Opening Night Film and Red Carpet Gala
Join us for the dynamic Opening Night Film and Red Carpet Gala to kick off 2015 Film Festival of Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival with an amazing wine and cheese reception!
The 5th Biennial Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival (TIDFAF) are very proud to announce Mr. Anthony Natale and Ms. Stephanie Nogueras, as TIDFAF’s exclusive Master of Ceremony. TIDFAF is a festival committed to the celebration of diversity, Deaf culture & cinema worldwide and we are thrilled to partner with Mr. Anthony Natale and Ms. Stephanie Nogeuras.
We are proud to announce that there will be co-presentation with Goethe Institut to join with us at the Opening Night Film and Red Carpet Gala where we will celebrate the diversity, Deaf culture & cinema worldwide.
Opening Night Film
“Die Mauer” (The Wall)
Genre: Documentary
Country: GERMANY
RT: 1 hour and 15 minutes
In the film “The Wall” 7 people share their experiences about the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided the German capital from 1961 to 1989. Deaf people were separated by Berlin Wall, too. There were two different Deaf clubs, two different Deaf communities within the separated city. When The Wall was opened in November 1989. Both Deaf communities started to meet each other. The main language in the film is German Sign Language and English Subtitles.
SHAKESPEARE: FOUND IN TRANSLATION
“Shakespeare: Found in Translation”
RT: 28 minutes | UNITED KINGDOM | British Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Documentary | Directed by: Cathy Heffernan
The film documents the journey of a small theatre company as it takes on the daunting challenge of translating Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into BSL and visual vernacular in just five weeks of rehearsal before a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe. Will their translation be successful: accessible theatre for both a deaf and hearing audience?
SUPERSONIC
“SuperSonic”
RT: 28 minutes 11 seconds | UNITED KINGDOM | British Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Fantasy/Drama | Directed by: Samuel Dore
Isaac has been going off the rails since his father left years ago, taking after the local mechanic he looks up to as the father-figure he is missing. But then his real, estranged father returns with a startling secret.
NO ORDINARY HERO: SUPERDEAFY MOVIE
“Die Mauer” (The Wall)
Genre: Documentary
Country: GERMANY
RT: 1 hour and 15 minutes
In the film “The Wall” 7 people share their experiences about the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided the German capital from 1961 to 1989. Deaf people were separated by Berlin Wall, too. There were two different Deaf clubs, two different Deaf communities within the separated city. When The Wall was opened in November 1989. Both Deaf communities started to meet each other. The main language in the film is German Sign Language and English Subtitles.
SHAKESPEARE: FOUND IN TRANSLATION
“Shakespeare: Found in Translation”
RT: 28 minutes | UNITED KINGDOM | British Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Documentary | Directed by: Cathy Heffernan
The film documents the journey of a small theatre company as it takes on the daunting challenge of translating Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into BSL and visual vernacular in just five weeks of rehearsal before a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe. Will their translation be successful: accessible theatre for both a deaf and hearing audience?
SUPERSONIC
“No Ordinary Hero: SuperDeafy Movie”
RT: 78 minutes | USA | American Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Comedy/Drama | Directed by: Troy Kotsur
SuperDeafy must reveal the man behind the cape to find true love and inspire a young deaf boy to believe in himself. The movie follows the evolution of this unique hero. A beloved character and role model, SuperDeafy has a world wide following. This film marks the first time in cinematic history, that SAG-AFTRA commercial feature film has been executive produced exclusively by deaf producers and directed by a deaf director.
MIRAME CUANDO TE HABLO
“Die Mauer” (The Wall)
Genre: Documentary
Country: GERMANY
RT: 1 hour and 15 minutes
In the film “The Wall” 7 people share their experiences
“Mirame cuando te hablo”
RT: 14 minutes | SPAIN | Lengua de signos Española, English Subtitles | Genre: Comedy | Directed by: Veru Rodriguez
The co-existence of four deaf friends is tested as they face unconventional situations.
about the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided the German capital from 1961 to 1989. Deaf people were separated by Berlin Wall, too. There were two different Deaf clubs, two different Deaf communities within the separated city. When The Wall was opened in November 1989. Both Deaf communities started to meet each other. The main language in the film is German Sign Language and English Subtitles.
THE TRIBE
“The Tribe”
RT: 134 minutes | UKRAINE | Ukrainian Sign Language | Genre: Drama | Directed by: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Teenage Sergey (Grigoriy Fesenko) , a new student at the boarding school, realizes immediately that he must prove himself worthy to be brought under the protective wing of the school gang’s leader to survive unscathed. After going through a series of harmless initiation pranks and rites, Sergey’s new-found clique soon introduces him to their common activities of robbery, bribery and prostitution. Assimilating seamlessly into his new role in the tribe, he compromises his position when he starts falling in love with his female classmate —and one of the gang’s escorts —triggering a series of stunningly diabolical events. **Winner of multiple Cannes Film Festival Awards-2014.
LONGHAND
“Longhand”
RT: 6 minutes | CANADA | American Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Drama | Directed by: John Marcucci
Amanda is hard of hearing. She dreams of being in the military as her father did before her. When she applies, she meets Ben, who works at the recruitment office. Ben has recently lost his hearing while serving a tour of duty with the military in the Middle East. They begin a relationship. Longhand is a story about balancing the physical, emotional challenges in life and fight for their aspirational dreams.
BRAVO
“BRAVO”
RT: 12 minutes | CANADA | Langue des Signes Québécoise and American Sign Language | Genre: Experimental | Directed by: Sylvain Gelinas
B-R-A-V-O! Power. Energy. Memory.
From the very beginning, the People of Eyes is a huge natural and technological machine that runs at a full charge. Inspiring. Passion. Fight for our rights. Tree of life. Vibrations. Preserving our language.
DEAF WOMEN, TELL ME / FEMMES SOURDES, DITES-MOI
“Deaf Women, Tell Me/Femmes sourdes, dites-moi”
RT: 40 minutes | CANADA | Langue des Signes Québécoise, English Subtitles | Genre: Documentary | Directed by: Marie-Andrée Boivin
These women attended the first and only school before 1973 (closing year) that welcomed deaf girls from Quebec and New Brunswick. Since 1851, the Sisters of Providence directed the Institut des sourdes-muettes de Montréal (Montreal Institute for Deaf-Mutes). This generation of deaf women all know each other in Quebec. They share a common history and a common language. They have told me their stories and now they are telling them to you.
TREE FAIRY
“Tree Fairy”
RT: 24 minutes 43 seconds | UNITED KINGDOM | British Sign Language, English Subtitles | Genre: Comedy/Drama | Directed by: Louis Neethling
A magical family tale of nine-year-old Libby and a tiny signing fairy who comes to grant her wishes, albeit in a rather unexpected way.
High Schools and Elementary Schools Education Day Awards:
- Elementary School Audience Choice Award: “ANYTHING” – E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, Grade 6, Milton Ontario
- High School Audience Choice Award: “High School with Girl”- Northern Secondary School, Toronto Ontario
Elementary Schools Education Day Certificates:
- 1st Prize: “ANYTHING”- E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, Grade 6, Milton Ontario
- 2nd Prize: “BRAVE”- E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, Grade 6, Milton Ontario
- 3rd Prize: “Amazing Race: SJW Edition”- Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf, Grade 4 and 5, Belleville Ontario.
High Schools Education Day Certificates:
- 1st Prize: “High School with Girl” – Northern Secondary School, Toronto Ontario
- 2nd Prize: “Loser Like Me”- Drewry Secondary School, Toronto Ontario
- 3rd Prize: “Strange Dream?”- E.C. Drury School for the Deaf, Milton Ontario
Canadian Arts Exhibition Deaf Artists Awards:
Donna Mae Bolai
Donna Mae Bolai is a deaf cartoonist who was born in Trinidad & Tobago. Raised in England from the age of 5, she attended Woodford School for the Deaf in England, and trained in oral deaf education.
As a child she always interested in animation after seeing Mickey Mouse and other Disney cartoon characters. Once she graduated, she returned home to Trinidad and began working as a graphic artist at McCann Ericson, the island’s leading advertising agency at that time. After many years of experience in the Ad agency, she decided she wanted to explore other creative avenues. She took courses in pottery, cake decoration, batik, brass jewellery and glass engraving.
Moving to Canada she learned ASL and began drawing cartoons for the deaf community paper. Today she has her own business; “Deaf Cartoons by Donna Mae” and as a freelance artist, she strives to create work that promotes the deaf culture and reflect her sense of humour.
David M. Sullivan
David M. Sullivan has been enrolled with some arts classes on his leisure time just only the season programs withthe help of ASL interpreters. Placed his artwork to the disability workshop once every Fall season in downtown communities. Drawing and colouring by the felt pens on the drawing books while coffeeing at the coffee shops.
A few times doing the acrylic paintings at the pub called “Raw Canvass” for a fun meeting with the strange hearing visitors. They supplied the many art histories and books of the famous masters. Pencil, oil painting and charcoal drawing art works on his leisure times. Outdoor BC West Coast scenery paintings.
Some of his artworks at Douglas College, Vancouver Community College,Roundhouse Arts gallery, Vancouver Downtown Bank Gallery’s, Quebec City and Toronto. One of his oil-painted artworks 16″x20″ of a young girl sitting, Hana who later died while in the concentration camp (the documentary film “Inside Hana’s Suitcase”) was presented to her survived wartime camp other brother, George Brady after the film was ended, now resides in Toronto.
Nivejah Navarathnam
Nivejah Navarathnam is a Deaf artist and has painted for the past 21 years beginning at the school she attended in Sri Lanka. She changed schools four times a year due to civil war in her country in 1994. Nivejah has since moved to Canada in 2013 and she is following her passion and continuing to draw beautiful pictures.
Canadian Arts Exhibition Deaf Artists Honourable Mention:
Samira Savadkoohi
Samira Savadkoohi was born in Tehran, Iran and now lives in Toronto. Samira is a deaf Persian artist. She graduated from University of Tehran with a MS degree in Environmental design. Samira works primarily in acrylic and Mixed Media on canvas with Persian Traditional paintings. Her artworks are almost in abstract influenced by Persian traditional and modern/contemporary Paintings which blatantly alters the forms of the real life entities depicted.
Peter Owusu-Ansah
Peter Owusu-Ansah is hard of hearing, born in Ghana in 1979. He moved to Canada in 1994. Peter became interest in visual art at the age of 25. He practice seeing a a lot of artworks by other people and attempted to create art from that experience. Peter’s work is not limited to what he may find in visual appearing to him, he photographs; he paint; he creates pop arts and pixel arts.
In photography, Peter took a part of master class with Vincenzo Pietropaolo in 2012. The master class lead to Toronto Street Level, a group show, Which was presented in September 2012. It also had been presented at Ryderson University in 2013 and recently at Kings College in London. Currently, Peter is a part of photography group show at Urban Space as a part of Strange Beauty hosted by Tangled Art. I am also creating a mural color grid painting.
Tiphaine Girault
Tiphaine Girault is a passionate artist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Comic Strip creation and design (bande dessinée) from the Université du Québec en Outaouais. She makes printmaking media. Tiphaine has delivered several workshops on comic strip creation, design and illustration, notably at the National Arts Museum. She participated on the Canadian Council for the Art’s committee on Deaf and Disability Arts. Tiphaine was involved on the curatorial committee for the City of Ottawa arts exhibition “Perceptions” in 2011 that was open to deaf artists and to the general public. Tiphaine wrote and performed an LSQ poem entitled “Rien n’est Impossible” that was later produced as a video and screened at the Toronto International DEAF film & Arts Festival in Feburary 2010.
Tiphaine has also presented on the topic of Deaf culture and the arts to several companies and organizations such as the National Film Board of Canada (2011) and the National Arts Gallery (2011). Tiphaine was the head of the set design and construction team for SPiLL’s production of “Yvon Kader – des Oreilles à la lune” presented at La Nouvelle Scène in Ottawa, Ontario (2012). Tiphaine has been working on a series of set design projects with the Ottawa Little Theatre. Tiphaine has been selected, as a Deaf artist, to participate in a documentary filmed produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Les mots qui dansent. She is Executive director of SPILL PROpagation, a no-profit organization for artists who use sign language since 2013.
Description about my artwork: Moon
How i made this? I was inspired by one Artist, Jonathan Poulin-Desbiens. He did describe in sign language about his relation with the moon. I did translate this in visual image. I used wood and printmaking.
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