HIFF Newsletter • June 3, 2021
The 15th annual Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival will kick off on Thursday, June 24, with our entire film lineup available to stream online from June 24–27.
Once you start a film, you'll have 24 hours to watch it. Individual tickets for each film are available for $10, or you can see everything with a $30 pass!
Check out our launch video to hear all about this year's program:
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
SAINT-NARCISSE
dir. Bruce LaBruce
2021 | Canada | 111 mins | French with English subtitles
Available to viewers in Atlantic Canada
This year at HIFF, we're thrilled to bring you Saint-Narcisse, the latest entry in Canadian iconoclast Bruce LaBruce's endlessly daring oeuvre.
Set in 1972 Quebec, Saint-Narcisse struts between the sacred and the profane in a bizarre and provocative homage to the classic myth of Narcissus. Shot in the style of ’70s cult films by cinematographer Michel La Veaux, LaBruce’s latest provides a cheeky and compelling commentary on the normalization of narcissism through a homecoming tale of sainthood, seduction, and redemption.
Get your tickets for Saint-Narcisse here.
"Saint-Narcisse is a wickedly funny ride that draws upon faith and mythology. It subversively queers the straightest and most restrictive of institutions, appropriating its own iconography for bondage and fetish. LaBruce hasn’t made a film that looks this good in years." —Pat Mullen, thatshelf.com
Click below to view the trailer:
MAMÁ, MAMÁ, MAMÁ
dir. Moara Passoni
2020 | Brazil | 75 mins | Portuguese with English subtitles
Available to viewers in Atlantic Canada
Mama, Mama, Mama examines grief through the eyes of Cleo, a young girl whose sister has just died in a tragic accident. She spends her summer with her cousins as she watches her mother fall further and further into paralyzing grief. The incredible cast of young girls explores girlhood and their entrance into adolescence in a dreamy pastel colour palette, while the oppressive weight of trauma lingers around them. This stunning feature, created by a cast and crew made up completely of women, is Argentinian director Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière’s debut.
Click here to get your tickets for Mamá, Mamá, Mamá.
Watch the trailer below:
ATLANTIC AUTEURS CLOSE-UP
Where are you from?
I was born here, in Halifax. My parents were born in Prague, Czechia.
What was the inspiration for the film you’re presenting at HIFF?
I am within my midlife now, and this is a profound moment of change in the female body. Like being a teenager again, but for the second half of life! I needed to work with this passage that is so full of grief, mystery, and new power. I wanted to climb inside it and honour it, celebrate it.
What films or filmmakers inspired you to make your own?
Kate Bush, Agnes Varda, Kazuo Ono, Bjork, PJ Harvey, Krysztof Kieslowski’s Blue.
What’s your go-to theatre snack (or intricate theatre-snack combo)?
Japanese rice crackers and miniatures of gin!
What’s your favourite memory of making this film?
I left white fingerprints on the dashboard of my friend Pete’s van from the white body paint. We laughed because I have left a trail of body paint prints over the years, all over the UK and parts of Europe.
Where are you from?
Although I was born in Montreal, I grew up in Moncton, NB, and currently reside in the neighbouring town of Riverview.
How did you get your start as a filmmaker?
I have two enduring passions: one is animation and the other is puppetry. Although it wasn't until 2008, when I purchased my first computer animation application, that I was able to combine the two interests. What attracted me to the application was the ability to use some of the principles of puppet construction to create models that could then be animated.
What films or filmmakers inspired you to make your own?
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) , Metropolis (1927) and the shadow puppet films of Lotte Reiniger. For me they exemplify the wonderful riches of the creative mind as they explore the world of images and dreams.
What's the dream feature you’d pair with your short for a screening?
If given the opportunity, I would pair Will O'Wisps with Lotte Reiniger's feature-length animation The Adventures of Prince Ahmed (1926). The method of creation for the The Fish and The Moth in Will O'Wisps is a direct result of reading Lotte Reiniger's book Shadow Puppets, Shadow Theaters and Shadow Films. In a way, it's a tribute to Reiniger's legacy.
What’s your favourite memory of making this film?
One of my most rewarding memories was the creation of The Fish puppet. It started as a digital drawing of The Fish, which was then printed. The various parts of The Fish were then traced onto tin foil, cut out, and then re-scanned back into the computer as a digital file. Once back in the computer, I reassembled The Fish and added the "bones" as the controls. Seeing The Fish wriggling its way across the screen in the first animation tests was truly exciting.
These films will screen along with seven others made by established and up-and-coming filmmakers from across the region in HIFF's Atlantic Auteurs shorts program, available online June 24–27. Learn more about the full program here.