Riverdale film director's work makes the cut at TIFF.
Film director Kazik Radwanski, left, works with Raj Manav and Kaiden Williams during the shooting of the 10-minute short, 'Green Crayons'.
Courtesy/MDFF
For the third consecutive year, lifelong Riverdalian Kazik Radwanski's work is being showcased in the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Green Crayons, the 10-minute film he directed, is one of 40 films to be screened in the festival's diverse Short Cuts Canada program.
The film's producer is Daniel Montgomery, an Ottawa native who now lives in the Bloor-Lansdowne area.
Green Crayons tells the story of Grade 2 boys Xavier and Liam who are forced to face the consequences of their actions after being caught having a spitting fight.
"It's a moral tale based on my strongest memory from childhood. It's something that happened to me in Grade 2 or 3," Radwanski shared. "It was my first real feeling of guilt and the realization my actions can affect others."
The independent short was filmed locally at the Children's Circle Day Care on Hampton Avenue, near the Chester subway station. Radwanski, whose mother works there as a supervisor, attended that daycare as a child.
Several local children appear in the film as extras.
The Ontario Arts Council funded Green Crayons, which has the same creative team as previous Medium Density Fireboard Films (MDFF) shorts: Daniel Voshart (cinematography), Ajla Odobasic (editing) and Eva Michon (art direction).
Green Crayons will be screened Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 4:30 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall.
MDFF is also presenting a second short film at TIFF, Woman Waiting, co-produced and edited by B.C.'s Antoine Bourges.
Supported with the help of Cineworks and Technicolor Vancouver, Woman Waiting tells the story of a middle-aged woman who longs for human help while caught in red tape as she searches for a place to live in Vancouver.
Woman Waiting, which will have its world premiere at TIFF, is set to be screened Mon., Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. and Tues., Sept. 14, at 5 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall.
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Radwanski and Montgomery, who met while studying Image Arts at Ryerson University, are the founders of their own production company, Medium Density Fireboard Films (MDFF).
Like its construction material namesake, MDFF is all about durability, versatility, affordability and reliability and believes in using small crews and minimal equipment.
MDFF is also committed to exploring naturalistic, narrative and documentary forms in filmmaking while focusing on unique, director-driven projects that display a strong sense of cinematic handwriting.
The company's 2008 short, Princess Margaret Blvd., which also screened at TIFF, was recognized as Best International Short Film Award at the 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival and nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 2010 Genie Awards.
The team's 2009 short film Out in that Deep Blue Sea (also in TIFF) competed in the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and received a Special Mention at the 2010 Krakow Film Festival.
Medium Density Firefoard Film' shorts have also been featured at some of most prestigious film festivals notably the Berlinale, Edinburgh, Krakow, and Melbourne.