SHORT SERIES II: Stand With Me

Co-presented by Guelph Civic Museum
INTERNATIONAL ⋅ 78 min ⋅ Partial Subtitles
This international short film showcase looks at support, solidarity, and community in times of upheaval, war, and environmental or social change.
Time: 11:30pm Venue: Guelph Civic MuseumTickets: $15/PWYW
and the story remains
*World Premiere*
Darya Maljesi ⋅ CANADA ⋅ 6 min
After years of silence, a woman returns to a memory she was once forbidden to recall. As she develops forgotten images, the past surfaces in fragments of light, grain, and the slow emergence of a face. The film lingers between past and present, exploring whether enforced silence can wound more deeply than the trauma itself.
Eighteen Mill Street
Josh Weissbach ⋅ SWEDEN ⋅ 14 min
EIGHTEEN MILL STREET introduces Ukrainian artists Marianna Tarish and Nikita Gryshko soon after their relocation to Sweden because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film explores Tarish and Gryshko’s relationships to intimate spaces and how they have been impacted due to their experiences at the start of the war while still living in the Ukrainian city of Kherson and as part of their journey to Sweden.
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Malakye Tsosie ⋅ USA ⋅ 16 min
There are fewer fluent speakers of Díne Bizaad (the Navajo Language) on the Navajo Nation.
Despite this, there is hope for the future, thanks to a local radio station that broadcasts in Navajo to thousands of listeners every day. Notably, the director embarks on a journey that highlights the language's resilience, encountering revitalization efforts on the reservation and finding hope for future generations to protect it.
AXOMAMA
Tracy Valcárcel ⋅ CANADA ⋅ 26 min
AXOMAMA follows the life of Alberto and his relatives, a family of potato custodians in the Peruvian Andes. The film weaves a parallel between the potato’s journey and the narrator’s complex tracing of her own origins, grappling with questions of identity and belonging. From a sacred tuber to one of the world’s most ubiquitous foods, the humble potato emerges as both metaphor and mirror of resistance in the face of survived displacement.
Fragment on War
Nikolas Candido ⋅ BRAZIL ⋅ 15 min
Singer-songwriter Cassidy Waring has long used music to process trauma. Now, as she prepares to release If I Had Only Been Better, an album inspired by her past, she returns to Calgary to confront the family tragedy that shaped her life. Joined by her younger brother, she seeks answers from those who knew their family. Blending raw conversations, home videos, and music, Hearse Chasing explores grief, resilience, and the healing power of art.