Director
Their songs are melodies for the masses, filling subway platforms and street corners, yet the singers remain unknown. Some are homeless, others “home free.” Their personal histories vary as much as their voices, but their music unifies their point of view from the margins of society. Inspired by depression-era recordings of early American folk songs, filmmaker Shelley Saywell and singer and activist Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club set out to document a new catalogue of songs and stories from five of Toronto’s modern troubadours. Their lyrics are honest, heartfelt and passionate, but their freedom to perform is threatened by the city’s bureaucratic busker system. Shining a light on the struggles they face—be it in shelters, with social programs, with their addictions and abuse—a soundtrack evolves from the island ferry docks and freeway underpasses, rooming houses and rooftops, showing us that music is the common language in this empowering celebration of survival.
Director
Documentary - A hard-hitting look at the rise of "honor killings" among immigrant families in North America, this unsettling documentary profiles the senseless deaths of several teenage girls, who tragically perished at the hands of their own family members. With a passion for exploring human rights issues, filmmaker Shelley Saywell showcases powerful interviews with relatives, friends and other young women facing similar fears in their homes. - Patricia Owens, Amina Said, Sarah Said
Director
Throughout the Islamic world, each year hundreds of women are shot, stabbed, strangled or burned to death by male relatives because they are thought to have “dishonoured” their families. They may have lost their virginity, refused an arranged marriage or left an abusive husband. Even if a woman is raped or merely the victim of gossip, she must pay the price. Crimes of Honour documents the terrible reality of femicide – the belief that a girl’s body is the property of the family, and any suggestion of sexual impropriety must be cleansed with her blood. We meet women in hiding from their families, a brother who describes his reasons for killing the sister he loved, and a handful of women who have committed themselves to the protection of young women in danger of losing their lives.
