Short films that make a splash!
Ziyou (Freedom)
Toronto Premiere | CANADA | 2017 | 8 min
The Deep End
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2017 | 1.5 min
Still Here: 200 Years on The Erie Canal
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2017 | 5 min
Melting Stars
Toronto Premiere | CANADA | 2017 | 15 min
Angel of the Deep
Canadian Premiere | GERMANY | 2017 | 4 min
The Seahorse: Symbol of Life
North American Premiere | UK | 2017 | 14 min
Revive Our Rivers
INDIA | 2017 | 2 min
A Tale of Two Cities
World Premiere | USA | 2018 | 14 min
Something in the Water
Canadian Premiere | NEW ZEALAND | 2016 | 18 min
Water Warriors
Toronto Premiere | USA | 2017 | 22 min
Emcee: Dr. Stephen Scharper,
Associate Professor, U of T
Ziyou (Freedom)
Toronto Premiere | CANADA | 2017 | 8 min
Filmmaker: Goh Iromoto
Emily Chan is an avid kayaker who has always lived life to the fullest, but when she faces the biggest challenge of her life, she must face this chapter as if it may be her last. In the end, by way of her inspirational journey, she shows us how one can live a life without regrets.
The Deep End
Canada Premiere | USA | 2017 | 1.5 min
Filmmaker: Kevin Fan
This animated short depicts the inner monologue of a swimmer while visualizing his race.
Still Here: 200 Years on The Erie Canal
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2017 | 5 min
Filmmakers: Jake Coulter, Kristen Carton, Tonya Coulter
This short documentary celebrates the beginning of The Erie Canal's bicentennial period by taking a brief look at its history, as well as its modern day relevance.
Melting Stars
Toronto Premiere | CANADA | 2017 | 15 min
Filmmaker: Kate Green
MELTING STARS unravels the mystery behind one of the most catastrophic species die offs in recorded history. In 2013 scuba divers off the West coast of British Columbia discovered that the star fish were dying in the millions and suffering horrific deaths. They were disintegrating into goo on the ocean floor and the environmental balance of the marine ecosystem was being changed. Soon the immensity of this epidemic came to light and what researchers had dubbed the Sea Star Wasting Syndrome was now effecting several star fish species all along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico. The virus was also discovered in preserved museum samples from the 1940’s. So what has changed? MELTING STARS follows the clues on this marine mystery.
Angel of the Deep
Canadian Premiere | GERMANY | 2017 | 4 min
Filmmaker: Florian Fischer
‘Breathe slowly, deeply … then it will come to transfer your consciousness and take you to another space … to another existence!’ – A mystical experience with Thresher Sharks on Malapascua, told in this short film with Lanch E Alimaida and Hayward Coleman.
The Seahorse: Symbol of Life
North American Premiere | UK | 2017 | 14 min
Filmmaker: Alex C. Rivera
Animals hunt and kill to eat. When they have satisfied their hunger they do not hunt for pleasure. On the contrary, the human being hunts and captures for the simple fact of having a souvenir, to make a show or to observe animals in captivity. The Seahorse is a bioindicator species. Its presence indicates a rich and healthy ecosystem and its absence tells us the opposite.
Revive Our Rivers
INDIA | 2017 | 2 min
Filmmaker: Abhishek Jain
Natural resources like rivers, forests and mountains have sustained human life for centuries. Yet, they are at the disposal of humans too. We extract what we want from them to the fullest, but we treat the very source of the energy we thrive on with utter disdain. In India, rivers are considered to be holy. Ironically, we dump our sewage in these very rivers. We take no effort to protect and preserve them. We take them for granted.
A Tale of Two Cities
World Premiere | USA | 2018 | 14 min
Filmmaker: Miranda Fox for The Story of Stuff Project
A TALE OF TWO CITIES tells the story of citizens from two very different Michigan communities—picturesque, small town Evart and gritty, industrial Flint— that have found their futures inextricably linked by a threat to the one thing that all life requires: water. In our third short documentary, we explore the growing threat of water privatization and what happens when government runs a critical function, like providing clean drinking water, as if it were a business.
Something in the Water
Canadian Premiere | NEW ZEALAND | 2016 | 18 min
Filmmaker: Leo Hyde
Follow the struggle of Greek activists and unionists as they fight against the troika-imposed privatization of their public water service. The film focuses on the fight for public water in Thessaloniki, where, despite 98.2% of voters choosing to maintain public control, the Troika continues to push for privatization, with French multinational Suez set to buy a significant share. However Yiorgos, the president of the local Water Workers' Union, along with his wide coalition of activists and allies aren't throwing in the towel just yet.
Water Warriors
Toronto Premiere | USA | 2017 | 22 min
Filmmaker: Michael Premo
WATER WARRIORS is the story of a community’s successful fight to protect their water from the oil and natural gas industry. In 2013, Texas-based SWN Resources arrived in New Brunswick, Canada to explore for natural gas. The region is known for its forestry, farming and fishing industries, which are both commercial and small-scale subsistence operations that rural communities depend on. In response, a multicultural group of unlikely warriors–including members of the Mi’kmaq Elsipogtog First Nation, French-speaking Acadians and white, English-speaking families–set up a series of road blockades, sometimes on fire, preventing exploration. After months of resistance, their efforts not only halted drilling; they elected a new government and won an indefinite moratorium on fracking in the province.
