Niagara Artists Centre (NAC)

08/11/2024

We are honoured to host renowned Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin alongside his early collaborator and Niagara media artist Donna Szoke, for a discussion on building regional film culture. The panel will explore how distinct cinematic voices have emerged across Canada, particularly within Winnipeg’s film scene, emphasising the crucial role of collectives like the Winnipeg Film Group in nurturing filmmakers. Leslie Supnet, Executive Director of the Winnipeg Film Group, will join virtually to share insights on the evolution of the Winnipeg film community and how similar strategies could benefit the growing filmmaking scene in Niagara.
maddin is a renowned Canadian filmmaker celebrated for his experimental and surreal storytelling. He began his career in the 1980s as a self-taught artist in Winnipeg, where he became a key figure in the Winnipeg Film Group.
supnet is an accomplished experimental filmmaker and the Executive Director of the Winnipeg Film Group. With a Master of Fine Arts in Film from York University, she has developed a unique artistic voice that combines animation, live-action, and found footage to explore themes of loss and change using both analog and digital techniques.
szoke is a Canadian media artist and filmmaker recognized for her innovative work across various film and video formats. With a background in experimental film and visual arts, she combines cinematic techniques with her artistic practice.

Hosted by

This event is free! Rsvp at mnff.nac.org

07/11/2024

In a mysterious and surreal interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg, the lives of multiple characters interweave with each other in surprising and mysterious ways. Gradeschoolers Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen in the winter ice and try to claim it. Meanwhile, Massoud leads a group of increasingly-befuddled tourists through the monuments and historic sites of Winnipeg. Matthew quits his meaningless job in a Québecois government office and sets out upon an enigmatic journey to visit his mother. Space, time and personal identities crossfade, interweave and echo into a surreal comedy of misdirection.

Matthew Rankin is a Winnipeg-born filmmaker and experimental animator, now based in Montreal. He began his career in the early 2000s, creating short films that blend animation with live-action, drawing heavily from the influence of Guy Maddin. He gained international recognition with his debut feature, The Twentieth Century, which won three Canadian Screen Awards. His latest film, Universal Language (2023), premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Huge for experimental film champions:
Universal Language has been selected as Canada’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.

Post-screening virtual Q&A with Mathew Rankin () and Anthony Kinik ()

Presented with short film Blue Christmas (2024) by Amber Williams (.art)

mnff.nac.org - dont miss it!

06/11/2024

We’re proud to present a special tribute to the late St. Catharines artist Cathy Sisler (1956-2021).

Curated by Anne Golden, The Revolutionary Pace: Considering Media Artworks by Cathy Sisler offers a deep dive into Sisler’s unique, iconoclastic body of work.

Often exploring themes of physicality, identity, and the human experience, Cathy Sisler’s work pushes the boundaries of traditional media. Her dynamic pieces, such as Aberrant Motion and The Better Me, have been celebrated for their critical voice and emotional depth. Sisler’s thematic interests often focused on the complexities of self-representation and the impact of societal constructs on individual identity. She sought to challenge perceptions of the body and mind, inviting viewers to engage with her work on a personal level. Throughout her career, Sisler made significant contributions to the Canadian art scene, showcasing her work in various exhibitions and festivals, including notable collaborations with Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV) to reach French-speaking audiences.

Originally showcased at Groupe Intervention Vidéo in December 2023, this collection comes to the Niagara Artists Centre (NAC) as a homecoming suggested by Cathy’s brother, Gordon Sisler, and her family, celebrating Sisler’s dynamic physicality, critical voice, and the enduring influence of her art.

This program includes a 70-minute video presentation featuring key pieces like Aberrant Motion and The Better Me. Following the presentation there will be a short, pre-recorded conversation between Cathy’s friend and advocate Karrie Porter and curator Anne Golden.

Mighty Thanks to Gordon Sisler and Groupe Intervention Vidéo for this presentation.

mnff.nac.org

05/11/2024

A rising musical-theatre star before his transition, Z () has to figure out how to sing in his new register in order to return to the thing he loves most — and, in the process, integrate his past and present selves.

J Stevens (they/them) is a Canadian director and cinematographer. They are committed to bringing dynamic, personal, boundary-pushing, and visually captivating LGBTQ2S+ content to audiences. 

Breton (he/him) is a writer, performer, and filmmaker committed to enriching and diversifying q***r and trans representation in storytelling.

Presented with Winnipeg Film Group short 5¢ a Copy
(Ed Ackerman & Greg Zbitnew, 1988)

The world’s first experimental photocopy-animated film, 5¢ a Copy, explores unique methods of creating motion images using a Minolta EP-310 photocopy machine. All effects, including fades and dissolves, were crafted directly on paper. In 1980, amid debates over how to allocate resources, Ackerman and Zbitnew responded creatively to the purchase of a photocopier, crafting this surreal three-minute animation using photocopied faces and cut-outs.

Ed Ackerman is an experimental filmmaker from Winnipeg, known for blending sound and imagery in non-linear storytelling, as seen in Pulpit (1984) and On the Road to Ubud (1986). Greg Zbitnew, also an early member of the Winnipeg Film Group, explores memory and time through his use of found footage, shaping the group’s avant-garde approach.

04/11/2024

04/11/2024

Deep in the woods near Kinmount, Ontario, lies a movie theatre like no other in the world. Since its opening in 1979, the Highlands Cinemas has grown to become a sprawling five-screen complex full of movie memorabilia, vintage projectors collected from closed theatres all over the U.S. and Canada, and – as if that weren’t enough – dozens of cats. Its existence stands as a testament to the tenacity of its sometimes cantankerous owner Keith Stata. But as we see in director Matt Finlin’s affectionate and richly detailed portrait – which was shot over five eventful years — Stata faces unprecedented challenges as he tries to keep his movie palace alive amid a global pandemic. In capturing Stata at moments high and low, the film celebrates the Highlands’ idiosyncratic impresario as an emblem of the grand passions that the movies have long inspired.

Matt Finlin has had a successful career in making award-winning documentaries, music videos, and commercials. Matt makes his home in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Post-screening Q&A with Matt Finlin () in attendance.

Presented with short Tricks Are For Kiddo (2012) by Rhayne Vermette ()

In 2010, Winnipeg director, Guy Maddin exclaims: It’s impossible to collage a film!

The source material came from the found footage readily available at the Winnipeg Film Group. This film is quite simply an inquiry into various methods to excavate something from the physical assemblage of images, much like the notion of a film collage, provoked by Mr. Maddin. My selection process was mainly engrossed with textures and either building up the density of an image, or deflating it. It was also interested in the various ways to reduce an image either through cuts or tears.

mnff.nac.org 4 tix

02/11/2024

Pleased to present the first-annual Free MNFF Drop-In Media Lab hosted by local NAC Member artists on Friday 15 Nov 9:30 PM – 12:00 AM

The Media Lab is a low-stakes experimental improvisation, intended to be ephemeral. More than that, it’s an opportunity to hang with artists and make stuff together. The Niagara arts community is mighty and this Drop In Lab expands our ideas of collaborative art-making.

Various interactive audio-visual stations will be available to move through at your own pace. Let’s make something weird, even if small.

mnff.nac.org for more info

01/11/2024

When SHAW cable purchased Winnipeg’s VPW, rumours circulated that they had destroyed public access television archives and were dismantling services. In response, Daniel Barrow began archiving the history of independently produced television in Winnipeg, which experienced a “golden age” of public access in the late ’70s and ’80s, allowing anyone with a creative vision to have airtime and professional production support. One notable program was The Goofers (later The Glen Meadmore Show), featuring performance artist Glen Meadmore. Winnipeg Babysitter traces these unique moments in broadcasting history when cable companies were required to provide public access. With the archives destroyed, Barrow relied on VHS collections from original producers and enthusiasts, making the film an essential archival project that restores this lost history.

Winnipeg-born, Montreal-based artist Daniel Barrow works in video, film, print-making and drawing, but is best known for his use of antiquated technologies, his “registered projection” installations, and his narrative overhead projection performances. Barrow describes his performance method as a process of, “creating and adapting comic narratives to manual forms of animation by projecting, layering and manipulating drawings on overhead projectors”.

will be in attendance for live performance.

Part of The Winnipeg Connection series. Check out mnff.nac.org for more!

Presented with Cult Canada: Heritage Minute (2023), short film by Will Foran (, )

31/10/2024

Rumours, the latest collaboration between Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, is a surreal tale in which leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies gather at the G7 summit to draft a response to a global crisis. As night falls in the misty woods, they become isolated and face increasingly bizarre challenges, revealing their incompetence and unraveling their carefully crafted facade.

Guy Maddin is a renowned Canadian filmmaker celebrated for his experimental and surreal storytelling. He began his career in the 1980s as a self-taught artist in Winnipeg, where he became a key figure in the Winnipeg Film Group. Maddin’s influence has inspired a new generation of filmmakers, helping establish Winnipeg as a hub for innovative cinema

Post-screening Q&A with director .maddin and Anthony Kinik ()

Presented with Egg (2024), short film by Jimmy Limit ()

Guy Maddin photographed by Grant Harder for the New York Times (2024)

Tickets at mnff.nac.org

30/10/2024

Struggling with a new baby and a distracted husband, an academic is more than happy to hang out with a college pal who crashes back into her life. But what sort of relationship are they resuming, precisely?

Kazik Radwanski is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His early short films have been cited as part of the New Canadian Cinema movement. Known for Anne at 13,000 Ft. (2019), Princess Margaret Blvd. (2008) and now his most recent work and his forth feature film Matt and Mara.

Post-screening, in-person Q&A with Deragh Campbell and Jason Cadieux.

Deragh Campbell is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is known for her acclaimed performances in independent Canadian cinema. Campbell has starred in three of Kazik Radwanski’s feature films.

Presented with Vegetables (2024), short film by Maggie Groat.

Tickets at mnff.nac.org

30/10/2024

Tales from the Gimli Hospital (Guy Maddin, 1988)
Landmark Cinemas Pen Centre | Thu 14 Nov | 7:00PM

Q&A with .maddin + .szoke in attendance. Part of The Winnipeg Connection Film Series - look out for Maddin’s other films The Green Fog (2017) and latest release Rumours (2024) in the MNFF 2024 program!

29/10/2024

MNFF and the Niagara Palestine Coalition () present two contemporary films celebrating Middle Eastern storytelling with filmmakers Basma Alsharif and Alexander Farah.

Double Bill:
Ouroboros (2017) by Basma Al Sharif ()

Basma Alsharif is an artist/filmmaker born in Kuwait of Palestinian origin, raised between France, the U.S., and the Gaza Strip, who is now based in Los Angeles. She has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and developed her practice nomadically between cinema and installation, focusing on the human condition in relation to shifting geopolitical landscapes. Ouroboros is her first feature film.

One Day This Kid (2024) by Alexander Farah ()

Alexander Farah is an Afghan-Canadian director known for his steadfast commitment to emotionally resonant stories exploring identity, family and relationships.

mnff.nac.org or link in bio for tix + more info

28/10/2024

While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told a tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the Lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the angelic Snjofridur in a Gimli of old.

Guy Maddin is a renowned Canadian filmmaker celebrated for his experimental and surreal storytelling. He began his career in the 1980s as a self-taught artist in Winnipeg, where he became a key figure in the Winnipeg Film Group. Maddin’s influence has inspired a new generation of filmmakers, helping establish Winnipeg as a hub for innovative cinema

Post-screening Q&A with director Guy Maddin and Donna Szoke.

Presented with Haleem and I (2024), short film by Zeinah Kalati ()

Tickets at mnff.nac.org

28/10/2024

The Mighty Niagara Film Fest proudly presents The Winnipeg Connection film series from 13 to 17 November 2024, highlighting Winnipeg’s distinct regionalist perspective as a model for fostering Niagara’s emerging film culture.

Through these films, we explore the spirit of artist-run culture at work within the Winnipeg Film Group and its role in creating spaces for distinct experimental practices in film form.

From this environment emerged renowned Winnipeg filmmakers like Guy Maddin and Matthew Rankin, among many others outside of this program, who create narratives deeply rooted in local experiences that resonate beyond geographical boundaries.

We are joined in person by Guy Maddin, Winnipeg/Niagara artist Donna Szoke, and writer Anthony Kinik for Q&A events at , and Panel Discussion at . Live archival performance of Winnipeg Babysitter by , intro by .
maddin photographed by .mattsson, 2023

More details to come – or check out our website! mnff.nac.org

28/10/2024

🎞️ Mighty Niagara Film Fest (MNFF) returns 13-17 November 2024! This showcase of wildly eclectic filmmaking trains a spotlight on both local and international stories told with moving images. This year’s festival presents unique cultural experiences that blend captivating cinema with exclusive local offerings to celebrate all that is and all that matters to Niagara. Individual tickets range from $10 to pay-what-you-choose, with Festival Passes available.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Niagara Falls Fallsview for November 13, 2024 through November 17, 2024. Booking your room is simple, just select “Book a Room” to receive your group’s preferred rate.

11/10/2024

Collage and Risograph Workshop with Alicia Nauta and Colour Code

Sunday, October 27th 2:00-5:00PM

Come collage and make a risograph print of your creation!
Each participant will make 10 prints of their collaged design while learning the basics of risograph printing.
All materials will be provided.

Limited capacity. Reserve your spot at the link in our bio!