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CineSiege 2004

Nominees | Jury's Selection

Bath Time (6:38 min)

Director & Editors: Chelsea McMullan, Raha Esfahani
Cinematography & Sound: Alex Coronado Cortez, Matt Lloyd

A girl's fear of the bathtub quickly turns into an outlet for her imagination.

Jury note: In this small, quirky film with great underwater footage, camera placement and lens choice set the sixties' stage perfectly.

Cycle (6:42 min)

Director & Editors: Nico Pereda, Chelsea McMullan
Cinematography & Editing: Alejandro Coronado, Shannon Hanmer

A young man's erratic bicycle journey.

Jury note: The hi-con film stock itself suffers the same concussive blows as the protagonist in this affecting film made with very minimal visual means and a unique approach to storytelling.

Duck Blind (20 min)

Director & Writer: Matt Lennox
Producer: J.J. Stocker
Cinematography: Pavel Patriki
Editor: Melissa Brenner
Sound Design: Mike Tersigni

Memory, sacrifice, and the spectre of war. A lonesome veteran finds redemption in an unexpected friendship.

Jury note: A hugely ambitious film which puts a human and local face to the amorphous term 'war' and poignantly asks: Who are the sitting ducks and where is the lie that justifies war?

Forever Boy (22 min)

Director & Editor: Lara Mrkoci
Cinematography & Sound: Jacqui Okum

Andrej, the filmmaker's brother, has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder. This documentary attempts to capture Andrej's perspective and winds up exploring the family's struggle to understand his unique reality.

Jury note: This courageous and memorable documentary manages complexity without forcing it. The family and filmmaker's involvement is key.

Hawaii (10:08 min)

Director: Chris Nash
Cinematography: Dave Clark
Editor & Special Effects: Adi Ashburner
Sound: Josh Boles

One day while walking home from his job on an assembly line, Roc spots a woman and instantly falls in love. She requests one impossible task from Roc: to give her the sun.

Jury note: A dark evocation of urban life with a very effective sound score and a stick figure hero alive with unexpected emotion. The grey sterility, detritus and ambiguous ending are masterfully handled.

Hysterica & The Wandering Womb (5 min)

Director: Michelle Lovegrove Thomson

Rendered in hand-cranked black and white, this film is a stylized and melodramatic look at the pathologizing of women's bodies by science in the past century.

Jury note: The hi-con, silent-movie treatment perfectly suits Thomson's send-up of the doctor's treatment of female hysteria - scary stuff indeed but offered with intriguing visuals.

Life Eternal (16 min)

Director & Editor: Andres Livov-Macklin Cinematography: Jorge Rangel
Sound: Tamar Ditzian

A family visit to Argentina in December 2003 explores three different points of view on life, death, memory and growing old.

Jury note: An elegant consideration of time, aging and eternity set within the question, 'What is the role of cinema, of image-making?' Lovely and wistful, the simplicity hides a refreshing lack of pretense.

MAGgie (5:30 min)

Director: Andrew Lennox

A hand-made film.

Jury note: The complex visual effects and the intriguing use of colour and texture, achieved through toning, tinting and re-filming, create the film's contemplative, meditative mood.

Pepsi U (22 min)

Director: Paul Germain
Editors: Paul Germain, Mladen Kovacevic
Cinematography: May Chew, Justin Maalihan, Mladen Kovacevic, Jan-Paul Tibensky, Emmanuel Mutsune

A documentary about York University, higher education in general, student debt, rising tuition and the corporatization of campuses. How much does learning really figure into the university experience and why are there Pepsi ads everywhere?

Jury note: This Canadian Michael Moore demonstrates his strong filmmaking instincts and challenges the community around him to look at itself. This is the best of what documentary can do.

Sometimes People Forget (6 min)

Directors: Jacqui Okum, Aaron Van Borek
Characters: Reesa DelDuca
Sound Effects: Marq Toller

In the post-post modern world of giant cities and human enhancement, three societal misfits, "dark," "stark," and "strange", find themselves reconnecting with something ancient and profound in this completely 'hand-made' film.

Jury note: In this interesting commentary on the consequences of conformity, the filmmakers display an innovative use of the artistry of drawing matched by thought-provoking subject matter. Beautiful!

Stuck (11 min)

Director: Nick Butler
Cinematography: Jacqui Okum
Editor: Andres Livov-Macklin
Sound: Katie Quanz, Tamar Ditzian

Three very different strangers find themselves caught in an elevator together.

Jury note: Very nice three-part parallel structure and a nice light touch as the three protagonists share a moment that might - we are left to consider after the film's end - unstick them from the ruts of their lives.

Turn it off (18 min)

Director & Editor: Brad McGregor
Cinematography: Carl Elster, Mara Epstein

A short documentary attempting to debunk the myth of sustainable development and show how close the empire of economic growth has brought us to the ends of the humanity.

Jury note: The very important topic of energy consumption is explored in a reasoned and yet soul-searching film that offers hope for the future precisely because of the integrity, seriousness and sensitivity of these young filmmakers.

Withdrawal (18 min)

Director: Elise Cousineau
Producer: Pete Adams
Director of Photography: Christine Jeoffroy
Editor: Samantha Stokell
Sound: Conall Pendergast
Assistant Director: Morgan Passi

No one should have to be lonely.

Jury note: The characters are well developed and interesting and their dialogue resonates with real life in this poignant commentary about the complex nature of friendship.