 was founded in 2015. It is a seasonal film festival){kind=link}
The Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift (formally the Cineiran Festival) was founded in 2015. It is a seasonal film festival. They mixed model structure where they look at the winners from their different seasons, some may be chosen for an online screening, and others may be chosen for a physical screening. At the most recent Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift a variety of films, both short and feature, doc and narrative, comedy and drama, and even unproduced scripts were honoured. Here are some of those honorees:
Oopsy Daisy (Canada)
From Writer/Director: Devin Gillis
A romantic flower shop employee is disillusioned when a couple comes in, and the man wants to buy flowers not only for his girlfriend but also for another woman. There are a few twists in this short which utilizes excellent story economy in its 4:38 running time, which is probably why it was awarded Best Canadian Narrative Short.
The Country House and its Karma (Uruguay)
From Writer/Director: Juan Pablo Bornio
This film is a supernatural short that seems to be about reckoning with the past, no matter how ugly it is. This film was awarded Best Mobile Film, and it is a good reminder of how far we have come with the ability to shoot films on our phones. It is a powerful tool if you have a narrative and the ability to edit. Though, even if it is a great tool, one thing many of these mobile films leave out is an investment in audio (which the phone is not a good substitute for professional sound). This film’s sound wasn’t bad, though it could’ve benefitted from mixing.
Flow (Spain)
Co-writers: Lachlan Kiss and Pablo Soto and Director: Pablo Soto
The description of the film is, “Flow talks about the importance of being present in key moments of our lives to connect with ourselves.” This statement rings true as every frame in this film feels very purposeful. I was captivated by the movement for the whole 3 minutes and 46 seconds of this film that was awarded Best Micro Short at Cift. It was irrelevant if the movement on screen matched the music, or flowed with it, because every frame felt like life being captured, and captured beautifully. It’s hard to pick a favourite section in this, but I would have to go with the rollerblader. The shots capturing the moving skates wore wonderous.
Glitter Electron (Japan)
An animated music video created by Chihiro Sato, Takaaki Numa and E for composer E’s song “Glitter Electron.”
The three animators’ styles come together for this electronic music video dealing with the theme of electricity and its relationship to modern society. Shifting from colour to black and white and back again, the images often moving rapidly to keep up with the pace of the music (or is the music keeping up with the pace of the animation). It was awarded Best Music Video.
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