York U’s CineSiege
What do Eugene Levy and York University have in common? In 2003 the Canadian comic—and father of the greatest gift to MTV’s After Show, Dan Levy—sat on the jury of the first ever CineSiege, a showcase of productions from students in York University’s film department. Now in its eighth year, the annual event screens a juried selection of shorts, taking things from the classroom to the screen. Starting with a pool of 135 films by undergraduate students, the jury had the task of making a short list from 22 nominees in the categories of short fiction, documentaries, and alternative works.
Adam Nayman, film critic at The Grid, contributing editor at Cinema Scope, and fixture of Toronto’s film scene, sat on the jury for the first time this year. “I’d say it’s a strong group of student shorts, some really varied subject matter and a healthy mix of feature, documentary, and experimental formats,” he told us. “I can’t really divulge individual films since it’s still technically a surprise which titles will screen—our award selections haven’t been made public yet—but I guess I can say that there are films dealing with contemporary youth in Canada and abroad.”
As Nayman mentions, since the titles haven’t been announced it’s hard to know what to expect, but this is the point: the excitement (and sometimes challenge) of exploring and experiencing new filmmakers is that we don’t know what we’re about to get. It’s like trick or treat at the cineplex. And what’s not to like about that?
Catalyst is one of the shorts screening this year.