ALFF Short Films: Finding Place

This screening took place on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 8:30 pmYukon Theatre

Weeds Are Flowers, Too DIR. Kay Shioma Metchie, 2023, BRITISH COLUMBIA | 15 MIN

Gardening is more than just a fun pastime for Evelyn. How far will this newly wed young woman go to satiate her jealousy and desires to have the best garden on the block?

For Roy DIR. VIVIAN CHEUNG, 2022, BRITISH COLUMBIA | 12 MIN

Inspired by true events, an imaginative Asian-Canadian girl attempts to fold a thousand cranes as she learns to lose her father during his final days in the hospice.

Hotel Room DIR. Sandi Barrett, 2023, BRITISH COLUMBIA | 12 MIN

This tale of two sisters, recent arrivals as new Canadians offers lovely, nuanced perspectives on seeking one's place. One is terrified, prematurely thrust into adulthood, and fraught with worry, the other hopeful, and filled with fantasies of possibilities.

Pool Party DIR. ELLIE STEWART, 2022, ALBERTA | 8 MIN

A group of 15-year-old or so girls have an unchaperoned dreamy birthday/pool party. Soon, however it's fraught with tension and the tone changes rapidly into something more sinister.

Hangover DIR. FARRAH MURDOCK, 2023, MANITOBA | 3 MIN

Created in a time of self-doubt and feeling anxious of the future. Hangover is compiled of independent footage and audio recorded from July to December 2022.

nihtâwikihew / ᓂᐦᑖᐃᐧᑭᐦᐁᐤ / she gives birth Dir. Sadetło Scott, Heather Heinrichs, 2023, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 20 MIN

Sâkowêw is a young woman in a remote community who just wants to welcome her new baby safely into the world. She trusts Auntie Mary to honour her family’s traditions. When something goes wrong, she’s snatched from warmth and safety, and spirited away to a disorienting place she never wanted to go.

Told from her perspective, Sâkowêw’s story of giving birth lays bare the anti-Indigenous racism entrenched in health systems across Canada. Through intimate conversations with family and harrowing experiences at the local health centre, the film plunges audiences headlong into the deep impacts of colonialism, poor communication, and personal bias that Indigenous communities face.

Content advisory: this film may be triggering for some audience members. It deals with themes of racism, impacts of colonialism and trauma.