TORONTO YOUTH SHORTS WELCOME A NEW GENERATION OF FILMMAKERS

By Nadia Dalimonte

A still from Embracing Shadows, courtesy of Toronto Youth Shorts 

In the words of the great Guillermo Del Toro, animation is cinema. The art form can take on any genre and explore varied subject matter, often helping younger audiences digest big themes. The Toronto Youth Shorts festival has plenty of gems to discover within this medium of filmmaking, particularly from a diverse group of storytellers. Founded in 2009, Toronto Youth Shorts is a youth-based film festival that shines a spotlight on local filmmakers under 30 years old. This year marks the festival’s 15th anniversary, an exciting achievement and formative stepping stone for the future storytellers of this industry.

From November 1 to 2, over 40 locally made short films are showcased at the Spadina Performance Arts Theatre in Toronto. Films are presented across five program categories, each a diverse reflection of a younger generation engaged in the world around them. SPARKS, featuring a blend of animation and adventure, is most suitable for children. Among the wonderful standouts of this category, Brandon Po’s Coral Loop is a witty snapshot of a nine-to-five workload told through a fish eye lens. ESCAPE OUR REALITY opens the doors to fantastical, unconventional worlds. From Daria Rodneva’s imaginative Dive In and Tir (Rey) Tabandeh’s spooky Mourning Routine to Grace Choi’s melodic Syrinx, these surreal pieces of escapism find resonating personal stories rooted in emotion.

The festival lineup covers more mature themes in the SWIPE LEFT, STORIES OF GEN Z, and A BIZARRE DAY programs. Awkward love is a staple of young adulthood, and these experiences are embraced in SWIPE LEFT, an eclectic mix of romantic comedies and dramas. The anxiety of romance in your teens and twenties is one of many messy journeys on display in the festival programming. A BIZARRE DAY showcases headline-driven short films made in a 24 hour timeframe. Young filmmakers were tasked with finding the cinematic angle of local events they considered newsworthy, which extends to the core of the festival. Creatives are given the space to find their voice and reflect the worlds they inhabit, both through imagination and reality.

STORIES OF GEN Z focuses on films about self-worth, grief and loss, professional aspirations, and personal growth. Animated films shine in this category, from Caydee Lewis’s powerfully vulnerable Rock Candy to Lily Jia Qi Wu’s spellbinding Embracing Shadows. Both Lewis and Qu visualize their emotions with remarkable imagery and distinctive filming styles. Among the live-action entries, Brianna Russell’s dramatic Poster Child and Gemma Eva & Maria Hausmann’s experimental Concealed add layers to their respective subjects. Poster Child has a strong narrative hook in its orchestral prodigy-idol dynamic. Russell takes an intimate approach to the mixed emotions of walking in your hero’s footsteps. Concealed imagines what it looks like to be consumed by beauty standards and conflicted about putting your best foot forward.

This year’s programming holds space for an array of creativity. Let’s take a closer look at a highlighted section of the Toronto Youth Shorts.

ESCAPE OUR REALITY

Syrinx directed by Grace Choi
Set to the titular flute solo by French composer Claude Debussy, this film explores the meaning, the music, and the myth of Syrinx.

The highlight: The first flute solo written for the modern flute, Syrinx, is considered a landmark in music history. Grace Choi personifies syrinx with a magical lens, using peaceful animation and evocative sounds to carry the story. Syrinx is a lovely personal expression of historical resonance and the reverberating power of music.

Coral Loop directed by Brandon Po
Oro the fish businessman goes to work every day like your average working adult. When his never-ending workload starts to take a toll on him, he loses his mind and wanders off to get a change of scenery.

The highlight: The mundanity of life is told through a fish eye lens in Brandon Po's Coral Loop. Po takes a deeply relatable subject and plays with perspective. We come to find that the forbidden surface is fun and games, concealing the harsh reality of what humans use fish for. With colorful animation and strong comedic timing, Coral Loop is a charming reminder to keep our heads above water.

Don't Sleep On The Subway directed by Ceejay Garrido
A sleep deprived artist struggles to stay awake on their mundane subway commute. ​

The highlight: The majority of us who live in the city have had our share of mundane subway rides. We have our own places to go, but for a moment, we all share in a collective experience. Everyone has a story, which Ceejay Garrido visualizes in Don't Sleep On The Subway. This short bursts with creativity and drives home the message about finding inspiration from our surroundings. The artistry reminds us not to sleep on our potential.

Dive In directed by Daria Rodneva
A group of monsters and fantasy creatures dream and think about their past and personal conflicts.

The highlight: Dive In looks inward to the power of imagination and what fantastical worlds exist in our minds. Rodneva introduces wonderful glimpses of characters you want to know more about. We feel an instant connection to their inner conflicts and wishing for a super power of their own.

Mourning Routine directed by Tir (Rey) Tabandeh
Two undead halves of a once-human whole, an uncoordinated zombie and a methodical ghost, fumble their way through a domestic routine. ​

The highlight: Just in time for spooky season, Tir (Rey) Tabandeh brings us an endearing tale of a zombie tethered to a ghost. The spiritually connected halves go about their "mourning" in slightly different ways, often leaving the ghost impatient, frustrated, and sad. From distinctive character designs and comic book influenced animation, to the ethereal visual puns, Mourning Routine is an adorable story to wake up to.

I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew directed by Dalia Hawash
Two stories about people who take on more than they can handle.

The highlight: Everyone knows the feeling of having too much on your plate and experiencing burnout. In I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew, Hawash crafts two scenarios of pushing your luck, whether living on the edge of possibilities in a card game or thinking you know someone in a relationship. Sketch animation and upbeat music give this story great movement.

Crime Never Gets Old directed by William Manning
Detective Wendell Kent solves mysteries by putting the pieces together.

The highlight: Piece By Piece is not the only chronicle told through LEGO this year. William Manning melds LEGO animation with a film noir in Crime Never Gets Old, a comedy of aging errors. When a group of older bandits rob a bank, an investigation ensues with a wry lead. Manning uses quick remarks and a bustling pace to spin the narrative into unexpected places.

STORIES OF GEN Z

Rock Candy directed by Caydee Lewis
A film about family dynamic through tough times and dealing with loss.

​The highlight: Grief knows no bounds. The effects of loss are lingering and hit you unexpectedly. Caydee Lewis visualizes grief with tremendous vulnerability in Rock Candy, a transcendent story of healing. Using thematic ingredients to show generational impact, Lewis delves into deep subjects. Rock Candy shines as a vivid outlet to work through raw emotions. From the beautiful animation to the insightful voiceover, the short makes an incredibly memorable mark in this year's lineup. 

Concealed directed by Gemma Eva and Maria Hausmann
A young girl descends into a world of beauty and fashion. Blinded by lights and glamour, she must find her way before the darkness consumes her.

​The highlight: One of the most experimental shorts of the festival is Concealed, an immersive look at the overwhelming pressures faced in the beauty industry. We follow a young girl's descent into glamour and discover a world in which beauty is not what it seems. Directors Gemma Eva and Maria Hausmann create a strong sense of dread throughout. The moody colours and frenetic editing shine, as does the haunting visual of being swallowed by darkness.

​Poster Child directed by Brianna Russell
An up-and-coming pianist attempts to replace her childhood idol at the most prestigious orchestra in the country.

The highlight: Here's hoping that Brianna Russell's Poster Child becomes a full-length feature, as this story has an incredibly strong narrative hook. The student-teacher dynamic can be full of insecurity and bitterness. The story explores the generational gaps of a successor and her replacement, conveying the mixed emotions of walking in your childhood idol's footsteps. At the heart of Poster Child is an excellent lead performance by Mikayla Geier.

Embracing Shadows directed by Lily Jia Qi Wu
A girl encounters monsters born from her self doubt and negative emotions.

The highlight: Sometimes all it takes is one visual to convey the voice of an artist. In Lily Jia Qi Wu's Embracing Shadows, the image of a girl embracing a figure of self-doubt speaks a thousand words. It is evident in every frame that Wu has an incredibly clear voice. The message of being gentler and kinder to ourselves by running towards negative emotions resonates deeply. With a memorable animation style and a gorgeous colour palette, Embracing Shadows is a stunning entry that reminds us why the Toronto Youth Shorts is vital. Young filmmakers get the opportunity to express themselves openly, and with such diverse programming, their voices are embraced in safe spaces.

Toronto Youth Shorts runs from November 1 to 2 at the Spadina Performance Arts Theatre in Toronto. Tickets are available at https://www.torontoyouthshorts.ca/.