WIFT Toronto is thrilled to announce the eight projects selected for the 2021 Showcase screening and awards.  This year marks the 12th annual Showcase event, featuring short works by WIFT Toronto members in film (documentary, fiction, animation, and experimental), TV and Web series. This year’s event will take place virtually on Zoom, on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.  Awards will be given out for Best Directing, Best Writing, Best of Showcase, and a Viewer’s Choice Award with prizes totaling $7,000 plus incredible in-kind prizes.

 

Trailer edited by Sarah Beth Goncarova with music composed and performed by Sarah Basciano

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‍The 2021 Showcase Lineup Includes:

 After All These Years (How Could I Possibly Go Back Out There?)

Fiction/Narrative

Submitted by Sara Jade Alfaro, Director

Carla, aged 26 (but FEELS more like 25) is ready to get back out into the world, after a harrowing breakup with a man named Carl. Through trials and tribulations, and the occasional calming ASMR video, she manages to find a strategy in tackling the curveballs that come with modern heartbreak.

Boundless

Fiction/Narrative

Submitted by Kate Campbell, Director/Writer/Producer

An 80-year-old Canadian Woman Airforce Service Pilot remembers her audacious revolt on the day that she and the Lost Last Class of Avenger Field were disbanded and sent home with nothing after flying a collective 60 million miles during WWII.

Glad You’re Here

Documentary

Submitted by Lisa Kannakko, Director/Producer/Editor/Cinematographer/Writer

A story about an extreme moment of crisis has turned into a documentary that deals not just with the subjective but with the important issue of spousal abuse.

How T.O.Art: Ep 4 “Flora”

Documentary Web Series

Submitted by Amanda Ann-Min Wong, Co-Director and Co-Producer

What makes someone an artist? Art school or dropping out of school? Join Naja in How T.O. Art as she meets with four non-traditional artists in Toronto to learn how they art! The selected episode looks at drag artist Flora Tang.

Lola’s Wake

Fiction/Narrative

Submitted by Tricia Hagoriles, Writer and Director

To ensure that her recently deceased grandmother’s spirit can move on, a determined young girl must uphold a Filipino tradition of never leaving the body alone, even if it means spending the night in a funeral home.

On The Fence

Documentary

Submitted by Paula Ner Dormiendo, Writer and Director

On The Fence follows several intertwined conversations with a group of multicultural individuals and their struggle with identity.

Sing Me A Lullaby

Documentary

Submitted by Tiffany Hsiung, Director

A daughter’s search for her mother’s birth parents in Taiwan unravels the complex tensions between love and sacrifice. Captured over 14 years and across two continents, this is a story about recovering familial history, healing inherited pain, and understanding that love comes in many forms.

Tesfay -Witch Prophet

Documentary

Submitted by Leah Vlemmiks, Writer and Director

Tesfay uses dance, movement, and documentary to tell the story of Ethiopian-Eritrean artist Witch Prophet’s late grandfather, Tesfay, who raised 5 daughters as a single father in Ethiopia.

 

All Submission were screened and selected by a volunteer jury of WIFT Toronto Members, including: Amy McQuaid-England, Asis Sethi, Carla Robinson, Heidi Lasi, Karen Chapman, Lanette Ware-Bushfield, Meaghan Brander, Naiyelli Romero Agüero, Paula Sanderson, Rabiya Mansoor, and Tonjha Richardson.

Showcase SnackChats

Leading up to this year’s Showcase event on Tuesday, May 4, WIFT Toronto will host a series of Showcase Snack Chats on Instagram Live. The following are dates and times to join Showcase jury members as they engage in conversation with this year’s creators (schedule subject to change):

April 6: Paula Ner Dormiendo, On the Fence chatting with Naiyelli Romero Aguero

April 8: Lisa Kannakk, Glad You’re Here chatting with Carla Robinson

April 13: Tiffany Hsiung, Sing Me A Lullaby chatting with Karen Chapman

April 15: Sara Jade Alfaro, All These Years(How Could I Possibly Go Back Out There?) chatting with Heidi Lasi

April 20: Kate Campbell, Boundless chatting with Asis Sethi

April 22: Amanda Ann-Min Wong, How T.O. Art: Ep 4 “Flora” chatting with Amy McQuaid-England

April 27: Leah Vlemmiks, Tesfay – Witch Prophet chatting with Lanette Ware-Bushfield

April 29: Tricia Hagoriles Lola’s Wake, chatting with Tonjha Richardson 

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For More information on Showcase go HERE

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