Altered Realities
Short Films
From a psychedelic beach fever dream to the current housing landscape in Montreal, the films in this program play with form and pacing, creating new worlds to delve into the old human struggles to connect.
Directors Swaroop Elamon, Mindslip and Bruna Arbex, Introduction both use humour in flipped ways to scratch on underlying tensions for people living on the margins. The seen and unseen is explored in Solara Thanh-Bình Đặng’s poetic formalistic work, Lệ
similar to how phantom city zoning creates real demarcation for communities in Eli Jean Tahchi’s Neighbors in my backyard. Futuristic worlds are used as a story engine to understand human isolation for Charter directors Asif Limbada & Alireza Shojaei, and The Future Above Us director Vanessa Magic. In Cloud Striker, the western thriller is given a new lease with A.W. Hopkins’ depiction of an Indigenous father’s quest to find his son lost in the residential school system.
Connecting all these projects are deeply curious filmmakers using all the filmic language at their disposal for audiences to experience worlds outside of their purview, and possibly shift their perspective. - Safia Abdigir
This year, we will be screening shorts from Altered Realities at Paradise Cinemas, 1006 Bloor St W, Toronto. Screenings will be held on Friday, November 3rd at 6:00PM (81 Minutes).
Following the screening will be a Q&A.
Mindslip
5 MINUTES | ENGLISH, MALAYALAM | CANADA
A young man wakes up in a train in Toronto without any recollection of how he got to Canada from India. The search for his memories leads him to a chance encounter with a fellow Indian who might have the solution to the predicament.
_01_03_11_20_Still005%20-%20Bruna%20Arbex.jpg)
Introduction
11 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
What Molly had assumed would be a relaxing day at a deserted beach turns into a completely surreal experience. She is in her 40’s and has the looks and conceptions of the typical “middle-aged white woman from the suburbs”. Once strange, seemingly out of place characters show up at the beach and start interacting with her, Molly panics. She confronts them, questioning their right to be at the beach with her. What she doesn’t know is that yet another character is going to join and show her in the most unexpected way who really is out of place. This final encounter will change her perspective and ability to reach acceptance in her heart as well as teach her the concept of unconditional tolerance.
Lệ
1 MINUTE | VIETNAMESE | CANADA
A young Vietnamese woman reclaims her name and ponders a violent revenge on her controlling in-law family.
Cloud Striker
13 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
Elijah Cloud Striker was stolen. His father rides for weeks, visiting every residential school within hundreds of miles to find him. On the morning the Chief finds the right school, what he walks in on is more than any father can endure. Revenge is the only course of action.
The Future Above Us
16 MINUTES 54 SECONDS | ENGLISH | CANADA
After a cosmic disaster leaves Earth virtually empty, a hopeful yet sombre woman experiencing pareidolia who yearns to find connection must decide what lengths she will go to for companionship.
Charter
17 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
The year is 2030, inflation is at an all time high and wars are raging all over the world forcing the majority of populations into poverty. The world’s governments have decided to capitalize on all forms of renewable energy in efforts to distribute it to those who can afford it, leaving many without electricity. Feller, who works for a solar farm, illegally captures solar energy and trades electric pods for goods and services.
Neighbors in my Backyard
15 MINUTES | ENGLISH | CANADA
Between Parc-Extension and the town of Mont-Royal, a scar in space creates a strange dichotomy between two neighborhoods.