Good day.

• Curated resources: Sean Baker’s “Anora”, upcoming deadlines + residency announcement from TPFF, and readings on recent films highlighting marginalized narratives.

• REEL TALK Preview: Alexander Farah

• My recs: music, short film, current read!

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Evolve with Art: Curated Resources

Essential Reads:

• Short of the Week: “Short Film Anthology selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at Oscars.” – a brief view of how an anthology of shorts differing in approaches enable us as viewers to see real, on-the-ground stories and experiences from Gaza.

• The Conversation: “Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ disrupts popular narratives of Mumbai” – a fascinating opinion piece on the recent Grand Prix-price winner at 2024 Cannes Film Award. Trailer here.

• Create.Repeat: “You Can’t Teach Perspective” - a breeze & sweet reminder that you are the most viable investor in your artistry and your life <3

Essential Watches:

• Sean Baker on Making “Anora,” a comprehensive conversation on Baker’s directorial and artistic vision.

• Diagonale Short Film Explained: An Interview with Director Anne Thorens by Shorts of the Week.

Grants, Fundings, Fellowships

• JustFilms Documentary Fund by Ford Foundation. Due December 6, 2024.

• Documentary Lab Application by Film Independent. Due December 16, 2024.

• Women in Films Fellowship Applications for directors, writers, cinematographers, business and crew. All due January 13, 2025

• Call for Residency: Toronto Palestinian Film Festival for Palestinian filmmakers to develop projects with the guidance and support of TPFF and guest artist mentor. Selected works will be screened at the 2024 TPFF. Due January 22, 2025.

Upcoming Reel Talk: ALEXANDER FARAH

This Saturday, I’m sitting down with Alexander Farah, a poise and incredible filmmaker whose work does not just bring about soulful artistry–it rips your heart open, one shot at a time. We’ll be deep-diving into Alex’s craft, stories, and the creative process behind his TIFF-Premiered short One Day This Kid, which also had an international premiere at AFI Fest this past October.

Synopsis of One Day This Kid:

Below is the text that has inspired Alex to create One Day This Kid, a photo-text collage titled “Untitled (One Day, This Kid)”. It features a childhood image of David Wojnarowicz–the artist of this piece–smiling and neatly dressed in a 1950s-style school portrait. Surrounding this innocent image are texts predicting his future struggles as a gay man, detailing persecution by his family, church, school, government, and medical system. The text forewarns of electro-shock therapy, forced conditioning, and the loss of civil rights, jobs, and freedoms—all because he "desires to place his naked body on the naked body of another boy."

Films, Music, Reads: What I’ve Been Up To

A little roundup of what I’ve been consuming!

• Favourite tune: “Paper Thin” by nemahsis.

• Favourite film: Made in Hong Kong by Fruit Chan. Watch the full film here.

• Current read: Fruit Chan’s Made in Hong Kong by Esther M. K. Cheung, a comprehensive analysis on the film Made In Hong Kong (1997), one of the most reflective and poignant films about the Handover period in Hong Kong cinema.

A quote from the book that I love:

Stay Connected

That’s it for today. Hug your loved ones. Be with your communities.

AND tune in to read our conversation this Saturday.

Talk soon x.

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