Canadian International Fashion Film Festival 2022
Algorithm - directed by Matthew Frost - Winner of Best Performance in a Fashion Film
Words by Tatevik Avetisyan
With the Canadian International Fashion Film Festival (CANIFFF) debuting in 2016, CANIFFF established itself as a point of reference for filmmakers, fashion enthusiasts and creatives worldwide. Embarking on the journey of curating fashion films, events and online communities, the 7th edition of the festival took place in Toronto this year during a three-day event from November 28th to 30th in a former historic theatre currently serving as a venue – The Eglinton.
The official selection introduced the public to a range of vivid, purposeful, and thought-provoking narratives: from advertising campaigns for Maserati, Franciacorta, and Samsung, to voicing issues of domestic abuse, beauty stereotypes and sustainability in the fashion industry. What’s more, the festival partnered with the Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke centre, which supports women and their children from abuse and poverty. “Too often, women do not have the financial means to leave abusive relationships. As a society, we ought to provide resources and give them a much-needed boost to restart their life’s journey”, explain Roger & Martine Gingerich - directors of the festival and Curation Hour network members.
Last year CANIFFF voiced sustainability issues through several accepted submissions as one of the integral themes in the fashion film repertoire. The festival team even admitted to working from home to preserve the sustainable mentality and assured to continue expanding the vision of giving voice to brands and individuals who aim at shedding light on the environmental issues that matter. This year, the theme was present through uncomplicated references traced in Roxana Chapela's Upcyclers - Fashion's Climate Frontliners, thought-provoking slow brand stories in Adriana Roslin's Mala Hierba and the connection between self and nature in Javier Cano Larumbe's Saphi.
190 films competing under 21 Award Categories were listed in the official selection. The nominees’ include Matthew Frost’s film Algorithm featuring Olivia Wilde, for its Best Performance, Harry Sanna’s Yellow Jacket falling under impressive nine nominations, including Best Fashion Film and Best Director, and seven-times nominee Haunted by Love directed by Imanol de Lara Osàcar. With this ambitious selection, the jury - Celine Gittens, Jordan Claire Robbins, Heather Stewart Whyte, Paloma Diaz-Soloaga, Kenneth Wong, Helen Hawkins, Ajai V Singh, and Daniel Lismore – took on the challenge to curate the best-of-best.
Here’s our top picks - the five productions that stayed with us and that we’d like to share with you.
Algorithm. Directed by Matthew Frost
Olivia Wilde hijacks her Vogue short.
The Three Building Blocks - NOWNESS. Directed by Miguel Thomé Oliari, Fernanda Pompermayer
The Three Building Blocks is a symbolic analysis of how a relationship develops. It discusses the symbiotic process of sharing a persona and flooding oneself with the other. This film is the result of a deep investigation into the directors' relationship as a romantic couple.
SAPHI | MARAGUA STUDIO. Directed by J. Cano Larumbe
Saphi is an adventure to our origins, back to our roots and the deepest of our essence. A journey which connects our inner selves through nature and the world around us.
Interlude. Directed by Tayla Galasko
A woman remembers and reimagines her life during an unexpected interlude.
It's Five o’Clock, Paris is Waking Up | Longchamp. Directed by Lope Serrano aka CANADA
Lope Serrano of CANADA directs the eight-minute short film/music video for Longchamp, launching the French handbag and fashion brand’s entirely new global platform ‘très Paris. The film is inspired by the iconic ’60s French track ‘Il est cinq heures, Paris s’éveille’ (a song by Dutronc, Lanzmann & Segalen, in the voice of the French artist Clara Luciani), and tells the story of two girls who go on an adventure as Paris is waking up (or, as the song says, ‘Paris s’éveille’).