Four Suits. Fifty-Two Cards. One Mystery for the Ages.

Lost in the Shuffle

FEATURE FILM

WORLD PREMIERE AT HOT DOCS 2024!


Seen through the eyes of five of the world’s best sleight-of-hand artists, Lost in the Shuffle is a loving look at how playing cards have become synonymous with magic and the mysteries hidden in their art. Shawn Farquhar is a two-time world champion who has been immersed in magic from a young age, but it’s only been in recent years that he’s developed an interest in their design and in particular the King of Hearts, who Shawn has come to believe represents France’s Charles VIII. His reign ended with his accidental death in 1498, but Shawn believes that the real story of Charles’ murder was secretly embedded into the art of our playing cards so that the truth would live on.

Intertwined with this investigation, will be an opportunity to watch Shawn develop a new routine that tells his version of Charles’ demise. Workshopping the act with some of today’s top magic talent, the film pulls back the curtain on the creativity and ingenuity the modern magician employs to make us all believe in the impossible

Featuring: Shawn Farquhar, Juan Tamariz, Alexandra Duvivier, Michael Vincent and Richard Turner.

It only hurts until you laugh.

All Joking Aside

FEATURE FILM


CHARLENE MURRAY wants nothing more than to become a stand-up comedian, but life won't stop getting in the way of her ambitions. From her soul-sucking job, to the heartbreaking estrangement from her family, to that bully who heckles her first amateur night gig, she just can't catch a break. But when she discovers that the heckler, BOB CARPENTER, actually used to be a big name on the comedy circuit before his career crashed and burned, she turns to him for mentorship; a request that is quickly shot down by the now grizzled barfly. But Charlene is tenacious, and over time the two find something in each other that has been missing in their own lives, a friendship is born, and Charlene learns to find funny in places she never expected.

Directed by: Shannon Kohli (The Magicians, Supergirl)

Starring: Raylene Harewood (Charmed, Supernatural), Brian Markinson (Mad Men, Charlie Wilson’s War)

Love is a many-feathered thing.

Internet dating can be nerve-wracking at the best of times, everyone wants to put their best foot forward, and everyone has things they want to hide. Unfortunately for Jack and Jill, they've got more to hide than most, and that's going to make their first coffee date an afternoon to remember.

Starring Lauren Jackson and Andrew McNee (Grand Unified Theory, Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Just For Laughs Comedy Short Shorts - 2nd Place

Shart International Comedy Film Festival - Official Selection

Dances With Films - Official Selection

Yorkton Film Festival - Nominee Best Comedy

Tokyo Liftoff Online Film Festival

London International Comedy Film Festival - Honorable Mention

Now available on Shorts.tv

Behind every great display is a dedicated designer...

 

In the confines of the show windows at “Wedgely's for Women” Judy Thibeault is queen. For more than 35 years she has been creating the eye-catching displays that have drawn several generations of the City's women through Wedgely's doors and played a huge role in making the store the success it is. However, in recent weeks the precision which she exercises over her mannequins and their environments is being disrupted in increasingly strange and inexplicable ways and every morning she arrives at work faced with a new and frustrating dilemma. Convinced that the only logical explanation is that her new, young co-worker Tammy is sabotaging the displays in an attempt to steal her job, Judy embarks on a course of action that will change her career and life.

Winner - 2012 CreativeBC/MPPIA Production Prize

Winner - 2014 Barcelona Film Fest "El Rey" Excellence Award

Official Selection - 2013 Whistler International Film Festival

Official Selection - 2014 Peloponnesian Int'l Film Festival

Official Selection - 2014 Cypress International Film Festival

 Now available on Shorts.tv

Link to the official site here.

 

 

 

Hashtags, hockey and homelessness.

 

A Social Media revolution has been building momentum on the Internet for the past five years, and it is creating a new sense of community and empowerment amongst those who have embraced it. History has shown that poor and marginalized communities stand to gain the most from leaps forward in the democratization of information, so the excitement was palpable in areas like Vancouver’s maligned Downtown Eastside about the possibilities of Web 2.0 and beyond. With the Winter Olympics less than a year away, billions have been spent in preparations as Vancouver puts on its best face for the world. Against this background the film examines Social Media in action as a group named Fearless City embarks on a campaign to empower and protect its neighbours with cellphones, video-streaming, and the World Wide Web.

Watch the film in its entirety at Reelhouse.

Broadcast by CBC's Documentary Channel

International Sales Agent: FilmOption International

 

Every 5 minutes, 3 million plastic bottles are used in the US alone.

 

Plastic Bottles is a profile of the work of Seattle-based photographer Chris Jordan , who uses his work to try and help us all get a better grip on the often incomprehensible and overwhelming statistics which describe our modern consumer culture.  With his painstakingly created, large scale photomontages Jordan makes visible what a field of 3 million plastic bottles - a number which reflects how many are used every 5 minutes in the US alone - and helps us find a new way to make sense of these numbers.  In engaging people in a discussion about the role we all play in contributing to these statistics, Jordan challenges us to reflect on the idea of personal responsibility in society.

 

Made with a production grant from Bravo!Fact

Broadcast by Bravo! Network

 

 

Never underestimate the power of a beer.

 

Every second Saturday of July for the past twenty-eight years the tiny California community of Laguna Niguel sees itself become the host of an improbably recurring event which is popularly known as "Moon Amtrak".  Centered around the Mugs Away Saloon and located in an industrial area of town, the festival is inspired by JT Smith's drunken offer to buy a beer for anyone who would come out with him and moon the Amtrak passenger trains which were whizzing by on some nearby tracks.  While evolving over the yearsinto a sort of Mardi Gras for the Southern California biker community, the festival has remained curiously friendly to anyone who wants to pull their pants down, and welcomes everyone from grandmothers to newlyweds.  Without any central coordination the party now gets upwards of 3,000 people a year, some of whom begin to park their RVs along the route several days early to get the best spots.  With a generally well-behaved crowd, the biggest threat to Moon Amtrak's continued survival may actually be something as banal as condo construction, as the surrounding gated communities look to gobble up more real estate.

Official selection 2009 Cinerail Film Festival

 

Sometimes the line between cruelty and compassion is hard to find.

 

 

 

When the martial law outside her hospital's walls force its evacuation, critical care doctor Maureen Beckett is faced with making agonizing choices on behalf of her most sensitive patients. 

Opening Selection - NSI Online Film Festival 2008