Shortcuts at #TIFF19: It's Nothing - Screening September 14 2019

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It's Nothing
A short film by Anna Maguire
Playing at the Toronto International Film Festival
September 15, 2019


How do you portray an eating disorder on film in a way that truly depicts its devastating effects? Canadian-British writer, director and actor Anna Maguire does it with a clever visual ruse in her latest short, It's Nothing.
It's Nothing - by Anna Maguire
Our heroine digs a hole in the park, one that is secret, but more of an open secret. It symbolizes the disease - all encompassing, leaving her covered in dirt, dishevelled, all while acting like everything's just fine. Others in her life go along with the act - except when they don't. Her mother wonders when she'll see her eat a whole meal, and a friend tells her she 'gets it', but instead of comforting her, it only ramps up her paranoia.

Canadian actor Cara Gee (The Expanse) is solid in the central role, embodying the combination of a perky, nondescript exterior and the often frantic, always conflicted interior. A film with a strong visual metaphor can easily get swallowed by the premise, but Gee keeps the focus on her character and the complicated logic that drives an eating disorder. Don't go home yet - wait till they're finished dinner...don't go to the party, they'll expect you to eat something.

It's a poignant recreation of the lonely hell that is an eating disorder. The film makes its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Shortcuts Programme. Screening information:


About the other films in the programme:

Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves
Toomas teispool metsikute huntide orgu
Chintis Lundgren
CROATIA, ESTONIA, FRANCE | 2019 | English, French
North American Premiere | 18 minutes
In this decidedly cheeky and deliriously fun animation, a decent, hard-working wolf must rely on his physical gifts in order to make ends meet for the sake of his family.

Lucia En El Limbo
Valentina Maurel
BELGIUM, FRANCE, COSTA RICA | 2019 | Spanish
North American Premiere | 20 minutes
Displaying the intensity of focus only a 16-year-old can muster, the teen at the centre of Valentina Maurel’s caustic take on coming-of-age tropes does all she possibly can to rid herself of both her head lice and her virginity.

Exam
Emtehan
Sonia K. Hadad
IRAN | 2019 | Persian
World Premiere | 15 minutes
A teenage girl reluctantly agrees to deliver a pack of cocaine on the day of an important test.

God's Nightmares 
Daniel Cockburn
CANADA, UNITED KINGDOM | 2019 | English
World Premiere | 5 minutes
In the latest of his idiosyncratic blends of found-film hallucination and metaphysical comedy routine, director Daniel Cockburn imagines the thoughts that rattle through the Almighty’s head late at night, presuming that He has a head at all.

All Inclusive
Teemu Nikki
FINLAND | 2019 | Finnish
North American Premiere | 15 minutes
Bullied by his co-workers and disrespected by nearly everyone else, a sad sack gets the chance to change his life. But, as soon becomes clear in Teemu Nikki’s ingenious comedy, this opportunity may have unexpected ramifications.

Oracle 
Aaron Poole
CANADA | 2019 | English
World Premiere | 9 minutes
While their parents undertake prolonged home renovations, a child is left to roam the house, absorbing the chaos of construction and adult anxieties.

It's Nothing

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