Perspective Film Series Presents:
Short Film Series
Sunday, September 10th | 5:30-7:30 PM
This month’s perspective brings together a collection of short films that focus on the human body in movement and growth. These short films link topics in childhood and adolescence, love and loss, and structure to liberation through the expressive body in forms of dance and sport, literal and metaphorical horticulture, and in recollection or future memory. Marked by breathtaking visual properties and enriched by robust musical compositions, these films are sensorily stimulating, clever, and otherworldly.
INCLUDING THE FILMS:
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE
Directed by: Darion Trotman
2023 | English (Canada) | 14 minsMEAN HAKEEM
Directed by: Evan Bourque
2022 | English (Canada) | 6 minsFLOWERBOY
Directed by: Thomas Hütte & Nicolas Schönberger
2022 | German (Germany) | 9 minsREUNION
Directed by: Natalie Vargas
2023 | English (Calgary) | 13 mins
FREE with $10 admission to Contemporary Calgary. FREE for members. Our galleries are open 12-5 PM for viewing prior to attending the events.
Sunday, September 10th
Doors: 5:00pm
Screening: 5:30pm
Q&A: 6:30 PM
FREE with $10 admission to Contemporary Calgary. FREE for members.
Where Do We Go From Here (IAMTHELIVING x Teon Gibbs, directed by Darion Trotman)
2023 | English (Canada) | 14 mins
Where do we go from here is a visual film speaking on the realities and issues of the world, and segregating these issues and singularly dealing with them only distances us as a human race and creates mass amounts of individual pain and suffering with no chance of change, or hope of betterment. If we approached issues such as war, police brutality, substance abuse, and mental health as human issues of the collective world rather than an individual group of people, or more specifically a sole person problem, and we joined forces to find solutions for these issues we might just get somewhere…
It usually takes one anomaly, one person to try something new and bring about change for the others believe it is possible.
Mean Hakeem (Asim Overstands, Vince Raquel, and Kiran Sthankiya)
2022 | English (Canada) | 6 mins
Contains scenes with violence and drug use.
Mean Hakeem tells the story of UFC fighter Hakeem Dawodu. The film describes his journey to overcome abuse, poverty, and drug addiction to become one of Canada’s highest ranked fighters in the UFC.
Flowerboy (Thomas Hütte & Nicolas Schönberger)
2022 | German (Germany) | 9 mins
Flowers are like people. Take care of them and they will blossom." To Flowerboy his customers' feelings are an open book. For every emotion he got the proper flower in store. Yet, as he effortlessly fills other peoples' vases his own remains empty. Only when a customer gifts a flower to him, Flowerboy must concede what he denied so far: his inability to feel. He must become his own vase's flower. A realization that takes him on a journey... And a tender feeling is what remains in the end.
Reunion (Natalie Vargas)
2023 | English (Calgary) | 13 mins
Reunion highlights the agency of Black joy and collective nostalgia to invite an exploration of how cross-generational exchange may be initiated through the visceral act of remembrance.
The development of the film was made possible through the support of The GRAND YYC, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Calgary Arts Development Authority and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Credits:
Ideation and Embodiment by Cindy Ansah & Tiara Matusin in collaboration with Christahh Ahh, Jared Tobias Herring & Mpoe Mogale of NAPPY Dance Collectives featuring Michèle Moss
Directed by Natalie Vargas
Videography and Editing by Jesse Klein-Waller
Music: I Don’t Want Nobody by Eddie Harris
The development of the film was made possible through the support of The GRAND YYC, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Calgary Arts Development Authority and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
About the Curator:
Alia Aluma (she/her)
Alia Aluma is an award-winning artist, designer, and writer who works in various industries, including academia, philanthropy, and creative. She has lived, worked, and studied on four different continents, gaining notable experiences with the fashion and fine art networks of Hong Kong, as a muralist in Italy, a fashion photographer in England, and creative director, curator, and designer in Calgary, AB. With three degrees from top ranked global universities, Alia also devotes a great deal of time to education as a public speaker, guest instructor, or mentor in her fields of study: Art & History, Communications, Commerce, Film, and World Culture. Her global and enriching experiences have lent her toward a pursuit in philanthropy, starting the Aluma Foundation with her Father and twin brother, which is a scholarship foundation in Uganda for students at all levels. Among all of this, Alia also donates hundreds of hours to in-kind services annually.
