The Absence (part of Diaspora in Short)
Hawa Aliou N’diaye, Senegal/France, 2016, 8 min, Canadian Premiere My father moved away from the family. His absence ruined my childhood. Today, I have the impression that his spirit haunts me wherever I go. I see him in every old man I meet.
Big City (part of Diaspora in Short)
Jordan Bond and Lachlan Ryan, Australia, 2016, 9 min, Canadian Premiere Vijay, a lonely taxi driver who recently moved to Melbourne, picks up a stray drunk, Chris. Vijay’s distrust is slowly broken down as Chris befriends him. Over the course of the night Chris experiences some of Vijay
Baobab Bark (part of Diaspora in Short)
Mariana Luiza, Brezil, 2017, 12min, Canadian Premiere Maria, a young black woman entered college through the system of racial quotas and now lives abroad. Francisca, her mother, still works on a sugarcane plantation. Both exchange letters that revive memories and reflects the end of an economic-soci
Ayny – My Second Eye (part of Diaspora in Short)
Ahmad Saleh, Jordan/Palestine/Germany, 2016, 10 min While venturing outside to collect scrap metal to buy a music instrument, two boys get trapped in a deadly danger. The strength they inherited from their mother keeps them standing.
Water on Sand (part of Diaspora in Short)
Nathalie Attallah, Canada, 2017, 7 min, Toronto Premire In Water on Sand, the filmmaker’s brother and grandmother reflect on their feelings and experiences as members of the Lebanese diaspora, giving rise to an inter-generational narrative about immigration and cultural displacement.
Toprak (part of Diaspora in Short)
Onur Yagiz, France, 2017, 11 Min, Canadian Premiere Toprak, 8, translates for his parents who can’t speak French. Today, he goes to the hospital with them for his mother’s second trimester examination. He will be the first one to know if the twin babies are brothers or sisters.
Sanctuary (part of Diaspora in Short)
Farid Zarrinbal and Harald Sandø, Sweden/Norway, 2017, 15 min, North American Premiere A young asylum seeker searches for his serenity with a few obstacle to overcome.
The Other Side (part of Diaspora in Short)
Griselda San Martin, Spain, 2017, 6 min, Canadian Premiere Jose Marquez, a musician deported from the US, and his daughter Susanna have been separated for almost 15 years but meet every month on either side of the US-Mexico border wall.
Shahrzaad’s Tale
Shahin Parhami, Canada/Iran/South Korea, 2015, 129 min, In Farsi with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Official Selection, Busan International Film Festival 2015; Fribourg International Film Festival 2016; Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2015; Montreal World Film Festival 2016; San
Soy Nero
Rafi Pitts, USA, 2016, 120 min, in English and Spanish with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Winner, Bucharest FF 2016: Festival Prize; Nominated, Berlin FF 2016: Golden Bear, Amnesty International Nero is a 19-year-old deported Mexican. After several attempts he finally manages to return to his h
Roj Means Sun
Mahsa Razavi, Canada, 2016, 18 min, in Kurdish with English Subtitles North American Premiere Rojin, a Kurdish- Canadian girl battles both her mother and her mother tongue, as she grieves the recent death of her father, killed in a battle in the Shingal Mountains, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Junction 48
Udi Aloni, Israel/Germany, 95 min, 2016, in Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles Canadian Premiere Winner, Berlin FF 2016: Audience Award; Tribeca FF 2016: Jury Award; Israeli Film Academy: Best Music, Best Sound, Best Actor; Art Film Slovakia: Best Film, Best Actor Kareem, a young Palestinian m
Marry Me!
Neelesha Barthel, Germany, 2015, 94 min, in German, English, Hindi, Turkish with English Subtitles Canadian Premiere A culture clash comedy Kissy, a German-Indian woman in her late twenties, happily living with her seven-year-old daughter Meena in Berlin, oversees a building of rented apartments in