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.

Sandi Rankaduwa | CANADA
15 min | Short

Josh Crooks is a young, gifted African-Canadian hockey player in an overwhelmingly white sport. In its intimate story of transgenerational identity, Ice Breakers reveals the buried history of how Black athletes helped pioneer modern hockey, as Crooks discovers that his passion is tied to a remarkable heritage.

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.

Victoria Anderson-Gardner | CANADA
12 min | Short

In partnership with Guelph Museums

More than a year has passed since meeting at the Oceti Sakowin camp during the NoDAPL resistance movement at Standing Rock, when five Indigenous Water Protectors reunite in Toronto, Ontario to share in how the “spirit of the camp” created a family from shared passion and action. Brought together by a calling to protect and defend their first family—the land and water—the experience at Standing Rock has moved them to further elevate their voices in solidarity with the global Indigenous community, ultimately transforming their lives forever.