Jerry Rothwell | UK
82 min | Feature | Partial Subtitles

Supported by Art Not Shame

Based on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world. The film blends Higashida's revelatory insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe.

Mirjam Leuze | CANADA
101 min | Feature

In partnership with the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition

On the otherwise uninhabited Gil Island, just off the northwest coast of British Columbia, the sound of waves lapping and ravens cawing is punctuated by the haunting whale calls emanating from a network of loudspeakers. The Whale and the Raven illuminates the many issues that have drawn whale researchers, the Gitga’at First Nation, and the Government of British Columbia into a complex conflict. As the people in the Great Bear Rainforest struggle to protect their territory against the pressure and promise of the gas industry, caught in between are the countless beings that call this place home.

Michèle Stephenson | CANADA / USA
95 min | Feature | Full Subtitles

In partnership with the Art Gallery of Guelph

In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, based on anti-black hatred fomented by the Dominican government. Fast-forward to 2013, the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. In this dangerous climate, a young attorney named Rosa Iris mounts a grassroots campaign, challenging electoral corruption and advocating for social justice.

Shalini Kantayya | US / UK / China
92 min | Feature | Partial Subtitles

In partnership with the Guelph Black Heritage Society

Following the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s startling discovery that most facial recognition software is biased and does not see dark-skinned faces or women with accuracy, director Shalini Kantayya begins to uncover what other types of bias are present in the machine learning algorithms that impact us all. Can the best of our humanity triumph over the worst of our human biases encoded into machines?

Maria Finitzo | USA
110 min | Feature

Presented by ArtsEverywhere Festival

Entertaining, thrilling and radical, The Dilemma of Desire explores the work of four women who are shattering myths and lies about female sexual desire, bodies and - ultimately - power. A powerful reminder that true equality will come only when we all arrive at a place of understanding and acknowledgement that women are sexual beings, entitled to live their lives fully within the expression of their desire.

David W. Craig | CANADA
52 min | Feature – Ontario Premiere

In partnership with the Art Gallery of Guelph

The divided community of Pictou County, Nova Scotia is facing a major turning point in the fifty-year old controversy surrounding the pulp mill located on the shores of Pictou Harbour. Will the mill, considered the dirtiest in Canada, finally clean up its act or will the Government of Nova Scotia permit a new plan to allow the mill to pipe its treated waste directly into the Northumberland Straight?

Kelly Wolfert | CANADA
106 min | Feature – Ontario Premiere

In partnership with Guelph Museums

Tragedy strikes, a superpower is revealed, and the hero must come to terms with their new abilities. It is the story arc of great comic book heroes, and the real-life journey of a 6-year-old cancer patient with a desire to help others.

Mia Donovan| CANADA
78 min | Feature

In partnership with Guelph Black Heritage Society

For over 50 years, alternative medicine practitioners have advocated the use of acupuncture as part of treatment for drug addiction. Radical politics meet community health when Dr. Mutulu Shakur (Tupac Shakur’s stepfather) long with fellow Black Panthers and the Young Lords create the first acupuncture detoxification program in America in 1973. Having viewed heroin and methadone rehab as "chemical warfare" on the poor, they build a visionary project eventually deemed too dangerous to exist in America.