THANKS FOR NOTHING

WATCH FULL FILM: https://youtu.be/UZL7GmWocmU​

Thanks for Nothing follows Hamiltonian Sharon Miller as she fights against displacement, trying to stay in her apartment and home despite numerous maintenance and pest issues. The transit agency Metrolinx became Sharon’s new landlord when they purchased her building to construct a Light Rail Transit system and have been trying to evict her from her unit without offering appropriate compensation and an alternative place to live. With nowhere affordable to move to within the increasingly gentrified city of Hamilton, Sharon fights back against displacement pressures and against a city that sees her as dispensable.

Director's Statement:

The revitalization of Hamilton has caused rent prices to increase, affordable housing to become increasingly inaccessible and gentrification to spread from the downtown core to the rest of the city. The proposed construction of a Light Rail Transit system will accelerate gentrification, with many residential buildings purchased to prepare for its construction; the tenants of these buildings were mostly evicted. “Thanks for Nothing” follows Sharon Miller’s continued resistance against the threat of eviction and questions who belongs in a city and who is seen as valuable by a city, while observing the violence that is caused by gentrification. The film works through issues of documentary representation to create an empowering image of Sharon that will inspire further organizational efforts against gentrification and displacement in Sharon’s and other communities across Hamilton.
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Community Canoe

How can a canoe alter the way we view our community? This short documentary follows Matt, who by lending out his canoe to strangers and friends challenges our idea of what it means to be a part of a community, and how sharing what we have can help create and sustain them. 
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grozota

As an immigrant from former Yugoslavia, family parties mean a lot to Ljubomir; but this party will shape up to be a little more tense when not only does his son Marko come out as gay, but decides to bring an unexpected guest. 

The party begins in the usual way, with food, drink and song, but the presence of Marko’s boyfriend John unsettles and upsets Ljubomir. As the night drags on, Ljubomir finds that a scene will be impossible to avoid, one that will cause the party to crash to a halt and change the family forever.

​Links:

http://www.ziher.hr/izvan-balkanskih-granica-grozota-t-hemon/

http://www.torontoyouthshorts.ca/blog/april-26th-2016

http://bhraja.ca/taras-hemons-grozota-to-be-previewed-in-toronto-this-saturday/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5764912/

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CEDAR

Right at the onset of winter, Trivo found a good deal for a cedar tree and finally managed to plant a tree on his own land. However, the harsh Canadian winter is not kind to the tree, reminding Trivo of his emigration from former Yugoslavia, and how he was pushed out of there due to the war. 

Trivo’s son Tosho does not see the logic of planting a tree in the winter, especially when the tree is so distracting to his father that Tosho is increasingly ignored at a critical time in his life as Tosho prepares to decide on enrolling in university.