Call for submissions

BEWITCHED

Animated short films on the theme of witchcraft and ritual

DEADLINE EXTENDED: June 8, 2018 (by midnight)

First screening is scheduled for February 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Subsequent touring dates TBA. All artists/filmmakers selected will receive an artist fee for each screening. 

TAIS Members in good standing (membership # required) way submit for free via the form provided below. All others (non-members) must submit via FilmFreeway. There is a $1.00 USD fee to submit (approx. $1.30 CDN) via FilmFreeway

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This project is premised on the idea that within the current global political and sociocultural climate there is a stronger presence of occult practices in everyday conversations and the media. Bewitched aims to delve into the politics of the occult and the role it plays in the process of healing and decolonizing one’s mind and body.  

Crystal healing, cleansing rituals, Reiki, witchcraft, and other practices have risen in popularity. Guest curator Geneviève Wallen is seeking animated works that address, directly or indirectly, how these practices allow for spiritual connections and reclaiming ancestral gifts. Wallen is especially interested in exploring how the occult and magical practices function outside of colonial histories, and tap into ancestral knowledge.

Historically, witchcraft and healing rituals have helped to sustain communities and fight against oppression. The spiritual impacts of these activities offer agency to those seeking cultural reclamation and reconciliation across a wide spectrum of oppressed communities. The practices are also tools for self-love and empowerment, and source of communal sustenance.

This call prioritizes artists that are Indigenous, Black, persons of colour, cis women, gender diverse people, LGBTQ2+, people with disabilities, or from other underserved communities. TAIS recognizes that all individuals are intersectional.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Geneviève Wallen is a Toronto-based independent curator and writer interested in issues of ethnocultural representational spaces in Canada. Wallen’s focus on diasporic narratives, intersectional feminism, intergenerational healing, and alternative BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) futurities inform her practice. She is a curator and board member at Younger than Beyoncé Gallery, and programming coordinator at Xpace Cultural Centre.

ABOUT TAIS

Founded in 1984, the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) initially began as a group for animators and animation enthusiasts to connect and share in an art form they love.

Over 33 years, TAIS has evolved into an artist-run media arts production centre with a growing membership that supports animation production, presentation, and skills development.

As a production centre, TAIS supports creation by our members and guest artists. We commission new animation through special projects and residency programs, present curated programs of animation art by artists from Toronto, across Canada, and around the world, and each year we invite guest artists to screen their work, give lectures, and teach workshops.

TAIS prioritizes the involvement of artists from diverse practices, backgrounds, and communities. As part of our commitment to reaching new audiences for animation, we have presented over a dozen projects of community engagement by artists in the last 15 years. Today and into the future, TAIS seeks to present and support work by artists who reflect upon and investigate artistic (social, political, and creative) concerns and prioritize experimental production techniques inherent to contemporary forms of animated art making.

Awards & Prizes

SCREENING FEES

-All selected artists will be paid screening fees for the presentation of their film as part of this program

Rules & Terms

QUALIFICATION FOR ENTRIES

-Any frame-by-frame or computer-assisted animated film or video completed within the last 4 years may be entered (2014 or later)

-Films must be no more than 15 minutes in length. There is no minimum length requirement.

-Films must be submitted by Friday, June 8th, 2018 (by midnight)*EXTENDED DEADLINE 

-The person(s) submitting the film must either be the creator of the film or have express permission from the creator of the film to submit it.

-The creator(s) of the film must have the rights or express permission to use all materials used in the film

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

-Works selected must be available in QuickTime file format, sized at 1920 x 1080 / codec Prores or H.264, sound 48hz. These are the SCREENING REQUIREMENTS.

-Films can be submitted via FilmFreeway, by providing us the Dropbox URL for download, or by sending us a link to the film on Vimeo (if password protected you must provide the password).

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

-upload or provide a link to a project statement (150-200 words) about the submission, and how it relates to the theme of this call

-upload or provide a link to 2 high resolution JPG or PNG or TIFF still images from the film with each submission

-upload or provide a link to a brief biography of the filmmaker

-upload or provide a link to an Artist CV/resume or equivalent listing of exhibitions/screenings info for last 3-5 years (artist website url accepted).

REGISTRATION AND DEADLINE

– Payment of a $1.30 CDN fee is required to submit (approx. $1.00 USD), except for TAIS Members in good standing (membership # required)

-All material must be submitted by Friday, June 8th, 2018 (by midnight)*EXTENDED DEADLINE or it will not be considered

-All films are kept within TAIS Library for research purposes only

SUBMISSION FORM FOR TAIS MEMBERS

TAIS programming is presented with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts