F-O-R-M’s Commissioning Fund Program is at the heart of the festival. It is a catalyst for youth and emerging artists to explore and play at the intersection of movement and film. Every year, we witness processes fuelled by imagination and personal exploration, resulting in innovative films that take us beyond the screen and into the intimate worlds imagined by these emerging creatives.

Created by Brian J. Johnson / Company 605
Produced by Screen Siren Pictures / Company 605

Collaboratively conceived by Director Brian J. Johnson and Vancouver’s acclaimed Company 605, FutureFutures is a collection of 5 short dance films that explore the digital destiny of humankind through a unique merging of camera and visual effects with an intensely specific choreographic vision. Embracing the absurdity of centering dance inside a sci-fi narrative, the experimental series collapses time to portray human culture at an unprecedented moment: an emergence of a new, autonomous and intelligent being – the digital reflection and culmination of ourselves. In a state of mass transition, and forced into a bizarre coexistence alongside this growing presence, the remaining population of embodied “real” humans confront their own fears and curiosity of this new dawn while grieving what might be left behind in their looming obsolescence. Through its otherworldly imagery, choreography and driving electronic sound score, Future Futures evolves as a strange, highly visual and compellingly watchable exploration into what we are if no longer tied to our physical bodies, and how we will define humanity when being faced with a fading IRL existence.

Using dance as a vessel for queer self-discovery, this workshop focuses on waacking foundations and improvisational movement techniques that informed the creation process of Juan’s commissioned film “The Meeting Place”. Posing, flow, and circular and non-linear ideas will be investigated through the lens of queer embodiment. How can these concepts intersect with weighted and explosive movement qualities?

This year, our annual FORMations Jam is back in-person with the help of Barangay Project! Barangay’s Creative Director Sophia ‘Sosa’ Gamboa will lead us through a jam-packed 4 hour movement and filmmaking jam, where participants will move, groove, create and present their own short movement video by the end of the jam. Utilizing Sosa’s deep knowledge of street dance, participants will explore movement through the camera while experimenting with concepts, freestyle, and grooving foundations.

This screening marks our first in-person gathering after two years as an all digital festival. We invite our audiences to re-connect with us in the theatre and join us in witnessing a collection of diverse films made by local and national artists. Together, we gather in a collective celebration of these artists and their imaginative creations which encourage connection to our bodies and to each other.

This screening is split into two collections:
Collection #1: 6PM - 7:15PM
Collection #2: 7:30PM - 9PM with Live Artist Talkback facilitated by Tamar Tabori