The unibrow connecting a girl to her Irani heritage and a prom night fantasy were at the center of the films highlighting NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA)’s July Monthly Film Festival and its annual InFocus: Canadian Cinema Program.
The annual InFocus: Canadian Cinema program took place with support from Telefilm Canada and the Québec Government Office in Los Angeles, as well as community partnership with its longstanding partner, the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles. The program spotlights independent Canadian storytellers, including 13 short films across two shorts programs. The day also featured the North American premiere of Cambria Matlow’s feature narrative, Why Dig When You Can Pluck.
The day’s programming started with InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts I, a selection of shorts by independent Canadian filmmakers exploring family dynamics, diasporic communities, the bonds between women, and the pursuit of goals both grand and petty.
The afternoon continued with InFocus: Canadian Cinema Shorts II, a collection that digs into cultural beauty standards and self acceptance, holds space for grief and loss, and includes stories of intergenerational connection and coming of age experiences.
The evening concluded with Why Dig When You Can Pluck, preceded by the world premiere of Maureen Payne-Hahner’s short film, Belinda.
“Society is not kind to female hyphenates, and we’re told we can’t possibly be good at both mothering and artmaking. We’re told that being a mother means other people get to decide what is and isn’t true about you. I wanted to tell a story that speaks the truth and opens the doors of permission for the next mother to speak hers,” says Matlow.
NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year in addition to its special InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion, and region. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming.
Also Read: A Beloved Sex-Ed Teacher and a Secret Boyfriend Highlight NFMLA’s InFocus: Counter-Ageism Program
NFMLA InFocus: Canadian Cinema
Here is some information on the filmmakers and their films, as well as their video interviews with NFMLA Board Chair Danny De Lillo.
“We Are Not Alone” directed by Adebukola Bodunrin
About Adebukola: Adebukola is a Nigerian-Canadian film and video artist whose work has been featured at SXSW, IFFR, Images Festival, Anthology Film Archives, BFI, REDCAT, MCA Chicago, Festival Animator, the Black Cinema House, and is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum. Her work on KCET’s “Lost LA” series earned her an LA Area Emmy for segment direction. “We Are Not Alone” marks her first venture into live-action filmmaking.
About “We Are Not Alone”: A reclusive young Nigerian immigrant becomes convinced that a mysterious object approaching Earth’s orbit holds the key to her loneliness.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Adebukola Bodunrin the director of “We Are Not Alone”:
“Cleaving East Pender” directed by Kayla Cao
About Kayla: Kayla is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She received her BFA in Film & Television Production from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. She completed her master’s degree in Visual Anthropology at her alma mater in 2023. She is busy with a few in-development projects while editing her first feature-length autoethnographic documentary.
Kayla shares her love for storytelling as an editing technician and creative consultant for multiple media companies. She is driven by her firm belief that storytelling is a healing medium. The social challenges around us are invitations to wield our stories as instruments of compassion — letting inspiration deeply inform our actions.
About “Cleaving East Pender”: “Cleaving East Pender” offers an observational journey into Vancouver’s diverse Chinese community through a sensory ethnographic approach. The film explores diasporic cultures, home-building, and community-building in Canada.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Kayla Cao the director of “Cleaving East Pender”:
“Leveled” directed by Sara Rangooni
About Sara: Founder of Dalphinium Media, Sara is a director and writer dedicated to changing the narrative for equity deserving communities through powerful storytelling. Born and raised in Toronto, her proof of concept short film, “Leveled,” continues to screen at festivals worldwide.
She believes in the power of changing perspective through four-dimensional storytelling. As one of four selected for Rising Voices with Hillman Grad, Bipoc TV & Film and Indeed for her screenplay “Leveled,” she is currently in the development stages of her coming-of-age film, which will be her feature directorial debut.
Sara is dedicated to telling powerful stories that centre on themes of belonging, love and loss layered with a distinct dramatic and comedic tone which is both entertaining and relatable. She continues to charter a path in the industry through various recognized programs and creating content on screen as a proficient writer and director.
About “Leveled”: Safa is forced to navigate her very culturally over-bearing Pakistani grandmother while confronted with layers of societal stigma as she searches for her mother’s medication, racing against the clock in pursuit of her dreams.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Sara Rangooni the director of “Leveled”:
“ick” directed by India Opzoomer
About India: India is a Canadian-British director and cinematographer currently based in Austin Texas. As a child of the internet age, she is drawn to coming-of-age stories about the disconnect and dread that young people feel in their extremely online lives. India holds an MFA in Film Production from University of Texas at Austin. Her shorts have screened at BAFTA and Academy qualifying festivals worldwide, including her latest film “ick”, which won a jury award at the Austin Film Festival and was nominated at the British Short Film Awards that same year.
About “ick”: A prom night fantasy collides head first with reality…
Watch the NFMLA interview with India Opzoomer director of “ick”:
“Move In” directed by Mel Mah
About Mel: Mel Mah is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker from Toronto whose work has played at numerous festivals including NewFilmmakers LA, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and Cleveland International Film Festival. She gained years of feature filmmaking experience as the associate producer on Sony’s film BIG GEORGE FOREMAN and the Executive Assistant to director George Tillman Jr. on the FOX film THE HATE U GIVE. Currently, Mel’s one of WIF’s 2024 directing fellows and she’s developing her feature directorial debut THIS WAY TO HOME, a dramedy starring Ken Jeong, produced by Bay Mills Studios and backed by Canadian distributors Photon Films.
About “Move In”: A teenage contemporary dancer gains newfound strength after sharing a traumatic experience with the quirky new girl at her dance studio.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Mel Mah, the director of “Move In”:
“Why Dig When You Can Pluck” directed by Cambria Matlow
About Cambria: Cambria Matlow is a filmmaker based in Portland, OR. In moody storyworlds that disrupt and discomfort, Matlow uses the mirror of nature to illuminate fractured identities, broken systems and complicated relationships. An IFP Documentary Lab Fellow and winner of Oregon Film + Playa’s Screenwriting Award, her documentaries have been selected for IFP’s Independent Film Week, broadcast on Al Jazeera and PBS, and screened in festivals and cinemas worldwide including BAFICI, Lincoln Center and Santa Barbara Int’l Film Festival.
About “Why Dig When You Can Pluck”: A filmmaker seeking inspiration for her next movie brings her volatile husband and defiant young son camping on the Oregon coast. When her competing desires to be a good mother and creative artist come to a head, she reaches a painful but powerful breakthrough.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Cambria Matlow, the director of “Why Dig When You Can Pluck”:
“Belinda” directed by Maureen Payne-Hahner
About Maureen: Maureen initially worked as an international (USA, Europe) theater director. She founded Writers Innovative Network serving as editor and co-developer for new writing. Education includes: The Conservatory at Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago. Yale School of Drama-Assistant Director, Women’s Leadership Program University of Oxford, Sundance Collab-script development.
Her first short film “BRUME” (2022) won numerous awards including Best First-Time Director at the New York Indie Shorts Awards, and at the Toronto Women Film Festival. Other “BRUME” awards: Best Ensemble, Best Sound, and several Honorable Mentions. European premiere Indie Shorts Awards CANNES (2022). A third short is development and she’s in talks about her first feature.
About “Belinda”: A woman who chooses single motherhood embarks on a journey to remote Denmark seeking the father who abandoned her.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Maureen Payne-Hahner the director of “Belinda”:
“Unibrow” directed by Nedda Sarshar
About Nedda: Nedda Sarshar is an Irani-Canadian director and writer. She loves to make films that bring Irani women to the screen and highlight aspects of diaspora life. Her short film Unibrow has been accepted and won prizes at Oscar-qualifying film festivals, and she continues to make films in her hometown of Toronto.
About “Unibrow”: An Irani-Canadian girl is forced to rethink her relationship with her unibrow and her Irani heritage, when she is forced to make friends with the new girl from Iran.
Watch the NFMLA interview with Nedda Sarshar, the director of “Unibrow”:
Main Image: A still from “Unibrow” courtesy of NFMLA