BEST SHORT FILM
Director: ASL Rose & Braam Jordaan, South Africa/USA
RT: 1:00 | South Africa/USA | Language: ASL, English Subtitles
Two Deaf babies. One is raised without access to signed language, and the other one is raised with access to signed language.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“DEAF JAM”
Director: Judy Lief, USA
RT: 70:00 | USA | Language: ASL/English, English Subtitles
Deaf Jam is the story of deaf teen Aneta Brodski’s bold journey into the spoken word slam scene. In a wondrous twist, Aneta, an Israeli immigrant living in the Queens section of New York City, eventually meets Tahani, a hearing Palestinian slam poet. The two women embark on a collaboration/performance duet creating a new form of slam poetry that speaks to both the hearing and the Deaf.
“Poetry, friendship and respect transcend politics…Delightful and endearing, utilizing upbeat music and clever graphics, Deaf Jam immerses us in the richness and complexity of deaf culture and gives us a unique perspective into a world so vibrant, so diverse, it may forever change the way we see the non-hearing.” Barbara Pokras, A.C.E. – Woodstock Film Festival.
BEST DRAMA
“FIVE NEEDLES”
Director: Julian Peddle-Calloo, England
RT: 13:44 | England | Language: British Sign Language (BSL), English Subtitles
Five Needles follows the lives of four Deaf Jewish women as they strive to find security and peace within the confines and routine of a Nazi sewing factory.
BEST THRILLER
Director: Roger Vass, USA
USA | Language: ASL, English Subtitles
Matt (Christopher B. Corrigan) gets his brother, Drew (Alex Laferriere), along with their friends, together for a fun getaway camping trip. It is supposed to be a weekend of male-bonding, but everything isn’t what it seems. Suddenly, they experience an apocalyptic event and are forced to focus on their own survival.
BEST COMEDY
Director: Louis Neethling, England
RT: 27:00 | England | Language: British Sign Language (BSL)/English, English Subtitles
Friends and fellow Deaf club performers : Les, Reg, Cyril and Ruby, have been together for over 30 years. When Ruby falls ill their lives are thrown in to turmoil; she has been the one keeping them together. Relationships are put to the test and a sudden realisation that they’re not young any more adds to the situation. Les’ son, Paul, replaces Ruby in the group but will that be enough to save their performing group? Still Here is a black comedy that looks at friendship, ageing and change. A film that celebrates the senior members of the Deaf club community.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
“CROSSING THE DIVIDE”
Director: Cathy Heffernan, England
RT: 16:15 | England | Language: British Sign Language (BSL), English Subtitles
Crossing the Divide is a documentary about a love story and friendship in Belfast during the Irish Troubles. It shows how the Deaf community overcame the religious and political divisions that spilt Northern Ireland for 30 years.
BEST ANIMATION
“Salam-Hello”
Director: Taha Ghanimifard, Iran
RT: 6:00 | Iran | Language: Farsi, English Subtitles
A deaf girl is not accepted by ordinary school and she is helped by a man who teaches deaf students. This animation commemorates late Mr. Jabbar Bagh-Cheban the first Iranian teacher of deaf students.
BEST DIRECTING
“YOU, ME”
Director: Simon Herdman, England
RT: 23:30 | England | Language: British Sign Language (BSL), English Subtitles
A charming family drama set during Christmas, inter-cutting two stories at both ends of the age range: a little girl learns that Santa might not be Deaf, and an old teacher must find a new calling after his Deaf school is closed due to budget cuts.
BEST ART DIRECTION
“CONFESSION”
Director: Julian Peddle-Calloo, England
RT: 24:00 | England | Language: British Sign Language (BSL), English Subtitles
Set in the aftermath of the Milan Conference, which promoted oralism over Sign language, “Confession” is a historical drama set during the Victorian era depicting the culture battle between oralism and Signing in the Deaf community. Featuring the real historical figures of Alexander Graham Bell and Reverend Francis Maginn as they battle for the future of Deaf culture, the film depicts the true consequences of the Milan conference held 10 years previously.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
“THE LONELY FISH”
Director: James Cooley, USA
RT: 21:00 | USA | Language: English
A lonely man desperately seeks to fall in love with someone until a mysterious woman from the deep sea offers love, and lures him into the sea. Is she the one?
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
Director: Melissa Gomez, Antigua/USA
RT: 70:00 | Antigua/USA | Language: English
Every family has secrets, but very few ever get to the heart of what they are. Silent Music is the story of one daughter’s attempt to do just that.
Screening: SATURDAY, MAY 11th, 2013, 5:15 PM – 6:25 PM
Director Melissa Gomez will be in attendance!
HONOURABLE MENTION
“El Sueño Impactante/The Impactful Dream”
Director: Alejandio Gallardo Enriquez, Mexico
RT: 30:00 | Mexico | Language: Spanish, English Subtitles
This is the story of a young couple with a marriage problem. He struggled with alcohol addiction. She was desperate because of his drinking problem. But after a serious accident, destiny changed his life.
Artist Bios
Shannon Rusnak
Artist Biography: Shannon Rusnak is currently a student earning her BFA in Media and Digital Technologies at the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) in Calgary. Influenced by other Deaf artists, her Deaf experience is embedded in her work as she explores the world of Deaf View Image Art (De’VIA). Having worked as a Deaf-Blind intervenor, she gained a greater depth of understanding what it means to visualize not only through sight, but by touch also. This is evident in her artwork.
Shannon works with Deaf organizations across Canada as a multimedia artist specializing in video and digital mediums under 5×5 Media, a company she co-founded. Her work has been most recently exhibited at the Calgary Deaf Art Show and at the Queer Art Festival in Edmonton. Her interests include blogging, volunteering through creative means and collaborating with other Deaf artist on various projects in the Deaf art community.
Mehdi Safavi
Artist Biography: Mehdi Safavi was born in the City of Design – “Isfahan” Iran. He is a Deaf Iranian artist. Born in 1978, he attended the College of Fine Art in Esfahan, Iran where he graduated with an Associate Degree in Graphic Design. He was a Graphic Design Manager for Rayaneh Gostaran, Esfahan, Iran. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada where he is a freelance Graphic Designer, Painter and Interior Decorator.
Pamela E. Witcher
Artist Biography: A collective activist and versatile artist, Pamela Witcher expresses in various mediums that represent her personal experiences, and the experiences of the Deaf community in various facets – cultural, educational, historical and linguistic. Her work has a mysterious bluntness that simultaneously pleases and disturbs the viewers. Pamela Witcher often plunges into the unknown; she enjoys the challenge of creating without knowing where she will go, what the final work will turn out like or how her pieces will end.
Tiphaine Girault
Artist Biography: Tiphaine Girault was born in France in 1984. She moved to Quebec in 1998, where she has lived in Gatineau since. She studied comics for three years at the University of Quebec in Outaouais. She has created several illustrations for children’s books for Regroupement des parents et amis des enfants sourds et malentendants franco-ontariens (RESO) and the Centre Jules-Léger. She also volunteers creating illustrations or cartoons for newspapers such as the Association of Hearing Outaouais, See-Say (newspaper for the deaf in Montreal), and for writers seeking illustrations for children’s books. She has taught comics at Centre Jules-Léger and to hearing youth at the Museum of Fine Arts of Canada in Ottawa. She also participated in the artist contest to Macadam Flower, where she distinguished herself by winning first prize in 2007. She is director of présentatement for SPILL.PROpagation.
Julia Patterson
Artist Biography: Julia Lee Patterson is a Toronto-based artist whose work examines deafness through a variety of mediums. She works in bronze casting, soapstone, wax, graphite, charcoal and mixed media. Visually oriented from childhood, she studied sculpture and performance art at OCAD and the Toronto School of Art. She has shown her work at TSA, the Textile Museum and at disability art shows. Julia uses sculpture, drawing, and performance work to explore deafness in the context of the larger hearing world and as a separate and viable way of being “in the world”. In her work she has explored deaf cultural history and has used metaphors of sound, light and language. She is currently interested in how the body lives in space and how that relates to the concept of “place” and especially how it relates to those whose identities are not accommodated and so who are not “in place”.
Zoée Nuage
Artist Biography: Zoée has spent the previous several years working mostly with self portraiture. It began with a 365 Days project in 2009 where she created a self portrait every day for a year. She would spend her days in a frenzy of putting costumes together, transforming rooms into studios, and contemplating ways to express what was going on in her head. The project was a revelation, leading to empowerment through artistic expression and discovering a love for photography. Since then, she has continued to explore self portraiture through photography and digital manipulations. Her self portraits tend to focus on various important aspects of her identity, such as gender, sexuality, deafness, language and imagination.
Zoée Montpetit (preferably known as Zoée Nuage) is a Deaf Queer photographer, currently residing in Vancouver BC. She has been interested in creating various types of art since she was a child. As a solitaire in school who relied on writing or signing to communicate, art was a way to connect with hearing peers. A love of photography has run in her family for several generations, but only in the last several years has it grown into a strong passion for Zoée. Currently, she is working on a second 365 days project.
Paul LeDrew
Artist Biography: Born and raised in Newfoundland, Paul attended Gallaudet University in Washington, DC where he graduated with a B.Sc. in 1990. Upon graduation he moved to Ontario and is employed at George Brown College as a professor. He and his wife reside just outside of Toronto and share their artistic passions together.
Conner Lalonde
Artist Biography: Conner is a native Calgarian born in the late 80s. He was first introduced to the arts at Queen Elizabeth High School where he honed his artistic skills. From there, he sought out challenges and chose to work with metal. Conner is Metal Hands, making the impossible out of metal into possible unique artwork.
How did he become that? Growing up, he hung out in his bedroom reading comic books at age 6 and started drawing comics at 8, and then at 15, he entered an internship program learning to become a machinist for the summer. It gave him the opportunity to discover the welding master that was hidden within him so he ended up as a welder, not a machinist. It was an amazing experience for him to realize his passion as a Welding Artistan. Conner currently works as a metal artisan for a private, unique client who is passionate about all things to do with science fiction, fantasy, community and technology. Conner creates unusual welded art pieces and is having an awesome time!
Maryam Hafizirad
Artist Biography: Maryam Hafizirad is a Deaf painter, born in 1980 in Esfahan, Iran. She moved to Toronto, Canada in 2011 where she resides with her husband. Maryam graduated from Esfahan University of Fine Arts in 2002. Maryam’s first exhibition was in Iran at the age of 18. Since then her work has been shown individually and as part of the artist group “Farda”, meaning “Tomorrow”, in major cities of Iran, China, Germany, Malaysia and India. Maryam is a full-time artist sharing her exceptional vision of a silent universe through the metaphor of underwater scenes.
Patricia Hall (Wisnoski)
Artist Biography: Patricia was born in Grimsby, Ontario and has two sisters. She grew up on a farm and entered the provincial school for deaf students in Belleville, Ontario in 1959. She was among the first students transferred from Belleville to attend the provincial school for deaf students in Milton, Ontario when it first opened in April 1963. She remained a student there until she graduated in 1973. It was at the deaf school in Milton where Patricial Wisnoski met William Hall whom she married and with whom she has two children, 4 grandchildren and another grandchild on the way.
Patricia worked for John Deere Ltd. for 10 years until they moved to Nova Scotia and settled. She worked for General Insurance, Douglas and Rogers Insurance and Halifax ING Insurance. She also worked as a facilitator for the Atlantic Provincial Service Education Association (A.P.S.E.A.) with a deaf student for 5 1/2 years in Sackville, New Brunswick and then with another deaf student for 2 years in Oxford, Nova Scotia. Textiles and cooking are among her hobby passions!
Mila Duric
Artist Biography: Mila Duric is a Contemporary Realist artist and combines in her work a deeply rooted realist technique in the tradition of the “Old Masters” with a contemporary flair. Her works evoke a feeling of quiet emotion, rich color and luminosity. While pursuing her education, she enrolled in Advertising and Graphic Design at Humber College and continued her studies in Fine Arts, earning a BFA degree from York University. After working in the graphic design field for 15 years, Mila decided to rejoin the world of art. She has participated in group and juried exhibitions and has works in many private collections. She now works as an art instructor and paints full time.
Festival Blog & News Post
CONGRATULATIONS ALL THE WINNERS!
TIDFAF are delighted to announce the 2013 Prizes for Elementary and High School in Ontario
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Prizes | Film Name | Winners | |
1st Winner | My Expression | E.C. Drury School for the Deaf (Milton, Ontario) | |
| 2nd Winner | You Belong Here | Sir James Whitney School (Belleville, Ontario) | |
| 3rd Winner | People’s Together | E.C. Drury School for the Deaf (Milton, Ontario) | |
TIDFAF are delighted to announce the 2013 Winner at High Schools Education Series Day
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Prize | Film Name | Winner | |
Prize Winner | SECOND CHANCE | Carmen Amaya & Deaf and Hard of Hearing High School, Marlton School, USA. | |
TIDFAF are delighted to announce the 2013 Audience Choice Award for Elementary and High School in Ontario
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Award | Film Name | Winners | |
Elementary Audience Choice Award | TITANIUM | E.C. Drury School for the Deaf (Milton, Ontario) | |
| High School Audience Choice Award | LEARNING the HARD WAY | E.C. Drury School for the Deaf (Milton, Ontario) | |
TIDFAF are delighted to announce the 2013 winners at the Closing Awards Ceremony & After Party!
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Award Category | Film Name | Winners | |
BEST SHORT FILM | TWO DEAF BABIES | Braam Jordaan, South Africa & ASL Rose, USA | |
| BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE | DEAF JAM | Judy Lieff, USA | |
BEST DRAMA | FIVE NEEDLES | Julian Peedle-Calloo, England | |
BEST THRILLER | LAKE WINDFALL | Roger Vass, Tony Nitko and Rustic Lantern Films, USA | |
BEST COMEDY | STILL HERE | Louis Neethling, England | |
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM | CROSSING THE DIVIDE | Cathy Heffernan, England | |
BEST ANIMATION | SALAM / HELLO | Taha Ghanimifard, Iran | |
BEST DIRECTING | YOU, ME | Simon Herdman, England | |
BEST ART DIRECTION | CONFESSION | Julian Peedle-Calloo, England | |
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM | THE LONELY FISH | James Cooley, USA | |
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD | SILENT MUSIC | Melissa Gomez, Antigua/USA | |
HONOURABLE MENTION | IMPACTFUL DREAM | Alejandro Gallardo, Mexico | |
TIDFAF Featured in Tonight Newspaper
Tonight Newspaper published an article, titled “Deaf Film Fest Jamming on the Mic“, featuring TIDFAF.
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