LGBTQ2+ lives, 50 years later
Five personal stories of victories, losses, and empowerment.

In 1969, Canada passed Bill C-150 into law, which partially decriminalized homosexuality in Canada.

Fifty years later, the NFB presents Five@50, a unique collection of five-minute shorts reflecting on contemporary LGBTQ2+ lives and identities. These intimate documentaries range from personal reflection to cultural history, and include experimental forms, animation, and dramatization.

When it comes to progress and queer culture, what have we gained? And what have we lost along the way?

Featuring films by Michèle Pearson Clarke, Thirza (Theo Jean) Cuthand, Tiffany Hsiung, Vivek Shraya and Michael V. Smith.

A unique collection of five-minute shorts reflecting on contemporary LGBTQ2+ lives and identities. When it comes to progress and queer culture, what have we gained in the last 50 years? And what have we lost along the way?

In Handmade Mountain, Michèle Pearson Clarke explores the emotional fallout of being both early to gay marriage and early to gay divorce. Fifteen years after same-sex marriage became legal, she and friends reflect on its personal and political meaning in this experimental film.

Long Synopsis

Fifteen years after we gained the right to same-sex marriage, Michèle Pearson Clarke explores the emotional fallout of being both early to gay marriage and early to gay divorce in this experimental film. Through audio excerpts from conversations with friends who attended her 2005 wedding, she considers the emotional complexities and collective stakes involved when your personal choices are entangled with your political rights. Visually, Handmade Mountain juxtaposes documentary reaction shots, using repetition and jump cuts for further effect.

CREDITS

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA PRESENTS

HANDMADE MOUNTAIN

Written and Directed by
Michèle Pearson Clarke

In Conversation with
Ross Burnett and Nick Hanning
Scott Ferguson and Russell Mathew
Rachel Giese and Jenn Miller

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Director of Photography
Alyssa Bistonath

Editor
Michèle Pearson Clarke

Sound Recordist
Jordan Kawai

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Senior Production Coordinator
Andrew Martin-Smith

Gaffer
Cheska Appave

Assistant Editor
Jordan Kawai

Credits Design and Visual Effects
Branden Bratuhin

Studio Operations Manager
Mark Wilson

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Technical Assistant
Q’mal Labad-Workman

Marketing Manager
Melissa Wheeler

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Post-Production Services provided by
SIM Post Toronto

Colourist
Arlene Moelker

Online Editor
Darren Hinchy

Assistant Online Editor
Steve Thorpe

Finishing Producer
Mateusz Sklarzyk

Sound Editor
Chris King

Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Ella Melanson

Re-Recording Mixer
James Bastable

“Hmmmm?” Copyright © 2013 Beach Moon/Peach Moon (Robert Prisco). All rights reserved.

“Bed of Truth” Copyright © 2013 Beach Moon/Peach Moon (Robert Prisco). All rights reserved.

A Very Special Thank you

Nasreen Khan

Thank you

                                      401 Richmond                                  Pat Mills

                                      Ricardo Acosta                                Mia Nielsen

                                      Arielle Berger                                   Emma Phelan

                                      Nicola Brown                                    Mariangela Piccione

                                      Jacqueline Clarke                           Nolan Pike

                                      Maya Gallus                                     Mark Savoia   

                                      Peter Gibson                                    The Drake Hotel

                                      Tammy Hinsche                                Lulu Wei

                                      Anisa Khan                                       Christina Zeidler

                                      Nina Levitt                                       

Pre-contact, a Two Spirit person named Woman Dress travels the Plains, gathering and sharing stories. Featuring archival images and dramatized re-enactments, this film shares a Cuthand family oral story, honouring and respecting Woman Dress without imposing colonial binaries on them.

Long Synopsis

In this short doc featuring dramatized re-enactments, filmmaker Thirza (Theo Jean) Cuthand’s Auntie Beth tells the story of a Two Spirit person named Woman Dress. Pre-contact, Woman Dress travels the Plains, going from village to village, collecting and telling stories, and sharing news.

Woman Dress’s own story has been kept alive orally in the Cuthand family, an act of resistance against colonialism and Christianity, which almost eradicated the position of Two Spirit people in Cree communities.

Cree has no gendered pronouns, and the film honours and respects Woman Dress’s gender identity by alternating she/he pronouns instead of imposing a colonial binary system on them. The film draws on archival NFB footage of the Prairies and images of contemporary urban settings as a backdrop for Woman Dress’s own story. It is a powerful act of reclaiming history and present-day space for Two Spirit people.

CREDITS

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA PRESENTS

WOMAN DRESS

Written and Directed by
Thirza (Theo Jean) Cuthand

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Featuring
Beth Cuthand
Thirza (Theo Jean) Cuthand
Kiley May

Director of Photography
Gabriela Osio Vanden

Editor
Maria Todorov-Topouzov

Costume Designer
Sage Paul

Costume Designer
Sage Paul

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Unit Production Manager
Priscilla Galvez

Production Coordinator
Andrew Martin-Smith

Assistant Camera
Jacob White

Gaffer
John Palanca

Hair and Makeup Artist
Misty Fox

Sound Recordists
Miles Thorogood
Kevin Riley

Production Assistants
Alexander Humilde
Renee Poujade

VFX Supervisor
Maria Todorov-Topouzov

Transcription
Grahame Hinton-Barber

Manager: Studio Operations
Mark Wilson

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Technical Assistant
Q’mal Labad-Workman

Marketing Manager
Melissa Wheeler

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Post Production Services provided by
SIM Post Toronto

Colourist
Andrew Ross

Online Editor
Ty Delgaty

Assistant Online Editor
Steve Thorpe

Sound Editor
Kathy Choi

Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Jesse Fellows

Re-Recording Mixer
Stacy Coutts

“Southern Thunderbird Woman”
Written and performed by Southern Thunderbird Medicine Drum.

© 2019 by Maegan Salwan. All rights reserved.

Archival footage courtesy of
NFB ARCHIVES ONF

and

Theo Jean Cuthand

Special Thanks
Ricardo Acosta
Beth Cuthand
Stan Cuthand
Maya Gallus
Peter Gibson
Adam Weitner

When a vintage bassinet appears at filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung and long-time fiancée Victoria Mata’s home, it sets off a chain reaction of emotions. The Bassinet is a gentle and affecting story about Tiffany’s personal struggle with the intersection of her sexual orientation and cultural identity, and the cross-generational burden of having a baby in the context of rigid social constructs of marriage and family.

Long Synopsis

Tiffany Hsiung and Victoria Mata have been engaged for more than three years. At this point, whether or not they get married seems less significant than whether they have a baby—something Tiffany thinks would change everything in her life. When Victoria brings home a vintage bassinet that’s long been in her family, it sets off a chain reaction of thoughts and emotions for Tiffany, forcing her to deal with her own internal conflicts about becoming a parent.

Lined with Chinese idioms and notions from the cultural upbringing that has shaped Tiffany, The Bassinet is a gentle and affecting story about her personal struggle with the intersection of her sexual orientation and cultural identity, and the cross-generational burden of having a baby in the context of rigid social constructs of marriage and family.

CREDITS

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA PRESENTS

THE BASSINET

Written and Directed by
Tiffany Hsiung

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Director of Photography
Alex Tong

Editor
Tiffany Beaudin

Featuring
Tiffany Hsiung
Victoria Mata

Story Editor
Jennifer Kassabian

Music by
Tom Third

Sound Recordist
Peter Sawade

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Production Manager
Priscilla Galvez

Senior Production Coordinator
Andrew Martin-Smith

First Assistant Camera
Sean Marjoram

Key Grip
Daniel Edwards

Production Assistant
Daniela Arango Cano

Studio Operations Manager
Mark Wilson

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Technical Assistant
Q’mal Labad-Workman

Marketing Manager
Melissa Wheeler

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Post-Production Services provided by
SIM Post Toronto

Colourist
Arlene Moelker

Online Editor
Darren Hinchy

Assistant Online Editor
Steve Thorpe

Finishing Producer
Mateusz Sklarzyk

Sound Editor
David Caporale

Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Ella Melanson

Re-Recording Mixer
James Bastable

Special Thanks
Peter Gibson
Lido Pimienta
Wendy Tan
Fernanda Yanchapaxi
Hsiung Family
Tu Family
Dunlop Family
Shoemaker Family
Geary Family
Future Baby

Filmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya’s ode to a popular Edmonton gay bar that closed in 2007. With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is a story about community complexity and longing, and an elegy to a lost space.

Long Synopsis

The Roost was a popular gay bar in Edmonton from 1997 to 2007.

In Reviving the Roost, filmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya tells a story about community complexity and longing. With pulsating neon-light animation, the film is a reminder of a time of queer coexistence (and constraint), and an elegy to a lost space.

CREDITS

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA PRESENTS

REVIVING THE ROOST

Written & Directed by
Vivek Shraya

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Animator / Illustrator
Tim Singleton

Music / Sound Design
Johnny Spence

Additional Cinematography
Zachary Ayotte

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Senior Production Coordinator
Andrew Martin-Smith

Manager: Studio Operations
Mark Wilson

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Technical Assistant
Q’mal Labad-Workman

Marketing Manager
Melissa Wheeler

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Post Production Services provided by
SIM Post Toronto

Colourist
Andrew Ross

Online Editor
Ty Delgaty

Assistant Online Editor
Steve Thorpe

Sound Editor
Elma Bello

Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Jesse Fellows

Re-Recording Mixer
Martin Lee

Special Thanks
Ricardo Acosta
Maya Gallus
Peter Gibson
Adam Holman
Patrick Ryley
Ivan Seymour
Moona Syed
Jesse Wente
Trish Yeo

The Hook Up is an experimental doc featuring four gay men from two different generations: two nearing age 70 and two 20-somethings. Striking close-up visuals create a powerful sense of intimacy and connection as the men discuss how hooking up has (and has not) evolved for gay men.

Long Synopsis

Hook-up culture has changed a lot over the last 50 years. Or has it?

The Hook Up is an experimental doc featuring four gay men from two different generations: two nearing age 70 and two 20-somethings. The older men, out in Vancouver since the late ’60s and early ’70s, describe the complexities of hooking up in the pre-app era. Meanwhile, the younger men’s experience is generally—but not exclusively—more straightforward and transactional.

Writer and filmmaker Michael V. Smith uses striking close-up visuals of the men, creating a powerful sense of intimacy and connection as they discuss how hooking up has (and has not) evolved for gay men.

CREDITS

THE NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA PRESENTS

THE HOOK-UP

Written and Directed by
Michael V. Smith

Producer
Justine Pimlott

Executive Producer
Anita Lee

Director of Photography
Lindsay George

Editor
Jessica Dymond

Featuring
Otto Chan
Josh Gradilone
Colin Thomas
Paul Wong

Sound Design
Eva Madden

Sound Recordist
Sandor Gyurkovics

Production Supervisor
Marcus Matyas

Senior Production Coordinator
Andrew Martin-Smith

Gaffer
Bradley Davis

Make-up Artist
Min-Jee Mowat

Production Assistants
Amelia Morris
Katrina Tadros

Visual Effects
Branden Bratuhin

Manager: Studio Operations
Mark Wilson

Studio Administrator
Patricia Bourgeois

Technical Coordinator
Kevin Riley

Studio Coordinator
Carly Kastner

Technical Assistant
Q’mal Labad-Workman

Marketing Manager
Melissa Wheeler

Publicist
Jennifer Mair

Legal Counsel
Christian Pitchen

Post Production Services provided by
SIM Post Toronto

Sound Editor
Jean Choi Bot

Re-Recording Mixer
Martin Lee

Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Will Stephens

Colourist
Andrew Ross

Online Editor
Ty Delgaty

Assistant Online Editor
Steve Thorpe

Special Thanks
Ricardo Acosta
Daniel Collins
Kevin Dale McKeown
Ron Dutton
Maya Gallus
Peter Gibson
Denise Kenney
Bryan McKinnon
Francis Langevin
Kaschelle Thiessen
VIVO
Nettie Wild