trapped in fantastical rooms within the same apartment building.
About the director: Gustavo Cerquera Benjumea is a Colombian-Canadian animator, director, festival programmer, producer, and educator. Influenced by psychedelia, genre filmmaking, and Colombia’s history of violence, his work has been exhibited internationally at festivals like Ottawa International Animation Festival, Slamdance, Glas Animation Festival, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival, and Tacoma Film Festival. He has directed music videos and performances for Grammy-nominated singer Lido Pimienta and served as creative producer and animator for her CBC Gem show, LidoTV. Alongside Lido Pimienta and Canadian-Argentinian editor Andres Landau, they form the BBB Collective.
A’buru
Juan Pablo Pinto and Sebastián Gómez Ruiz
2023 - 25’ - Documentary
A'buru is the material used by the Arhuaco’s communities from La Sierra Nevada mountain range in Santa Marta (Colombia) for spiritual rituals and offerings to their sacred sites. The documentary follows the process of making these offerings in three sacred sites near the Indigenous community of Jimaín, known as the spiritual entryway to the Sierra mountain range. Guided by the Mamo, a spiritual authority of the Arhuaco people, the documentary offers a reflection on the importance of recognizing alternative wisdoms, and the work that Indigenous peoples do to heal and restore territories affected by modern capitalist industry.
About the director:
Juan Pablo Pinto Mendoza is a documentary filmmaker and media artist. Born in Colombia, Juan Pablo immigrated to Canada at the age of 19. He draws on his experience as an immigrant as well as his academic background in politics and anthropology to explore themes of identity, culture, memory and discourse. He enjoys using poetic and experimental approaches as well as magical realism to fulfill his artistic vision. Pinto Mendoza aspires to challenge his audience to question notions of nationhood and belonging in their everyday interactions. His recent work has focus on issues related to indigeneity, food and land sovereignty, and environmental activism.
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Start:
2024-10-18T20:00:00-04:00
End:
2024-10-18T22:30:00-04:00
Category
Film
Tickets
