Nipi utaiamun (The Voice of Water)
Uapukun Mestokosho McKenzie | CANADA
Supported by Art Not Shame
Time: During business hours
Venue: Art Not Shame
Tickets: FREE
Shitty Little
Jeff McKay & Takashi Iwasaki Iwasaki | CANADA | 7 min
Supported by 10C
Time: During business hours
Venue: 10C Shared Space ♿
Tickets: FREE
Zaya Ralitza Benazzo & Maurizio Benazzo | USA | 104 min | Partial Subtitles
Co-presented by Big John Leacock Realtor
Supported by MT Space
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Guelph Youth Music Centre (GYMC) ♿
Tickets: $15/PWYW
EVENT: In Conversation
Feature Film Screening: Exploring the impacts of generational trauma, loss, and resilience, Where Olive Trees Weep offers a window into the lives of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Filmed in 2022, this documentary illuminates the experiences and insights of Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. It also bears witness to Dr. Gabor Maté’s trauma-healing work, honouring each individual’s humanity and the strength it requires to heal and persist.
Post-Film: A conversation on narrative justice and healing, and a series of brief reflective performances curated by the MT Space.
Lisa Jackson | CANADA | 96 min | Captions
Co-presented by Guelph Museums
In partnership with OPIRG
Time: 11:30am
Venue: Guelph Civic Museum
Tickets: $12/PWYW
Feature Film Screening: Elder Wilfred Buck overcame a harrowing history by reclaiming ancestral star knowledge. He moves between earth and sky, past and present, bringing to life ancient teachings of Indigenous astronomy and cosmology to tell a story that spans generations, inviting us on an inspiring journey to the space beyond, and to the spaces between us all.
CANADA | 68 min | Partial Subtitles
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Guelph Civic Museum (GCM) ♿
Tickets: $12/PWYW
The Mini Forest
David Hartman | GUELPH | 20 min
The Everlasting Pea
Su Rynard | CANADA | 17 min
Twig
Claire Sanford | CANADA | 39 min
Post-Film: Directors talkback with David Hartman & Claire Sanford.
Patricia Franquesa | SPAIN | 64 min | Full Subtitles
Co-presented by Ed Video
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: ImprovLab ♿
Tickets: $15/PWYW
EVENT: Intimate Power
Feature Film Screening: With her laptop stolen, Pati's world crumbles when she receives a disturbing message from a friend: an anonymous hacker is sending intimate photos of her to her contacts. The threat is clear: she must pay to stop the mass distribution. Caught in a psychological battle, Pati seeks refuge behind her screen, only to discover that thousands of others around the world are being extorted in the same way. Faced with the indifference of the authorities, Pati realizes that only she can find a way out of this nightmare. Told with humour and candour, through text messages, emails, and self-recorded cellphone videos, filmmaker Pati Franquesa reclaims the fragments of her body and refuses to be shamed.
Post-Film: A media-arts exploration of vulnerability online and living in a digital culture.
CANADA | 40 min | Ages 4-12
Co-presented by Downtown Guelph Business Association
Time: 11:30am
Venue:10C Shared Space, 4th Floor ♿
Tickets: $5 Adults/ Kids Free
EVENT: Meet our local kid filmmakers.
Screening: A series of micro-docs made by local kid filmmakers, paired with thoughtful and fun short animated films for the whole family.
TINY DOCS BY TINY PEOPLE
Demolition by William Stajkowski (Age 2.5)
How to Draw a Digital Chair by Malia (Age 10)
The Robbery by Sarah Pollard (Age 11)
Tea Party by Felix Messer (Age 8) & Otis Messer (Age 4)
MORNING CARTOONS
Little Fan
Sveta Yuferova & Shad Lee Bradbury | GERMANY | 5 min
Mush Mush and the Mushables
Joeri Christiaen | FRANCE/BELGIUM| 11 min
Ali Weinstein | CANADA | 90 min
In partnership with CFRU 93.3 FM
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: 10C
Tickets: $12/PWYW
Feature Film Screening: Ontario Place, Toronto’s iconic modernist waterfront park, is claiming its last year as public space before being redeveloped into a private spa. Populated by a compelling and eccentric cast of characters who use and care for this magical—partially forgotten—yet once celebrated urban park, offering an intimate glimpse into a moment of transition, shedding light on the shifting values of our generation, and the people who find meaning in this place.
Tasha Hubbard | CANADA | 98 min
Co-presented by ArtsEverywhere Festival
In partnership with The Arboretum, University of Guelph
Time: 7:00pm
Venue: OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre
Tickets: $15/PWYW
EVENT: Keystone Connections & Kin
Feature Film Screening: After a dark recent history, the buffalo herds of North America are awaiting their return, aided by dedicated Indigenous activists, leaders, and communities. Together with Blackfoot Elder Leroy Little Bear, Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard weaves an intimate story of humanity’s connections to buffalo and eloquently reveals how their return to the Great Plains can indeed usher in a new era of sustainability and balance. In an epic reimaging of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness, this richly visualised and deeply uplifting doc offers a potent dream of what is within our grasp. In a time of immense environmental degradation and global uncertainty, the buffalo can lead us to a better tomorrow.
Post-Film: Conversation with doctoral candidate Paulette Fox (Blood Tribe, Blackfoot Confederacy) on Indigenous-led conservation.
Ryan Mekenian | USA | 78 min | Partial Subtitles
Co-presented by The Biking Lawyer
In partnership with Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington ReStore
Supported by Guelph Tool Library
Supported by Guelph Fringe Festival
Time: 7:00pm
Venue: ReStore: Habitat for Humanity
Tickets: $15/PWYW
EVENT: Community Bike Culture
Feature Film Screening: Jimmy Lizama is a mobility justice activist and the founder of the L.A. Bicycle Kitchen, the first bicycle co-op in the City of Angels. In the three decades since Jimmy opened the non-profit bike shop, a global network of independently owned and operated “bike kitchens” have cropped up – partly thanks to Jimmy’s vision. Jimmy and his son J.Q. set out on a European adventure, cycling from bike kitchen to bike kitchen, meeting the activists, artists, and organizers working to put transportation back into the hands of the people.
Post-Film: Bike Trivia! hosted by Guelph Fringe Festival. Come with your trivia crew (or make a new crew on the spot) and compete for prizes from Speed River Bicycle.
Marusya Bociurkiw | CANADA | 90 min | Captioned
Co-presented by Art Gallery of Guelph
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Art Gallery of Guelph
Tickets: $15/PWYW
EVENT: Representation Matters
Feature Film Screening: When Zainub Verjee, a Vancouver-based film programmer started the InVisible Colours women of colour film festival in 1988, she fully expected it to continue for years. So did Linda Abrahams (Matriart Journal) and Zanana Akande (Tiger Lily Women of Colour Magazine). Cutbacks, racism, and technological change decimated a sophisticated, world-changing feminist media movement. Long before the #MeToo era, feminist storytellers of the 1970s to 90s, from Halifax to Vancouver, took hold of cutting-edge analogue technology to document everything from violence towards women, to how to insert a diaphragm, amplifying many voices that had been missing.
Post-Film: Panel on inclusive practices in media. Meet the GFF programming team and director Marusya Bociurkiw.
Jalena Keane-Lee | USA | 85 min | Captions
Time: 11:30am
Venue: artBar
Tickets: $12/PWYW
Feature Film Screening: When the massive Thirty Meter Telescope is proposed to be built on Mauna Kea, an uprising of kiaʻi (protectors) in Hawaiʻi and around the world dedicate their lives to saving this sacred mountain from further destruction. Through the lens of mothers and daughters in three Native Hawaiian families, both on and off the mountain, this inspiring documentary offers an intimate journey that explores the physical and emotional toll of sustaining a grassroots movement, intergenerational healing, and the impacts of safeguarding cultural traditions.
CANADA | 70 min | Partial Subtitles
Co-presented by RahrBSG
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: artBar
Tickets: $12/PWYW
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
Natalie Baird & Toby Gillies | CANADA | 7 min
Unnamed
Iranmehr Salimi | IRAN | 13 min
Big Moves
Sarah Grant | UK | 14 min
I’ll Tell You When I’m Ready
Hayley Morin | CANADA | 14 min
What Ales Us?
Cathy van Ingen | CANADA | 22 min
Post-Film: Talkback with Cathy van Ingen (director), Erin Brandson, and Ren Navarro from What Ales Us?
Philipp Fussenegger & Judy Landkammer | GERMANY | 102 min | Partial Subtitles
Co-presented by Guelph Arts Council
In Partnership with Hillside Festival
In Partnership with The Femmes Rebelles
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: artBar
Tickets: $20/PWYW
EVENT: Diddle My Skittle
Feature Film Screening: Iconic feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches has spent nearly two decades pushing boundaries and wielding immeasurable influence over mainstream pop culture from outside of its confines, carving a bold, sexually progressive path in her own image that's opened the door for countless others to follow. Peaches (Toronto’s own Merrill Nisker) embraces the Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour as an opportunity to reflect on her past—from her musical beginnings creating songs for kids in daycare to her favourite stage costumes. Through biting wit and brash talent, Peaches advocates for body autonomy and LGBTQIA+ rights, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture. From vulva hats to hair suits, Peaches may be 57, but no one is going to keep her from challenging gender stereotypes, social norms, and the patriarchy until the world can finally “take it on, take it all on.”
Post-Film: Burlesque show hosted by The Femmes Rebelles and closing night party.
