Nickel Independent Film Festival – Wednesday, June 15 at 7:00pm

Presented by CLASSIC HITS COAST 101.1
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The majority of the Nickels’ festival screenings will be available to watch both in person at the LSPU Hall or online on demand. Both methods will follow the same schedule. For example, the Horror Night screening will take place in person at the LSPU Hall on Thursday at 9:30pm, and that screening will also become available to watch on demand online at that time.

IN PERSON:

All in-person screenings will take place on the main stage at the LSPU Hall at 3 Victoria Street, St. John’s. Because space is limited we recommend booking your seats in advance, and you can do that by phone at 709-753-4531 or online. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Any amount is appreciated to help us with filmmaker screening fees and other festival expenses. If you purchase tickets online for in-person shows, there are designated Pay-What-You-Can-Amounts in increments of $5. If you call in or come in person to buy tickets, you can indicate how much you wish to pay regardless of the online increments. 

Film Descriptions for Wednesday at 7pm

Downfall
Enya’s efforts to make it as a dancer are hindered by behaviour resulting from her borderline personality disorder. She struggles with chronic feelings of emptiness, unclear self-image, self-destructive conduct, and feeling suspicious and out of touch with reality. She’s on a downward trajectory, yet it is the therapeutic benefit of dancing which ultimately helps prevent her full breakdown. Director: Rona Fayad • Lebanon • 3 mins

Rust
In this documentary, Mariola Wawrzusiak-Borcz scours post-industrial areas in search of scrap metal. Back at her studio, she welds it into compelling, terrifying sculptures of animals, androids, and children affected by war. Despite a painful hand condition, she perseveres with her passion to create art and her mission to keep us from becoming indifferent to the world we live in. Director: Rafal Malecki • Poland • 30 mins

The Boy and The Mountain
Hernan Leal has reached the pinnacle of success in the business world and led an inspiring life, but still feels unfulfilled until he chooses to embrace a long-suppressed childhood dream. Told with superb, often breathtaking animation, this short is sure to have us reflecting on roads not taken and paths into the future. Directors: Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal • Chile • 11 mins

Bha Iad Làn Sgeulachdan
Cape Breton Island’s Willie Francis Fraser reflects on the stories he heard in his youth, his relationship to the Gaelic language, and his extraordinary experience of receiving dance lessons in his dreams. Director: Todd Fraser • New Brunswick • 6 mins

Proximity
A woman living in a small Newfoundland town labours all day on land while she awaits her husband’s return from the sea. While she longs to be out on the water as well, she is expected to be anchored to their home, where her work is solitary and unseen. As she goes through her tasks — “feminine” and “masculine” alike — she comes to realise she has everything she needs to be free. Director/Writer: Jamie Miller • Producer: Kerri Oakey • Newfoundland and Labrador • 13 mins

Little Bird
Newfoundland-born Tim Myles’ semi-autobiographical story about losing his mother in 2013 is a love letter to her, his Mi’kmaq heritage, and all those years of mourning. Myles’ story gently reminds us to not bear the weight of grief on our own, and inspires a sense of triumph that “we can move forward, because we have to, and we owe ourselves that.” Director: Tim Myles • Ontario • 15 mins

Mani Pedi
A young immigrant from Laos who learned to fight in refugee camps is forced to give up his boxing career after sustaining a brain injury. To help him make ends meet his sister enlists him to work at her nail salon. However the salon reveals itself to be an equally toxic female “ring” where competition for clients and exposure to hazardous chemicals present new, familiar challenges. Director: Marlene Goldman • Ontario • 14 mins