Queer Emergencies | Short Film Exhibition
One of the consequences of COVID-19 has been the widespread loss of work and income for artists. Almost all screenings, festivals, events and exhibitions have been cancelled on short notice, leaving artists without income. At TQFF, we want to do what we can to support our communities in these extraordinary times. To do our part, we started an emergency fund to pay artists for new work. This screening is the first program to come out of that campaign.
The opening of the Queer Emergencies exhibition was livestreamed on April 30th beginning at 8:00 p.m. The program is available for viewing now until the end of May 2020 here.
Queer Emergencies features:
Films
Dear Journal
Amanda Ann-Min Wong
Amanda Ann-Min Wong’s Dear Journal juxtaposes isolations past and present using a montage of interior and exterior empty spaces narrated by journal entries. (this film contains brief mentions of suicidality, sexual assault and depression)
Amanda Ann-Min Wong is a filmmaker, sound artist, and musician. Originally from Singapore, she now lives in Toronto. Her debut narrative short “Swim Low” (2016) was nominated for a Best Canadian Short Award at VAFF. Recent documentary works include “An Object of Merit” and the archival project “The Way We Are”.
As Many Worlds
Evelyn Pakinewaatik
Evelyn Pakinewaatik brings us As Many Worlds, a film which straddles fiction and non-fiction, waking and dreaming life as well as past and present. Dreams are the primary medium for this art. From Nipissing First Nation.
Evelyn Pakinewatik is an emerging artist, writer, educator, and director of Ojibwe and Irish ancestry whose work primarily explores the intersection of dreams and memory.
Mindalaes in Quarantine (WT)
Samay Arcentales Cajas
Mindalaes in Quarantine (WT) by Samay Arcentales Cajas is a documentary bearing witness to the impact of the pandemic on a family business. The necessary closure compromises a generational dream. Hever, the family adapts and ultimately rises to the occasion, displaying a moving combination of creativity and resilience.
Working In
Vanessa Dion Fletcher
The only infomercial worth watching is Working In with Vanessa Dion Fletcher. Get expert guidance on optimal self-care through such activities as snacking and rest. Instead of ‘working out’ try working in!
Vanessa Dion Fletcher is a Lenape and Potawatomi neurodiverse Artist.
Natalie King
A Sacred Place
Natalie King takes the opportunity to examine Queerness, Femininity and Indigeneity through the body in A Sacred Place. When there’s nowhere to go, the inward and the intangible become ripe for exploration.
Natalie King is a queer Anishinaabekwe artist, facilitator and member of Timiskaming First Nation. King practices drawing, painting and installation from a critical, decolonizing, equity-oriented, non-oppressive and future-bound perspective.
ice on the window like a thousand small bees
Catherine Jones
In ice on the window like a thousand small bees, Catherine Jones uses collage and found footage to explore the remoteness of the bisexual body in the context of biphobic stigma and disease-shaming. The tension between competing needs forms the backbone of this extraordinary work.
Catherine Jones is a Toronto-based collage artist whose work explores life as a bisexual femme, madness & chronic pain. She is the founder of the Bi+ Arts Festival.
3%
Thembani Mdluli
3% is an abstract exploration by Thembani Mdluli of Covid-10’s estimated kill rate. It is a response to the callousness of a society built on the expendability of Black & Brown lives.
Thembani Mdluli is a Toronto based writer, filmmaker and media artist and is also one half of a writing collaboration with Toronto based poet and artist, Jasbina Justice.