THE LEGACY OF CLOUDY FALLS
Nick Butler | Canada | 2024 | 101m
Set in the Cloudy Falls residence, a run-down apartment complex in Niagara Falls that seems destined to be torn down, the film tells the story of a handful of its tenants, chosen randomly by the narrator, Rita, the building’s glib superintendent. They include Terry, an uptight, middle-aged gay man who grows enamoured of the erratic, young drifter squatting next door; Brigit, a spiritual debunker who exposes psychic frauds on her little-seen YouTube channel; Riley, a compulsive liar whose many tall tales are starting to catch up to her; and the collection of neighbours who surround them.
Nick Butler is a Canadian filmmaker based in New York whose feature film debut as writer/director/producer, THE LEGACY OF CLOUDY FALLS, received production funding from Telefilm Canada in 2023 and is being distributed by Filmoption International.
His short films as writer/director/producer have screened at over thirty international showcases, including Toronto’s Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and the Provincetown International Film Festival. In addition to Telefilm Canada, his films have received funding from the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and the NFB.
SHITTY LITTLE
Jeff McKay and Takashi Iwasaki | Canada | 2023 | 7m
Playful, poignant & very memorable live action-animation shadow play, where humans take from forests whatever they desire - leaving nothing.
In western culture there is no value attributed to nature. It must be taken and shaped into a product for sale to have worth.
A prevalent societal attitude: How a meadow, a marsh, or a small wood "Isn't doing anything", and should be, "Made into something".
Jeff McKay: Born & raised on the Canadian prairies. Began in stage theatre, played drums in electro-pop/ dance bands. Making film since 1985. Spent 18 years as a freelance contract editor & director with the National Film Board of Canada. Independent freelance since 2003. Recipient of the Peabody Award and many national & international nominations. International co-productions making social, arts/cultural, sport & science/ natural history films.
Takashi Iwasaki: 1982: born in Hokkaido, Japan. Iwasaki moved to Winnipeg, Canada to study fine arts at the University of Manitoba in 2002, where he earned Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Attracted to the Winnipeg's multiculturalism and friendly arts community, he gained the permanent resident status of Canada and now lives and works as an artist in Winnipeg and calls it his new hometown. Iwasaki’s art practice diverges into many media from embroidery, painting, collage, wooden sculpture, ceramic, to public artwork. Bringing joy and peaking curiosity of the audience are part of the main focuses of his creation.