Film And Video

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/26545

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Access status: Open Access ,
The Black Box is Orange
(2025-11-13) Benivolski, Yuula; Greyson, John R.
The Black Box is Orange is a multimodal thesis project composed of three interconnected parts: a 51-minute film, a written text, and a 70-page field guide. Together, they provide the geographic, visual, and historical contexts that piece together the fragmented timeline of my childhood. The project examines how personal and collective memory are shaped by the absence of archives. It begins with my family’s abrupt emigration from the USSR to Israel, which resulted in the loss of our family’s entire photographic record, and our subsequent settlement in a small Israeli border town called Shlomi, built on the remains of a thriving Palestinian village destroyed in 1948 for which visual records no longer exist. The film reconstructs childhood memories through a combination of 16mm footage, voiceover, and 35mm slide presentations. It traces how settler-colonial policies structure daily life in an apartheid state focusing on everyday events to avoid sensationalism. The written component situates these memories within macro- and micro-histories of land dispossession, bureaucratic erasure, and a deliberately buried archive, while the field guide maps memory through meaningful encounters with plants and flowers.
Access status: Open Access ,
Golden Boys
(2025-11-11) Griffin, Steven Paul; Montanari, Fabio Basso
Golden Boys is a 102-page fiction screenplay centered around Salem and Caleb, two teenage boys and best friends, who are spending one of the last days of their summer break together, as their lives are about to move in different directions. Both boys struggle with self-image, insecurities, young love, personal expectations, and attempting to maintain their slowly disintegrating friendship. The boys' long-lasting friendship comes to a head, and they gain perspective on how instrumental the other has been in shaping their lives. Taking a traditional American teen comedy and reframing it within a modern Canadian context, this film explores how collective memory and cultural influences recontextualize our identities amidst societal changes in Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Developed using primary and secondary research, as well as first-hand accounts, this script reflects a personal journey of artistic self-discovery and acceptance, echoed in the escapades of the central characters. This paper documents the process of reaching the idea for Golden Boys, finding a specific film reference as a starting point, and navigating the merging of genre and social awareness within the cultural context of a grander film lexicon and an authentic Canadian portrayal of Wasaga Beach.
Access status: Open Access ,
Magpie Online
(2025-11-11) Dovolis, Christina Georgia Tia; Ng-Chan, Taien
Magpie Online is a new media installation that explores the migration from material public spaces to online environments, focusing on the multiplayer platform Decentraland. Much like “real” life, users create avatars and construct homes, parks, clubs, and other urban infrastructures. One user likens Decentraland to a magpie’s nest—an externalized archive of selfhood, where each digital object becomes a reflection of identity. The installation weaves together interviews with four Decentraland users, platform footage, original animation, machinima, and archival imagery tracing the evolution of North American public space. Drawing from urban analysis, Magpie Online explores how virtual worldbuilding reshapes our sense of belonging, embodiment, and community. How is identity forged in digital realities? What do we gain—and lose—when our social lives are mediated online? And, to what extent should we distinguish between “real” and “virtual” life? Magpie Online invites viewers to consider what it means to be part of a world increasingly built on-screen.
Access status: Open Access ,
LAAT
(2025-11-11) Zargar, Saeid; Barta, Tereza
LAAT is a short hybrid documentary that offers a glimpse into the world of Tehran’s elderly lutis and the emotions they confront in the twilight of their lives as they reflect on their past. The film explores their role in the Iranian 1953 coup, a perspective that is often overlooked, seen through the eyes of a former child labourer who witnessed the events firsthand. Through interviews with participants and eyewitnesses, as well as archival footage, it explores how a gang of luti figures helped ignite the chaos that led to the fall of Mohammad Mossadegh’s government, a pivotal moment in the country’s political history that not only disrupted the elite but also shattered the hopes and dreams of the working class, leaving a deep wound on the soul of modern Iran, one that has yet to heal. This film, grounded in research on different aspects of luti culture and history, as well as its portrayal in post-coup Iranian cinema, seeks to offer an authentic representation of the luti character, a rebel figure whose presence in both politics and cinema has been marked with controversy and debate.
Access status: Open Access ,
Somewhere Between Not Knowing
(2025-11-11) Farah, Alexander; Greyson, John R.
Somewhere Between Not Knowing is a 14-minute single-channel installation that traces three life stages—childhood, adolescence, and adulthood—of Hamed, a queer Afghan-Canadian man navigating curiosity, shame, and desire amid the weight of family expectation and cultural silencing. A child’s voiceover recites excerpts of David Wojnarowicz’s prophetic 1990 poem Untitled (One Day This Kid…), translated into Farsi, layered with intertitles that punctuate and fracture the semi-autobiographical vignettes. Inspired by the legacy of visual artists who have regularly appropriated antecedent work, the installation employs remix and recontextualization as artistic strategies, echoing Wojnarowicz’s text while refracting it through a diasporic, queer coming-of-age archive. The work interrogates memory, representation, and reflection, asking how a universal queer text transforms when spoken through another language, another voice, and another body.
Access status: Open Access ,
He Never Dies, A Four Film Cycle
(2025-11-11) Haddad, Kalil Joseph; Longfellow, Brenda
He Never Dies is a film cycle consisting of four works: The Taking of Jordan (All American Boy) (2022), The Boy Was Found Unharmed (2024), Victim of Circumstance (2024), and My Secret Boyfriend Died in a Mass Shooting (2025). In this essay, I will trace my artistic growth as a young filmmaker obsessed with cult and outsider cinema, how that obsession evolved into contemporary interests in pornography as queer history, and the eventual culmination of these years of cinematic growth into my thesis project He Never Dies. Through readings of Lacan, interspersed with Žižekian interpretations, and engagements with Derrida’s theory of hauntology, I examine the ways in which desire is mapped, embodied, and reproduced, and the ethical complications inherent within such forms of cinematic representation, particularly when working in the mode of found footage. Through this essay and the films of the He Never Dies cycle, I posit cinema as a contemplative space for preserving lost histories, critiquing power structures, and challenging dominant representations.
Access status: Open Access ,
A Bunch of Times
(2025-11-11) Putnam, Tavis Johnson; Barta, Tereza
A comedic short film about intergenerational male discourse and the nuances of sexuality, A Bunch of Times centres around a recently married middle-aged man named Gord, and his ultimately inappropriate attempts to build a rapport with his new teenaged stepson, Kevin. Throughout the film, Gord becomes more and more desperate to double down on his tactic of teasing Kevin by commenting on the many attractive women, and the many sexual situations within the Game of Thrones-style TV show they are watching—which he is certain Kevin finds just as titillating as he does; whether he will admit it or not. As things become more and more uncomfortable for both Kevin and his mother, Susan, Kevin begins to turn Gord’s suggestive questions and comments back on him, culminating in a poignant catharsis wherein the two share an over-the-top, dramatic embrace befitting the medieval fantasy epic TV show they are watching.
Access status: Open Access ,
TIDES
(2025-07-23) Huras, Jessica Elizabeth; Montanari, Fabio Basso
Thesis Screenplay Title: Tides © Jessica Huras 2025, Masters in Screenwriting, Feature length dramatic screenplay adaptation of the novel Tides by Sara Freeman After a stillbirth, 39-year-old Mara leaves her life in Montreal, unable to bear the weight of her grief or the presence of her husband, Lucien, or her brother, Paul, and his wife with their newborn baby. Seeking escape, she arrives in a remote Nova Scotia seaside town, where the vast tidal swells reflect her teetering between self-annihilation and self-preservation. As the possibility of connection and the slow return of desire begin to draw her back to herself, scenes from her past unfold, revealing moments of intimacy and estrangement. Through these memories, Mara confronts her grief and begins to carve a new path forward. My research examines how grief shapes a woman’s capacity for connection, autonomy, and self-reconstruction after loss. Additionally, I explore the visual representation of grief in film and how isolation and relationality function as catalysts for redefining identity.
Access status: Open Access ,
The General's Son
(2025-04-10) Onuora, Angela Nnenne; Kazimi, Ali
The General’s Son is a 20-minute narrative drama that explores the raw, emotional complexity of General Cuba Wusalanga’s struggle with guilt, loss, and his longing for redemption. Set against a backdrop of allegorical African cultural elements, the film uses intimate cinematography, opulent aesthetics contrasted with isolating vastness, and symbolic imagery to represent underlying themes. The narrative underscores the tension and subsequent resignation of the General, as he grapples with the revelation of his monstrous nature. The vision intends for the audience to empathize with the General's predicament, inciting introspection and dialogue about societal cycles of corruption, and the potential to break free from them.
Access status: Open Access ,
Controlled Burn: 28 Lessons from the Edit Suite
(2025-04-10) Howie, Peter James; Trifonova, Temenuga
Controlled Burn is a 20-minute live-action fiction film which follows Reid as he spends the last day of parole doing all the things that got him there in the first place: drug deals, petty larceny, and reconnecting with an old fling named Marty. When Marty reveals a plan to escape the country forever, Reid discovers Marty’s true intentions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Fort Garry Lions Pool
(2024-11-07) Steel, Ryan Douglas; Djigo, Moussa
“Fort Garry Lions Pool” is an experimental film about two young women climbing the fence into a public pool at night. This paper tracks the creation of the film from its inception in 2020, production in 2022, up until its completion in 2024. The role of intuition as both subject matter and guiding creative tool is examined. This paper is also a reflection on the collaborative filmmaking process, charting the attempts made to foster a non-hierarchical working environment. The film's thematic and stylistic choices are also explored, centering around the symbolic role the Fort Garry Lions Pool plays in representing the revealing and understanding of trauma within a close friendship.
Access status: Open Access ,
The First Indigenous Female Pornographer
(2024-11-07) Whitecrow, Jamie Lee; Becker, Manfred
THE FIRST INDIGENOUS FEMALE PORNOGRAPHER is a mockumentary film running (13 minutes and 20 seconds) that blends and bends archival, pornography, re-enactments, and the only existing interview with Audrey Little-breast, “the first Indigenous female pornographer,” as she refuses to be labelled or represented as anything but herself. She is interviewed about her notorious pornography that exploits settler desire of “Imaginary Indians”. The film is a comedy that playfully engages the subjects of Indigenous identity, the politics of recognition, the “playing Indian” phenomenon, and Canada’s hottest piece of tail - The Beaver. We are invited to ponder how deeply historical and contemporary settler-indigenous relations impact our sexuality.
Access status: Open Access ,
Cherub
(2024-11-07) Shears, Devin; Greyson, John
Cherub is a 73 minute narrative film centred around a fat, single man named Harvey who comes across a gay magazine for “big men and their admirers” and decides to create an erotic pinup photo to be their “Cherub of the Month”. The film is almost entirely free of dialogue, and is made up predominantly of long, locked off shots that work to create a quiet but detailed tableau of this man’s life. Through both the narrative, the form, as well as the production of the film itself, I seek to explore the ways that image making can be a space of agency, desire and tension for fat, queer men.
Access status: Open Access ,
Mutual Pain
(2024-11-07) Keymanesh, Alireza; Veninger, Ingrid
Mutual Pain is a 29-minute, nonlinear, experimental psychodrama film about love's pain, social violence, and the effect of anxiety on perception. On a pitch-black night, John realizes that his wife had an affair with a mutual friend a few years before. There is now a big question mark over their child’s parentage. Storming out, he finds himself on an intense one-night mysterious journey. The voyage takes him to various places – the street, party club, bar, gambling room, etc. – where he finds himself in a maze of peculiar human beings and incidents. He experiences intense emotional, intellectual, and physical stimulation. Having lost everything and been beaten brutally by a thief, he falls motionless to the ground. Night becomes day. A beggar takes his shoes. Barefoot, he maniacally runs toward the forest. He is guided to his house where he lies down beside his wife in their bed. ‘John, John!’ She calls his name while giving him an intimate hug. ‘Shall we please be silent?’ he answers back.
Access status: Open Access ,
Kilometro 126
(2024-11-07) Lopez Gomez, Felipe; Becker, Manfred
Kilómetro 126 is a 16-minute hybrid short film narrating the day of a young couple as they spend their last time together in their hometown. Focusing on small intimate and fleeting moments from their everyday lives while juxtaposing these scenes with archival stills, the film intends to contrast the settlement of a town with its future, questioning the notion of development and progress in these rural areas. Kilómetro 126 portrays the dreams and aspirations of those who stayed in La Cumbre, a town that once stood for the development and progress of Colombia.  
Access status: Open Access ,
Chance Road
(2024-10-28) Irving, Eva; Wiseman, Howard
“Chance Road” is a feature film set in Toronto in 1999. It details the fictional life of a young boy who grows up without a father, and invents an imaginary father in his absence. He meets a young woman who teaches him how to read and write, and fosters his creative mind, but what he doesn’t know is that this young woman is the very person he’s been looking for––––his biological father, now transitioned to female. Written by Eva Everett Irving, this project was inspired by a short lifetime of personal lived experiences; from growing up in the church, being a queer child in the 90's, to living abroad and struggling with gender identity. "Chance Road" is a fictional family drama, and the culmination of Irving's MFA at York University.
Access status: Open Access ,
Truth or Dare
(2024-07-18) Owen, Rosamund; Wiseman, Howard
TRUTH OR DARE Truth or Dare is a feature length screenplay about Ruby (15) and her determination to reconnect with her sister Bella (10). After escaping her Cape Breton group home, Ruby jumps on a bus to Toronto. When she arrives on her sister’s doorstep, Bella’s adoptive parents immediately try to send Ruby back into care. Escaping into the ravine behind their house, Ruby meets several teenagers living in tents who survive by committing petty crimes. Secretly, Ruby begins meeting Bella in the family’s garage and Bella starts to remember their previous life together. Truth or Dare questions what family means after one sister is left in care, abused by the system, while the younger sister is adopted out. It is about loyalty, and love; and how we need family, but not necessarily in the ways we imagine.
Access status: Open Access ,
Take Me Somewhere
(2024-07-18) Marques Ximenes de Melo, Leticia; Evans, Barbara
Take Me Somewhere is a short experimental film that portrays impressions of the first track of the record “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven” by the Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Linked by voice-over conversations with five individuals from around the world who have personal connections to the music, the film reveals their stories through their memories as they associate the music with past times, places, and moods.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Magician
(2024-07-18) Gauvreau, Mathieu; Djigo, Moussa
The Magician is a 18 minutes short musical film. It follows Robert, a magician who performs cards and coin tricks in a struggling venue. He gets told by the venue manager that he needs to perform bigger illusions in order for them to attract the crowds that will allow them to keep the place open. What Robert hasn't told anyone is that he posseses real magical powers with which he can make anything appear out of thin air, fly away and even more. But these powers come at a price : a physical one as he feels pain whenever he uses them, but also a moral one as he so deeply wishes his passion for sleight of hands magic would be enough to impress the crowds. As the public gets to witness his unusual gift, he gets pushed to use his magic more and more to his detriment. It is a film about one's passion versus the demands of a public or, more broadly, making art in a capitalist society which validates profits over anything.
Access status: Open Access ,
Anamneses
(2024-07-18) Boos, Daniel Alexander; Ng-Chan, Taien
Anamneses is a short experimental documentary that explores new strategies of authentication in my method of working with actors. Grounded in philosopher Bracha L. Ettinger’s theory of the psychical matrixial borderspace, and influenced by the methodologies of filmmakers Chantal Akerman and Abbas Kiarostami, the film tells the story of a young man who discovers a need to confront the legacy of intergenerational trauma present in his family. Interweaving the live recordings of intimate conversations with self-described readers, the project pushes the limits of collaborative filmmaking to shed light on the therapeutic possibilities of unorthodox healing practices. Contrasting the matrixial qualities found in both Kiarostami’s Homework (1989) and Akerman’s No Home Movie (2015), I argue that Anamneses echoes features of both, and employs a collaborative approach inspired by Maya Deren’s endorsement of amateurism to engage in an instance of aesthetic transsubjectivity and wit(h)nessing (Ettinger). My thesis project is an attempt to carve out a matrixial space (Ettinger) pointing toward a method of filmmaking that substitutes for the logic of domination an ethic of connection and compassion rooted in the maternal.

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