Celebrating Black Futures | Film Screening: Short Film Showcase

There will be two screenings of the Short Film Showcase on February 22 at 7 PM and 8:15 PM.

This February, the Gallery has partnered with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) to present Celebrating Black Futures, a series of film screenings that speak to the future of Black and African cinema. Selected by Kika Memeh, Public Programs Assistant at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Tom Charity, VIFF Centre Year-Round Programmer, each film presents a contemporary snapshot of the multilateral nature of African, African American, Caribbean and Black Canadian culture and cinema. Find out more »

This third screening of the series will present four short films exploring existential crises, beauty standards and daring ambitions in the lives of their protagonists. The short films in this program range from humourous, dark comedy to sombre drama.

DEAD END
Written and directed by Courtenay Mayes  

GITA BOY
Directed by Toye Aru  

Hair or No Hair
Written and directed by Janessa St. Pierre 

My Body is a Poem/The World Makes with Me
Directed by Brandon Wint

 

BOOK TICKETS

 

ABOUT THE FILMS

DEAD END, written and directed by Courtenay Mayes, follows a young woman who is planning her suicide for later that day, but she is unable to decide on the perfect outfit in which to do the deed. This short is an absurdist, richly coloured and textured Black comedy.

Runtime: 10 minutes

GITA BOY, directed by Toye Aru, tells the story of a carpenter’s son who must decide whether to follow in the family business or to pursue his own dream of becoming a musician.

Runtime: 15 minutes

Hair or No Hair, written and directed by Janessa St. Pierre, is about a young Black woman who has been hiding behind wigs for years until her alopecia is exposed publicly. She uses this experience as a catalyst to break free of the shame she feels towards her baldness.

Runtime: 16 minutes

My Body is a Poem/The World Makes with Me, directed by Brandon Wint, bends genres and flirts with experimentalism as it explores the intersection of Blackness and disability in an artistic kaleidoscope composed of animation, illustration, poetry and photography.

Runtime: 10 minutes

 

BOOK TICKETS