The 8 fest 2012 - 5th ANNUAL FESTIVAL
SAVE THE DATES - Friday, January 27 to Sunday, January 29
"a little festival for small films"

The 8 fest returns to Toronto for its fifth year for three nights of screenings and also live performances. This year will again find the festival at Trash Palace Cinema (89B Niagara Street. at Tecumseth, just west of Bathurst). The 8 fest is North America's only festival devoted to all forms of small-gauge film, including Super 8, 8mm, 9.5 and loops, shown in their original formats.

This year's edition of the 8 fest consists of eight programmes, one regular 8mm workshop, and one artist's talk. The eight programmes include:

A spotlight on Berlin-based Super 8 filmmaker Milena Gierke who will be visiting the festival courtesy of The Goethe Institut Toronto ( and who will be presenting an artist's talk at The Goethe on Saturday afternoon January 28th at 4:00 PM). Gierke has developed a strong body of work exclusively on Super 8 through her methods of observing and detailing both everyday gestures and unusual occurrences in the moments of their reception.

Notes From Nowhere: Super Winnipeg Super 8 - a survey of recent Super 8 activity in Winnipeg curated by renowned performance-art duo Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan. Artists include Noam Gonick, Deco Dawson, Heidi Phillips, and Ed Ackerman, among others.

Adventures in Animationland - a programme mixing recent animations received by the 8 fest with commissions in collaboration with Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS). Artists include Julie Voyce, Daryl Vocat, Tanya Read, Leslie Supnet, and others.

Bush Films - a presentation by HomeMovie History Project in which small gauge film stocks are used for documentary and instructional purposes and which permit audiences to see themselves and their relatives and their ancestors and descendants and their communities in a social setting.

Zinger Vol. 3: More Tales from The Funnel - further exploration of the histories and mysteries of Toronto's legendary underground Funnel Experimental Film theatre. Including work by Eldon Garnet, Sandra Meigs, Bruce La Bruce, FASTWURMS, Edie Steiner, and a live performance by John Porter.

First Films: even filmmakers start small - a programme of first films by a collection of artists who have now moved on to very different practices than those of their original forays. Some of these first gems are films by Dot Tuer, Louise Noguchi, Keith Cole, Jeannie Mah, Lisa Steele and a special sci-fi by 7 year old Kevin Creson.

Bagerooo, five! 1 and Bagerooo, five! (Part 2) - our surveys of recent and commissioned small-gauge works from artists across Canada, across the United States as well as Spain and Germany. Including works by Aubrey Reeves, Chris Kennedy, Hayley Elliott, Dagie Brundert, Frank Biesendorfer, Zoë Heyn-Jones, and many more.

The 2012 8 fest will also host a regular 8mm workshop with filmmaker John Kneller at Trash Palace on Saturday afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. It will be limited to a maximum of ten participants. Registration fee is $25 and includes all materials. Email the8fest@gmail.com and specify "workshop" in the subject column to register.

The 5th edition of the 8 fest takes place from Friday, January 27 to Sunday, January 29, 2012. Main venue is the venerable Trash Palace (89B Niagara St., rear unit, just west of Bathurst).

Tickets $5 per event? $25 festival pass. More info: the8fest@gmail.com
www.the8fest.com

The 8 fest is made possible through the generous support of:
The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council as well as our sponsors and community partners: Art Gallery of York University, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, Niagara Custom Lab, FADO Performance Art Centre, The Goethe Institut Toronto, Home Movie History Project, The Images Festival and Trinity Square Video

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For more information including interview opportunities, press stills, and promotional DVD compilations of festival selections,
Please contact Andrew James Paterson at 416-703-2236, the8fest@gmail.com, www.the8fest.com