Ways of seeing

Kate and I went to check out the Short Cuts Canada screening tonight at the Isabel Bader Theatre. Our friend Dylan Reibling has a short called Record in the festival, and it turned out to be one of seven thoroughly enjoyable films on the bill tonight.

All seven films will screen again tomorrow at 4:00 PM at Jackman Hall. Get down there if you’re able. In addition to seeing the films themselves, you’ll be able to catch a “Q & A” session afterwards featuring all seven directors.

At tonight’s screening, for example, a woman in the crowd noted that three of the seven films touched on the theme of suicide, and she asked the directors of those films what led them to confront that subject. One director explained that he wanted to slow down a moment of emotional collapse in order to explore it. Another said her film was inspired by the awkwardness of adolescence. Then the remaining five directors looked at each other until they figured out which of their films she was talking about, and the director of that film stepped forward and politely explained that suicide had nothing to do with it. In the end, we all learned a lesson about the power of audience interpretation.

What will you take away from the films in this year’s Short Cuts Canada program? Why don’t you head down to Jackman Hall tomorrow and find out?

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