CineSiege 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 — 7:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox
350 King St. West, Toronto
Admission: Free
CineSiege 2012 is a juried showcase screening of outstanding productions created in 2011-12 by talented young filmmakers in York University's Department of Film.
The program will feature a selection of short films - riveting dramas, cutting-edge experimental works and provocative documentaries - chosen by five external jurors. Their CineSiege picks are selected from a shortlist of 19 productions nominated from the total pool of 144 films made at York last year.
Jurors will be on hand at CineSiege to introduce the winning films and explain why they were selected.
Jurors
Karen Gordon, movie columnist for CBC Radio One's "Metro Morning"
Rick Hancox, experimental filmmaker
Patricia Rozema, feature filmmaker and television director
Alan Zweig, documentary filmmaker
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Karen Gordon
Karen Gordon is a Toronto-based a writer, broadcaster, producer, story editor and film reviewer. Her credits as writer and story editor include numerous telelvision documentary and lifestyle series ranging from "The Nature of Things" (CBC) to "Ol Pej Diaries" (Knowledge Network) to David Rocco's "Dolce Vita" (Food Network Canada). Her broadcast credits include a variety of CBC Radio One shows, notably "As It Happens" and "Fresh Air". Currently she is the film critic for CBC Radio One's flagship program, "Metro Morning".
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Rick Hancox
Rick Hancox grew up in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, and all three locations have informed his finely crafted experimental documentaries, which fuse personal landscapes with issues of time, memory and history. His work demonstrates, through the cinematic image, how personal memory is mediated by social and historical contexts.
Hancox often blends the poetic with the cinematic, as in his trilogy of "poetry films" – Waterworx (1982), Landfall (1983) and Beach Events (1985). He is also known for autobiographical documentaries such as Home for Christmas (1978) and Moose Jaw (1992), which hailed by Take One magazine as one of the ten best films made in Canada at the time.
Hancox taught at Sheridan College for 12 years, where he influenced a generation of Canadian independent filmmakers including documentarians Alan Zweig, Janis Cole and Holly Dale, and experimental filmmakers Richard Kerr, Philip Hoffman, Mike Hoolboom and others, who, along with Hancox, have been recognized as belonging to a movement in Canadian cinema known as the Escarpment School. He has been professor of film in the Communication Studies Department at Concordia University since 1985.
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Robert LantosIn 1972, as a graduate student at McGill University, Robert Lantos co-founded the company that ultimately morphed into Alliance Communications, Canada’s largest film and television production/distribution company and a leading broadcaster. He served as chairman and CEO of Alliance, taking the company public in 1993 and selling his controlling interest in 1998. He currently makes films at his Serendipity Point Films shingle.
Lantos has produced some 40 motion pictures. Highlights include: Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee Barney's Version; Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Eastern Promises; Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Being Julia; Golden Globe nominee and European Film Award and Best Picture Genie Award winner Sunshine; Cannes Grand Prix winner, Academy Award nominee and Best Picture Genie Award winner The Sweet Hereafter; Cannes Special Jury Prize winner Crash; Best Picture Genie Award winners Black Robe and Ararat. His long-running, award-winning television series include "Due South", "E.N.G", "North of 60", "Counterstrike" and "Night Heat".
Lantos is a member of the Order of Canada and holds an honorary doctorate from McGill University. He sits on the board of directors of eOne.
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Patricia Rozema
Patricia Rozema's feature films include I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, White Room, When Night is Falling, Mansfield Park, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and Grey Gardens. I've Heard the Mermaids Singing won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and that year was voted one of Canada's ten best films ever as polled by 100 international critics.
Rozema won an Emmy Award and was nominated for a Grammy for her film Six Gestures, part of the series Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach. Her work on the HBO movie Grey Gardens, starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore, earned her a PEN USA nomination and an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing.
Other television credits include the The Beckett Film Project's Happy Days, the pilot and two subsequent episodes of the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me, and most recently, an episode of the HBO series In Treatment. Most recently she directed several episodes of the CBC series Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays. Projects in development including an adaptation of Robert Munsch's beloved classic, The Paperbag Princess.
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Alan Zweig
Documentarian Alan Zweig frequently uses film to explore his own life. In Vinyl (2000) he investigates what drives people to become record collectors, using his own experience to delve into the effects of this passion on a life. I, Curmudgeon (2004), a film about self-declared curmudgeons, shot on a camcorder with Zweig using a mirror to record his own experiences, won a Silver Hugo at the 2005 Chicago International Film Festival. Lovable (2007) addresses our (and his) preoccupation with finding romantic perfection.
Zweig moved from autobiographical subject matter to explore the struggle of ex-convicts to lead normal lives in A Hard Name (2009), which received a Genie Award for best documentary. Many of Zweig's films have premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which devoted its Focus On screening series to Zweig's work in 2012.
CineSiege is made possible through the generous support of 
Nominees I - externally juried 3rd & 4th year productions
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A Slice of Life Every year, the town of Warkworth, Ontario hosts The Perfect Pie Contest. This year, a filmmaker attempts to bake a pie worthy of the competition. |
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Bad Movie A documentary tribute to films that fail. |
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Breaking Over Me A story of loss and friendship. |
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The Daily Special James may be the coolest kid at school, but when his older-brother duties and drug dealing tasks get mixed up, he just doesn't know how to handle it. |
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Erasermen Alex works at a company that erases online identities after death. He holds a prime position to turn this access into intimacy. |
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Free Parking Against his mother’s wishes, a young man drives to the big city in search of ‘the protest’. |
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Guerilla The story of two old Iranian men who were on opposite sides during Iran's underground armed uprising in the 1970s. |
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Home This is a journey through the subconscious, exploring place and memory from the perspective of a newly landed Chinese immigrant in Canada. Travelling both physically and metaphorically, from China to Canada and from her past into the present, Chun Yan reflects on what she has given up while struggling to understand her place in the new world. |
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Josh Schonblum's Currently Untitled 4th Year Film with Continuous Dolly Action Dolly Action |
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Loss Together How do you mourn for someone you don't really know? |
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Nebula A dream in death, the search for meaning and a gentle caress. |
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The Neoist Are coat hangers really telepathic devices? The Neoist provides the answer to this nervewracking question. You may just be inspired to set your steam iron on fire! |
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The Optimistic Sun A film in two parts which echo each other. Anne and James are near the end of their long and dreadful relationship. Illuminated by small gestures and changing spaces, The Optimistic Sun juxtaposes a young couple's unfortunate reality and a dream that could never be. |
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Schedz. Schedz. captures the world from the perspective of a young woman who suffers from schizophrenia. |
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Shadowboxing |
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Silence of the New A feeling of the loss of home and overpowering silence. A personal account of culture shock, told from the point of view of four people. |
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Sticks and Wheels Power hockey is a sport played in wheelchairs, devised for people who are paraplegic. The film focuses on the relationships of these players. |
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The Way of the Drum |
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White An existential tale inspired by the paintings and subject matter of artist David Blackwood (featuring a somewhat optimistic vision of global warming). |
Nominees II - internally juried
1st year productions
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Asanam Karoti A young monk struggles with sacred practices in the shadows of a secret temple. |
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The Intruder |
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Malachim |
2nd year productions
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Break An elementary school boy is pressured by his best friend to damage their teacher's car. |
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Breaking Limits Sacrifice, effort and hopes are all there when training for performing gymnastics. |
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My Brother Michael |
Award Winners
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Outstanding First-Year Film |
Asanam Karoti |
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Outstanding Second-Year Film
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Break |
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Best Fiction Film
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Erasermen |
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Best Documentary Film
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Guerilla |
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Best Alternative Film
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Home |
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Best Cinematography - Kodak Award
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Andrea Cuda for Shadowboxing |
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Best Screenplay
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Adrian Murray and Marcus Sullivan for Free Parking |
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Best Sound
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James Young for Shadowboxing |
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Best Editing
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Christina Wang for Loss Together |