SHARE HER JOURNEY – Celebrating Female Directors at TIFF 2021

Posted on September 9, 2021 | by Aqleema Anwar

This year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) comes very close but does not beat last year’s record of almost 46% of the films screened having been directed by women.

However, considering only 50 feature films and 5 short films (the lowest in the festival’s 46-year history) were showcased at TIFF 2020, the submission of 72 female-directed films this year should still be applauded.

And of those 72 films, almost 20% were directed by Canadian filmmakers.

With the new launch of the Every Story Fund, festival organizers want to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in film. So, at Fusia Media we compiled a list of films to watch that celebrate BIPOC Canadian female filmmakers:

SHORTS

DEFUND

Directed by and starring Toronto-based Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah and Araya Mengesha.

The story follows twins that are trying to navigate not only their own but each other’s, responses to the fight for racial justice as well as the lockdown due to the pandemic in 2020.

**FANMI**

This film directed by Carmine Pierre-Dufour and Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosiers explores relationships. A woman tries to come to terms with her breakup while also dealing with her mother who has decided to show up, unannounced.
image: h264distribution.com

THE SYED FAMILY XMAS EVE GAME NIGHT

Directed by Fawzia Mirza, this comedy includes big personalities and a not-so-typical Muslim household over Christmas. The family game night gets really interesting when the little sister brings her new partner for dinner. It’s like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but South Asian.

MENEATH: THE HIDDEN ISLAND OF ETHICS

This stop-motion animation showcases the journey of a Metis girl, named Baby Girl, as she contemplates her path to hell. This short is the brainchild of Metis artist and filmmaker Terril Calder.

NUISANCE BEAR

Directed by Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden, this powerful void-of-dialogue film captures the juxtaposition of polar bears as they cross a rural road and the tourists who have gathered to try and capture every movement. The silence of human voice speaks volume in this moving piece.

SRIKANDI

Based on an Indonesian myth of a female warrior, who stands alone among larger-than-life heroes, director Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto retells this story of a woman who faces challenges to carry on her late father’s traditions of puppetry.

FEATURES

NIGHT RAIDERS

“Danis Goulet. Remember that name. With several groundbreaking short films behind her, the director makes her feature debut with one of the most important Canadian films in recent memory.” – TIFF website

Directed by Danis Goulet, this is a science fiction apocalyptic film. But the parallels of storytelling between the children in the film, post-North American war, being forced into State Academies and the assimilation of indigenous children in Canada was completely intentional.

This is a powerful film with an even powerful message.

QUICKENING

Pakistani-Canadian director Haya Waseem debuts her feature film which follows the story of Sheila (a Pakistani-Canadian teenager) as she looks to gain the freedoms that her friends have. She loses her virginity to her boyfriend who then suddenly breaks up with her. This causes Sheila to struggle with her mental health; a topic not often discussed in South Asian culture.

SCARBOROUGH

Adapted from the novel by the same name by author Catherine Hernandez, this film showcases three low-income families that are struggling to find their place within a system that is only set up for them to fail. Directors Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson’s film takes place over the span of a school year and follows the challenges and joys that three families share as they battle debt, addiction, and job security.

Showtimes for all of these films can be found on the TIFF website.

videos sourced from TIFF