Cinema Politica is proud to co-present the “Faces of Resistance” program, alongside Shorts That Are Not Pants, as part of the 2021 Regent Park Film Festival. Festival programming is free to stream between November 25 at 6 pm (ET) and December 2. Visit the festival website to login and stream!
(Photo: TO THE GIRL THAT LOOKS LIKE ME, Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah)
Faces of Resistance
What does resistance mean to you? Is there a single definition or method we can look to within BIPOC communities? This collection of films reflects on the journeys of people who, either deliberately or unintentionally, defy the expectations and limitations placed on them by oppressive systems.
(Photo: FROZEN OUT, Hao Zhou)
DEFUND
Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Araya Mengesha | 2021 | Comedy | Canada | English | 14 min | Watch Trailer
Brother and Sister are millennial twins trying to navigate their own, and each other’s, complex responses to both the lockdown and the fight for racial justice during the long hot summer of 2020.
KAMAYAN
Minerva Navasca | 2021 | Documentary, Experimental | Canada | English | 3 min | Watch Trailer
A documentary showcasing the traditional Filipino way of eating, through a foreign, outdated lens.
SMOKEYSWRLD
Luke Galati | 2020 | Documentary | Canada | English | 7 min
Kymahni Bent, a Toronto basketball player, opens up about his path forward after the murder of his brother Jahvante Smart, also known as rapper, Smoke Dawg during the sumer of 2018 and how COVID-19 has impacted the trajectory of his basketball career and ability to persevere past obstacles that have come his way.
REJOICE RESISTANCE
Elisha Smith-Leverock | 2020 | Drama | UK | English | 5 min | Watch Trailer
Rejoice Resist is a film that celebrates Black Joy and Black pleasure as the ultimate form of resistance. Highlighting the importance of allowing yourself to feel joy especially in the face of adversity, The film, depicts a woman on a quest to discover this truth.
(Photo: RULES TO BE A REBEL BY A COCKNEY SIKH, Estefani Gonzalez)
THIS BODY
Zac Manuel | 2020 | Documentary | US | English | 14 min
This Body explores the perilous relationship between Black Americans and the medical industry. As Sydney Hall voluntarily participates in an experimental coronavirus vaccine trial, she grapples with opposing perspectives as she navigates historical and contemporary abuses upon Black bodies, while remaining hopeful that her participation will help save lives in her community.
TO THE GIRL THAT LOOKS LIKE ME
Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah | 2019 | Drama, Experimental | US | English | 5 min
An experimental poetry piece celebrating Black women who continue to thrive in a system that was not built for them. A study of culture, self-love and self-discovery through a string of vignettes that combine dance, folklore, modern culture and spirituality.
FROZEN OUT
Hao Zhou | 2021 | Experimental | China, US | Sichuanese, English | 5 min | Watch Trailer
An immigrant artist retreats to frozen prairies and forests, hoping to escape the anxieties of dislocation and find a meaningful story. Delivered as a film-letter to the protagonist’s sister in rural China, the film meditates on self-exile, home, family, and identity.
RULES TO BE A REBEL BY A COCKNEY SIKH
Estefani Gonzalez | 2020 | Documentary | UK | English | 6 min
In a beautiful city where all cultures coexist and have their voice, Suresh Singh found his essence mixing his Indian spiritual background with the rebellious English punk style. Perfect words describe him, “a Cockney Sikh”
