Present Resolutions

Beny Kristia (Indonesia) YOUTH

Vancouver Premiere

Duration: 12:40

Content warning: violence

A young man narrated the details of his dream from last night to his father about the celebration of demonstration, anger, and graduation.

Director: Beny Kristia

Writers: Beny Kristia, Gabriela Vanesa Karolus, Bhisma Wardhana

Producer: Fathur Syahnuron

Cinematographer: Nufail S.

Sydnie Baynes (Canada) EMERGING

Vancouver Premiere

Duration: 2:41

Content warning: coarse language, use of the N word, flashing lights

African American Express serves as an evocative abstract animation delving into the intricate theme of materiality within Black consumerism, critiquing the implications of consumer culture within the Black community. Drawing inspiration from the rich narrative of the 1998 novel "Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century" by Robert E. Weems, the short film weaves together insightful quotes to illuminate the complex dynamics at play.

Director: Sydnie Baynes

Writer: Sydnie Baynes, Robert E. Weems (Desegregating the Dollar: African American Consumerism in the Twentieth Century - 1998)

Music: Olivier Soudin

Sound Mix: Vid Cousins

Recording Technician: Tyler Rauman

Supervised: Shira Avni

Voiced by: Brigitte “Bri” Bobbey, Magassy “Mags” M’bow, Chelsea Cuffy

Hugh Durnford-Dionne & The Montreal Steppers (Canada) YOUTH

Canadian Premiere

Duration: 10:05

Back in May, the Montreal Steppers visited South Africa for a cultural and artistic exchange to learn from elders and youth. Connecting to the roots of Gumboots, Pantsula and Stepping changed their lives and the work that they do. It fueled a deeper commitment to sharing the history and honoring the art forms that paved the way for resistance, power and legacy. With this knowledge, they enter into spaces with a heightened appreciation and understanding that this dance form is indeed their “ancestral inheritance.”

Filmmaker: Hugh Durnford-Dionne

Producer: The Montreal Steppers

Members of The Montreal Steppers: Kayin Queeley, Saryka Pierre, Natasha Clery 

Maddi Crease & Aaron Shrimpton (England) YOUTH

Vancouver Premiere

Duration: 3:48

Autistic Joy is a micro short poetry film exploring the side of autism that often goes unspoken and under-explored: the joyful. From happy stimming to sensory delight, Autistic Joy delivers an insight into the positives within our autistic experience. "Our experiences stand together. We are learning our place by the day. The world is so bright with us in it."

Autistic Joy was co-produced in collaboration with autistic peers, project managed by an autistic woman, and produced with a primarily neuodivergent cast and crew.

Project Manager, Writer, Producer: Maddi Crease

Director, Camera Operator, Editor: Aaron Shrimpton

Sound Designer: Steve Pretty

Movement Director: Hollie Dee 

Actors: Liberty Bliss, Abigail Deehan, Rupert Vaughan

Supported using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Developed with the help of a Metal residency

With thanks to Andrea Walter and SAFE Essex, Essex Film Collective

With thanks to: Maggie B, Cee Kros, Paul Southeward, Tom Randell, Caroline T, Colin Newton, Ande CQ, Ricci Read, Nichola B, & 1 other focus group member for their contributions.

© Maddi Crease and New Waverley Studios Limited

Priyanka Tope (Canada) EMERGING

Vancouver Premiere

Duration: 12:03

Content warning: coarse language, mention of violence and genocide 

History moves in cycles, like a pendulum that swings but never settles. Societies rise and fall, repeating mistakes under new names. Though we claim progress, we often ignore the lessons etched in time. Wars return, injustices resurface, and ignorance persists. Perhaps comfort in the familiar or fear of change. Yet, hope still flickers. Awareness grows, voices rise, and movements push boundaries once thought immovable. Breaking the cycle demands more than remembrance—it requires courage, and choice. This dance film explores contemporary stories while rooting in the ancient dance form of Kathak.

Director: Priyanka Tope

Creative Director/Cinematographer: Stefan Sago

Writer: Priyanka Tope

Dancer: Priyanka Tope

Music composer: Saskia Rao de Has

Musicians: Sasika Rao de Has, Tejas Tope, Priyanka Tope

Commissioned by: Hamilton Arts Council

Kaili Che (Canada) EMERGING

Vancouver Premiere

Duration: 10:25

STITCHING CHANGE is a dance short film that unravels the intricate systems of overconsumption and environmental impact within the textile industry. It invites audiences to reflect on the choices that shape our world and envision new ways of coexisting with the land and each other.

Director & Producer: Kaili Che

Production Assistant: Brianne Chan

Movement Artist & Performers: Juolin Lee, Tin Gamboa, Sarah U, Sierra Megas, & Kaili Che

Cinematographers: Carla Alcántara & danielle Mackenzie Long

Costumes: Nellie Gossen & Kaili Che in collaboration with Movement Artists & Performers

Soundscape Artists & Composers: Ariane Custodio & Elijah Payne

Boom Operator: danielle Mackenzie Long & Ariane Custodio

Production & Installation Designer: Nellie Gossen

Crew Members: Makaila Che, Krystal Che, Jon Kwok, Michael Yu

Editors: Carla Alcántara & Kaili Che

Colourist: Brenda Kent Colina

Creative Description: Andrea Cownden

Mentor: Sophia Wolfe

Outside Eye: Kelly McInnes

Accessibility Consultant: Adrienne Wong

Climate Dramaturgy: Chaprece Henry

Sara Wylie (Canada) EMERGING

Duration: 4:58

Content warning: discussion of illness and disability

A meditation on crip time and resistance by a chronically ill filmmaker, shot on Super 8 and (mostly) eco-processed by hand. The short film addresses conventional narratives around the nature of illness and instead posits disability and crip time as natural sites of resistance against capitalism.

Director/Producer/Editor: Sara Wylie

Montreal Steppers is a performance collective and non-profit organization committed to the art form of step – a black diasporic dance that uses the body as an instrument to create rhythms and beats, through stomps, claps, and chants. The collective’s praxis centers the lives and aspirations of those most marginalized and to create space and initiatives and foster collaboration across communities to support each other and thrive together. Founded in 2019, the collective has used stepping to influence dialogue around the importance of black art, black lives, and black history in Canada, by way of workshops and performances. Montreal Steppers have offered educational workshops to over 20,000 participants in over 50 institutions and organizations across the province of Quebec.

Brandon Wint is an Ontario-born poet, spoken word artist, educator and filmmaker based in western Canada. For more than a decade, Brandon has been a sought-after touring performance poet, having shared his work all over Canada, and internationally at festivals and showcases in the United States, Australia, Jamaica, Latvia and Lithuania. Brandon is ever-grateful for the power of poetry as a spiritual technology and social force. He is devoted to using poetry as a tool for refining his sense of justice, love, and intimacy. Brandon Wint's poems and essays have been published in The Ex Puritan, Event Magazine, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Black Writers Matter, among other places. Divine Animal (Write Bloody North, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry. In recent years, his films have screened at  DOXA documentary film festival and Reelworld Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival Centre.

Photo by Divya Nanray