2011 October Film Festival

Opening Gala/ Artist Talk

Time: 6 pm Venue: Champagne Room Price: $ Free Catered Event

Guests of the Festival will talk about and show samples of their work.

Opening Screening

Time: 10pm Venue: Champagne Room Price: $5

Cloudburst

Director: Thom Fitzgerald Runtime: 93 mins

Cloudburst is a romantic comedy road movie starring Oscar®-winning actresses Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as Stella and Dot, an aging couple who escape from a nursing home in Maine and drive to Nova Scotia on a quest to be legally married. While on the lam, they pick up a young hitchhiker. The road is long and rough, and stubborn Stella begins to wonder if she can really take care of frail Dotty in their old age. After 31 years, can they keep their family together?

Shorts

Time: 12-1pm Venue: CBC Price: $5

A Man For All Seasons

Director: Therese Solone Runtime: 7 min

"A Man for All Seasons" tells the tale of Charlie & Lucy, a young couple sinking into the unsettling depths of a failing relationship. As the steadfastly loyal Lucy stands by her man, Charlie falls back into an epic temporal spiral, at turns comic and horrifying.

Donkey

Director: Keir Burrows Runtime: 7 min

A narrated short about a successful young banker, whose life is going according to script but whose encounter with a man he bullied when they were both younger causes him to reflect on his priorities.

The Planting

Director: Jason Goode Runtime: 5 min

After a wasted life of digging holes only to fill them back in, Chris is faced with the task of digging one more and making it a meaningful one.

Clouds

Director: Gilbert James Runtime: 12 min

Living the life of a writer, Irving Walker's days are filled with distraction, creative torment, lunch, the occasional smoothie and sometimes writing. But only one story holds the key to him fulfilling his dreams of true creativity.

The Internet Style Guide For Blogs

Director: Jason Goode Runtime: 7 min

Recent prestigious journalism school grad, James, has just handed in his first article at an up-and-coming, news blogging website, but his boss, Leonard, has a couple of pointers for him.

2 Theories 1 Stone

Director: Aaron Houston Runtime: 13 min

Two wannabe philosophers discuss human nature over breakfast, revealing to all of us that sometimes we’re not as clever as we think we are.

Indigenous Films Night

Time: 7pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Bloodland

Director: Elle-Maija Tailfeathers Runtime: 4 min

'Bloodland' is a social statement on the irreversible and detrimental impact of gas and oil exploration on our planet; and in particular the impact that hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' will have on the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta. This film was shot with a completely Indigenous cast and crew.

Against The Grain

Director: Curtis Mandeville Runtime: 22 min

This program explores the legacy of the Indian Residential School system by looking at its history, present conditions and hopes for the future. It focuses on the varying social, and political challenges facing former students, their families, and communities. Further, it highlights various attempts to cope and overcome the impacts.

Northern Haze: Living The Dream

Director: Derek Aqqiaruq Runtime: 36 min

Rocking the North hard and heavy since 1977, this film tells the story of the first known Inuit Rock Band to sing in their native tounge.

The Last Explorer

Director: Neil Diamond and Ernest Webb Runtime: 45 min

"The Last Explorer" is Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond’s journey through Northeastern Canada to retrace the steps of his great uncle, George Elson, who led the team to map Labrador over a hundred years ago. Along the way Diamond discovers rumours of revenge, lost diaries, and forbidden love.

Love Sick

Time: 10pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

No Existe El Adios

Director: Pablo Bullejos Runtime: 16 min

A boy and a girl meet on a beach. With an innocent smile, they start building a sand castle together. A young couple fall in love on a beach. Believing they are twin souls, they decide to live their lives together. Tom and Martha, in their sixties, find themselves on a beach. They remember their youth, their dreams, their expectations. They discover that they have always been in love, that they have never been able to forget what they lived together. But their lives have taken different paths and now it’s too late to be selfish.

The Dance

Director: Pardis Parker Runtime: 10 min

Alex wants to be what he thinks Jenny wants him to be, but it’s only when he’s himself that they finally connect. The Dance is a silent film, a romantic comedy with no dialogue, starring Pardis Parker (Combat Hospital) and Evany Rosen (Picnicface).

Love/Hate

Director: Andrew Silke Runtime: 90 min

Some guys could use a 1-UP in the game of love – for these three, it could be game over. Between Johnny’s terminal bitterness towards his ex, Lauren’s awkward attempts at charm and Ray living off his girlfriend’s paychecks, these three dudes have got their love lives cut out for them. These twenty-somethings are about to find out that relationships can be harsh, sweet and very unpredictable in this Northern-directed comedy. Dating can be tricky… It’s a Love/Hate sort of thing. Warning: Rated 14A for crude sexual language and content.

Workshop with Lysanne Thibodeau

Time: 1pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

The Film Essay

Screening: Workers

Time: 3pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Workers Leaving The Factory

Director: Anna Linke Runtime: 10 min

Karin works in a metal factory performing the same monotonous tasks, until a new worker begins his job in the factory.

Charcoal Burners (Smolarze)

Director: Piotr Ziotorowicz Runtime: 15 min

Every summer, Marek and Janina work as charcoal burners in the Bieszczady Mountains. Far from civilization, in the heart of the mountains, they live according to the rhythm set by nature. The documentary joins the man and the woman from dawn till dusk, observing the slow passage of time. A visual anthem to the beauty of life.

Come Back Little Star

Director: Andrew Connors Runtime: 3 min

Emergency preparedness and maternal heartache come to light in a 1960s industrial outpost: the mining town of Elsa, Yukon.

The Universal Language

Director: Sam Green Runtime: 29 min

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sam Green (The Weather Underground) traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed if everyone spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome its differences. “Esperanto” means “one who hopes,” and during the war-ravaged 20th century hundreds of thousands of people around the world learned the language and embraced its ideals. Even today, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. The Universal Language is the first documentary film to tell the story of Esperanto. At a time when many of us struggle to imagine a better world, Sam Green's new film takes you to meet the funny, quixotic, inspiring speakers of hope's official language.

Screening: Fresh Docs

Time: 4pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Stitched the Film

Director: Jenalia Moreno Runtime: 72 min

Stitched follows three competitive, controversial quilters racing to complete their entries for the International Quilt Festival, the largest quilt show in the nation. Quilting legend Caryl Bryer Fallert was the first to win a major prize for her quilt made with a sewing machine. She mentored Hollis Chatelain who caused a stir when she won an award for a painted quilt. And Hollis mentored Randall Cook who sparked controversy with his quilt of a male nude. In this 72-minute documentary, these quilters create their pieces to compete in the 2010 quilt show, which attracted more than 60,000 passionate attendees. The film examines the strong bonds of friendship amongst quilters and the divide between traditional and art quilters.

Screening: Foreign Language

Time: 7pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

How I Ended The Summer

Director: Alekxei Popogrebsky Runtime: 130 min Subtitles: English

On a desolate island in the Arctic Circle, two men work at a small meteorological station, taking readings from their radioactive surroundings. Sergei, a gruff professional in his fifties, takes his job very seriously. His new partner, bright eyed college grad Pavel, retreats to his MP3 player and video games to avoid Sergei's imposing presence. One day while Sergei is out, inexperienced Pavel receives terrible news for Sergei from HQ. Intimidated, Pavel can't bring himself to disclose the information. When the truth is finally revealed, the consequences explode against a chilling backdrop of thick fog, sharp rocks, and the merciless Arctic Sea.

Screening: Thrillers & Horrors

Time: 10pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Bad Blood

Director: Lysanne Thibodeau Runtime: 22 min

Story of a lonely Vampire and his quest for death in Berlin's 1980's. An homage to the films of Carl Dreher, Russ Meyer, Andy Warhol, Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi & B movies.

Angels

Director: Zachary Kerschberg Runtime: 11 min

A family prays their second child will be born normal.

Porcelana

Director: Thiago Taves Runtime: 8 min

The frailty of the relations of a man and a woman, the making of an incomplete dream, the escape from captivity.

The Waking

Director: John Stead Runtime: 13 min

Anna moved into her dream home. She knew this was the one; but so did the mysterious presence lurking within its walls.

CUTEeGRL

Director: Jeton Murtishi & Doug McDade Runtime: 19 min

An online chat room conversation with a child predator leads to a meeting with a loving family's fourteen year old daughter... and an unexpected visitor.

Sati

Director: Heather de Michele Runtime: 8 min

On the verge of being sacrificed on her husband's funeral pyre, Dhumavati makes the bold and dangerous choice to flee her fate, in turn, discovering her self worth.

A Song for the Dead

Director: Josephine Keats Runtime: 16 min

Some secrets can't be buried.

Dead Friends

Director: Stephen Martin Runtime: 11 min

Nine year old Lola Turtle's only companion is her treasured and tattered stuffed bunny, Mister Wimperbottom...until she finds a way to grow her very own 'DEAD' best friend. This little gothic bedtime story is filled with blood, guts, and gardening. A Silent Horror film which doesn't utter a word but will make you Scream!

The Provider

Director: Brianne Nord-Stewart Runtime: 8 min

Estranged from the rest of the townsfolk, an eccentric lady is haunted by ghostly whispers, and follows an eerie call to an unusual happily ever after.

Baby It's You

Director: David Cowles, Jeremy Galante, Brad Pattullo Runtime: 3 min

Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy attaches girl's head to a robot body.

The Lady Paranorma

Director: Vincent Marcone Runtime: 6 min

The Lady Paranorma is a short animated film about a woman who can hear ghosts but cannot see them. They whisper and sing and tease her but refuse to reveal themselves until one fateful day, when one ghost in particular calls her from his tomb which lies beneath a treacherous pile of rocks.

Tales From The Deep

Director: Craig Ferguson Runtime: 19 min

The film follows a small town rural police force as they try to uncover a series of non-sensical suicides caused by single older men drowning within shallow sloughs. The men are being lured to their deaths by the ghosts of those who are not present (all of whom take the form of mermaids) and the ghost of the vibrant, mysterious in-land sea. As the elderly Captain deals with the deaths of his peer group, he is faced with the understanding that his own existence is no longer necessary to either his community or himself and his own existence is no longer necessary to either his community or himself and thus allows himself to disappear within the ghost of the ancient in-land sea. The work is about loss, loneliness, and cultural erosion on the lone Saskatchewan Prairie.

Retrospective

Time: 1pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Ode to a Journey Home/Eloge Du Retour

Director: Lysanne Thibodeau Runtime: 42 min

Does time really erase the past? following a long exile, I return to my country of origin. Back to my roote, I remember... Life took my father wawy when I was ten. Five years later, my mother and my brother also. At twenty one, I left to discover what they would never get a chance to see. Leaving, returning, the future is calling. As in a tribute to my mother, I , in return, give birth.

Ikaluktuutiaq In April

Director: Lysanne Thibodeau Runtime: 7 min

A visual essay on the beauty of the tundra in springtime, in a small inuit community of Nunavut. One of it’s residents was Tanya ‘Tagaq’ Gillis, a solo throat singer who has now toured the world with Björk, the Kronos Quartet and on her own. Music from the album SINAA by Tagaq.

Tagaq

Director: Lysanne Thibodeau Runtime: 6 min

Concert with throat singer Tagaq May 16+17 2008 in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada.

Artist Talk: Lysanne Thibodeau

Director: Lysanne Thibodeau time: 30 min

The work of Lysanne Thibodeau.

Cowboy Country

Time: 7pm Venue: Northern Arts and Cultural Center Price: $5

Tundra Cowboy

Director: Marc Winkler Runtime: 22 min

A look at a Saami reindeer herder's life in the NWT.

I Remember

Director: Alex Czarnecki Runtime: 4 min

A work in progress retrospective of the Mackenzie Delta area to the music of Ted Wesley "I remember".

-INTERMISSION-

Feature Film - Sweetgrass

Producer/Recordist: Ilisa Barbash/ Lucien Castaing-Taylor Runtime: 101 min

An unsentimental elegy to the American West, “Sweetgrass” follows the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into Montana’s breathtaking and often dangerous Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for summer pasture. This astonishingly beautiful yet unsparing film reveals a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed.