On November 28th, 2012 TVO presented a challenge to Ontario's documentary filmmakers: make a movie that troubles commonly held perceptions of poverty.
Now, just over three months and hundreds of submissions later, the TVO jury has narrowed the entrants down to five finalists. It's up to the public to vote for their favorite submission.
The entries were judged by a jury of Ontario documentary filmmakers, led by producer/director
Shelley Saywell. Saywell is also TVO's filmmaker-in-residence.
Though each doc focuses on poverty, the five finalists manage to cover a breadth of topics and experiences--from an absurdist and satirical look at the super wealthy, to a documentary that feature short "rants" from elementary school students.
And, particularly relevant to Yonge Street readers, two Toronto-based films made it into the top five. Poor Ink by Vince Vaitiekunas is shot inside a Queen and Sherbourne tattoo parlour and weaves together the stories of three Torontonians and the impact that poverty has had on their lives. Food for Thought, by Luis Cornejo, looks at meal preparation in two economically contrasting households. In the first household, food is abundant. In the second, food is much more scarce and the family meal is made up of food bank donations.
"The jury and I were really looking for a different approach to the issue of poverty, and in watching the films we saw that participants understood that," says Saywell."TVO's Doc Studio Contest has given people a valuable platform in which to have their say on an issue that affects so many of us, and has also made the art of filmmaking very democratic."
The public can vote for their favourite video on the
Doc Studio website until March 18 and the winning film will be announced on Monday March 25. The winner will see his or her documentary aired on TVO, receive a pass to the Hot Docs Film Festival, and a day-long mentorship session with Shelley Saywell.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: TVO, Shelley Saywell