VIVA ÁGUA

VIVA ÁGUA is a meditation on the philosophical work entitled ÁGUA VIVA written by Clarice Lispector in 1973. The film reflects on Lispector’s interior experimental monologue on the “instant-now” of time, the discomforts of language which are “beyond thought” and the harmonious dissonant reminders and remainders of that “sometime what is seen is ineffable.”

¡Votad, votad, malditos!

On June 14, 1977, the eve of the first democratic elections after Franco's regime, Llorenç Soler and his crew go out into the street and ask passers-by which party they are going to vote for.

The Big Swim

This short documentary shows Canada's top swimmers in training for the 1964 Olympic Games. Under the critical eye of coach Ed Healy, they practice long hours in the gym and in the pool to build strength and stamina.

Two/2

Music scores are atomized and recompiled into instructions for visual edits and cues. Ties are uncovered between sight and sound.

In the Ocean, on Land

Panasonic PV-GS83 in a plastic bag thrown in the ocean.

A Staircase

Single frames vectorized and stitched before processing through an analog EAB.

Water Theater

White Rock Lake Water Theater in Dallas, Texas. Sculpture by Frances Bagley and Tom Orr. Video compiled from 35mm stills.

XYZ

Oil spills around Oak Cliff, Dallas.

The Sun

Compiled and animated from still images.

Dresden Oktober '89

Fire in Paradise

In this documentary, survivors recall the catastrophic 2018 Camp Fire, which razed the town of Paradise and became California’s deadliest wildfire.

Multiple Man

A many-faced view of humanity, of global man in all his forms and interests. Produced originally in 70 mm (with stereophonic sound) for showing at Man and His World, the Montréal fair that succeeded Expo 67, this film employs the multi-image technique. People of all places, origins, cultures, secular and religious, are here united and seen side by side, creating an impressive, inspiring and challenging portrait. The film's title appears in seven languages. Film without words.

The UFO's of Soesterberg

In the early morning of February 3, 1979, a giant black triangular object flew over Soesterberg Air Base. At least twelve soldiers witnessed this bizarre spectacle.

Lesser Choices

The bleached palette and home-movie aesthetics of Super 8 footage provide the image track for this testimonial about an illegal abortion in Mexico City in the 1960s, delivered in voiceover by the filmmaker’s mother. In its account of this intimate and disorienting memory, Lesser Choices summons a time of profound uncertainty—a moment from an era without rights—and offers a warning to the present.

Flora

A metacinematic reflection on the nature of representation and the ongoing drug war in Mexico, Nicolás Pereda’s Flora revisits locations and scenes from the mainstream 2010 narco-comedy El Infierno, exploring the paradoxes of depicting narco-trafficking on film—its tendency both to romanticize and to obscure. To screen is both to project and to conceal.

Operation Popcorn

During the Vietnam War, the CIA recruited Hmong tribesmen in the hills of Laos to fight the Communists, then brought them as refugees to America. Forty years later in California, someone who might be a CIA operative approaches a Hmong human rights activist about buying weapons to continue the fight.

Until Further Notice

With his industry on lockdown and no end in sight, Toronto chef Luke Donato tries to keep his culinary passion alive during the COVID-19 pandemic - even if it means teaching a group of misfits online.

Ellie's Eye

Jeamin Cha's new essay-film examines the complex relationship between mental health, new technologies, ethics, and efficiency through the use of original and found material. Its namesake, Ellie, is a virtual avatar developed by the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies that is capable of interpreting human speech and gesture to reveal psychological distress. The film questions what it means to see, be seen, and be seen through in the face of disembodied artificial intelligence.

My Enemy, My Brother

The eight-year Iran-Iraq War was one of the most brutal conflicts to devastate the region in the 20th century. Zahed was 13 years old when he enrolled in the Iranian army. Najah was 18 when he was conscripted into the Iraqi army, and he fought against Zahed in the Battle of Khorramshahr. Fast forward 25 years, a chance encounter in Vancouver between these two former enemies turns into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Expanded from the 2015 short film by the same name.

A Lama from Ulaanbaatar

A twelve year old boy, living in a "yurt" but in love with hip hop and computer games is caught between modernity and tradition, aspirations and poverty and decides to become a Buddhist monk.