Toronto Animated Image Society presents

LOCAL EXPOSURE:
Animated Short Films by T.O. & GTA Artists

Friday, April 28th – 7:00PM
The Royal Cinema – 608 College St.

TICKETS – $7 Regular / $5 TAIS Members

The Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) is excited to present a programme of animated short films by artists from T.O. & the GTA! 

With 16 narrative and experimental animated short films made in a variety of animation styles and techniques, the focus of this event is to celebrate independent animation produced by artists in Toronto and the surrounding communities in the GTA.

Including films created as long ago as 1993, and new films produced as recently as this year, Local Exposure highlights the wide range of works that Toronto’s independent animation community generates.

The evening will begin at 7:15pm and run for just over one hour, followed by Q&A with the artists, moderated by Eli Schwanz. Reception to follow at The Monarch Tavern – 12 Clinton St.

Featuring works by:

Isaac King
Kirsten Johnson
Sonia Beckwith-Cole
Patrick Jenkins
Paul Scott
Janice Schulman
Cheryl Aiken
Milad Monavvarian
Amanda Low
Maria Bui and David Missio
Lee D’Angelo
Dylan Glynn
Carla Veldman
Chris Jack
William Allinson
Stephanie Duran Castillo

Total run time: 63 minutes

Artist Q&A at Local Exposure, April 28, 2017

Full film programme listed below

Second Hand
Isaac King
2012, 7:35
Drawn digital and stop-motion

This film is about two neighbours whose lifestyles are diametrically opposed. On one side, all is fast, loud, and disposable. On the other, all is calm, quiet, and doddering. The title, “Second Hand”, refers to both the clock and the art of re-using objects. The omnipresent ticking clock propels one man’s excessive, aggressive, stress-filled routine. On the other hand, the relaxed, resourceful, low-impact couple have no impetus to throw anything away. Ultimately this film is about balance, as well as efficiency, disposability, clutter, environmental awareness… and getting along with our neighbours.

Beautiful Psychological States of an Ugly Butterfly
Kirsten Johnson
2017, 2:53
Stop-motion

Exploring the inner world and varying states of mind, this short uses humour and metaphor to present complex and difficult ideas.

St. Lucia
Sonia Beckwith-Cole
2016, 4:05
Drawn digital and mixed media

An animated music video for the Toronto band Bernice and their song St. Lucia. Created over two years by first-time animator, artist Sonia Beckwith-Cole, the film captures the pinks and blues and varied textures of St.Lucia, as well as water, water, and more water. Evoking femininity, identity, and the value of “living it up because we need it” the song describes the feeling of being connected to a lineage of women that are a part of you and contribute to who you are. Channelling these themes, the film follows a woman floating in a reflective state, surrounded by dark, obscured imagery. Slowly bursts of colour appear and envelope her as she seeks, and finds, release.

Phantom City
Patrick Jenkins
2015, 6:32
Paint on glass

A woman with a mysterious suitcase and a man in pursuit… just one of the tales in the Phantom City. A magic realist detective story.

Vehicle Emotions Test
Paul Scott
2016, 3:18
2D digital, live action

In a post-apocalyptic world, a car has a bad day.

Bark… In Your Face
Janice Schulman
Sound by Mark Hill
1993, 1:13
Scratch on film

Made by scratching directly into 16 mm film, Bark… In Your Face is inspired by an old party trick. You tell the person to close their eyes and begin rapidly tapping them on both sides of their head and say “You’re running through a forest.” Suddenly, you smack the person on their forehead and surprise them with “You hit a tree!” The person usually falls backwards.

Feeling Blue
Cheryl Aiken
2017, 3:15
Stop motion

Feeling Blue is a narrative about a couple facing the difficulties of one partner’s depression. Addressing stigmas that prevail about depression and mental illness, the film evokes sadness and isolation as well as empathy for the characters as they face struggles while trying to go about their day.

Limitless Reality
Milad Monavvarian
2016, 4:37
3D, computer generated

Depicting digital culture and the technological systems that surround us, this film is the result of experimentation in digital animation with constructed sound objects and synth. Monavvarian is interested in how new technologies replace old technologies, and the potential effects on human consciousness. Using experiments with organic and digital sound textures, he uses glitch to engage the aesthetics of signal failure, chromatic noise, technological disruption, and the physical degradation of analogue and digital materials. Each of these experiments generates new and unexpected behaviours.

Pascale the Horse
Amanda Low
2016, 1:57
Drawn digital and mixed media

Pascale the horse runs into a long lost lover.

Fake Palms – YTMATLDPH
Maria Bui and David Missio
Editing by Niall Fynes
2015, 3:12
Drawn and stop-motion

The film tells the story of a happenstance relationship, which begins and ends with loneliness. Made with a makeshift multi-plane setup and filmed with an iPhone 6, this music video was created for Toronto fuzz rock band Fake Palms.

Elapses
Lee D’Angelo
Camera/ videography by Julia Dickens
2013, 1:07
Stop motion

Cycles of nature and the mystical processes of time.

Lost Daughter
Dylan Glynn
2015, 1:23
Drawn digital

Lost Daughter is about a girl who is kidnapped and sold into prostitution. After she escapes she undergoes a healing ritual. This film is a meditation on trauma, healing, and grace, and suggests that we are the Lost Daughter—born innocent and from nature, intuitively interconnected.

Great Tante Aaf
Carla Veldman
2012, 0:38
Drawn

When I Was Young, I Used To Pick My Nose.

Extinction (LIVE)
Chris Jack
2013, 4:37
Drawn digital

A music video produced for the psychedelic/garage/acid-punk/space metal pop band Owl Farm, the track was recorded live in 2012 on Hallowe’en night in Kingston, Ontario. Shrouded in darkness and rollicking good times, this wild animation-apalooza is a molotov cocktail of references – from comic books, B-movies, Spielberg, Disney, and the animated “Yellow Submarine” (1968). A musical romp that opens in a graveyard in the middle of nowhere, the result is a call to the souls of the damned.

Dad Fight
William Allinson
2015, 8:29
Stop motion

Two boys waiting for their rides after school get into a classic debate: whose father would win in a fight.

Weave
Stephanie Durán Castillo
2015, 8:20
Drawn, digital, and stop-motion

The Prophets will come
from the wind, from the forest, from the water.
As time is One and not all.
Those who travel in time will sit at the Table of Kings
to speak about blind ages and immemorial times.

TAIS 2016-17 Programming is presented with the support of the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts