Toronto Short Film Festival runs at the Carlton this week

Unveiling international short films from around the globe, the annual Toronto Short Film Festival returns once again.

The four-day festival takes place at Magic Lantern Carlton Theatre located just east of Yonge at 20 Carlton St. The annual event runs this week from Monday, March 14 until Friday March 18. Tickets are  five dollars and available on the festival website where buyers are relocated to the Magic Lantern website.

Filmmaker Lindsay Fitzgerald has a short film screening at the festival today. The film About Employment features Yin Brown, a local blind woman who she met at a disabilities pride parade. After becoming friends, Fitzgerald noticed Brown’s difficulty in searching for a job online. Fitzgerald soon learned that many major career and job websites have trouble reading Brown’s screen reading software.

“Web accessibility is a universal issue among all of those who are blind,” says Fitzgerald.

(Photo Credit / Description: Filmmaker Lindsay Fitzgerald)

Though weary at first, Brown agreed to be the subject for a short documentary in hopes to shine a light on accessibility, and the blind. Fitzgerald and Brown both feel that accessibility towards the blind is lacking.

(Photo Credit: Filmmaker Lindsay Fitzgerald / Description: Yin Brown in the subway)

About Employment first began as a Ryerson masters degree film project and was only later entered into the festival. Fitzgerald will attend her film’s screening tonight and plans to return as a short film fan on Wednesday.

Another short film to watch out for is If These Trees Could Talk which premieres this Friday, day four of the festival. The film’s director Akhil Khitani and cinematographer Aaron Alter along with Fitzgerald are all previous Ryerson University film students.

“We shot on 16mm film and I took a bus all the way to NYC to pick up the anamorphic lenses we used,”  Alter says.

(Photo Credit: Aaron, Akhil, Cast and Crew / Description: Private Lake in Parry Sound)

“After the fog lifted, we were graced with the most breathtaking sunset. We were lucky enough to capture it on film,”  Khitani says.

“There are two shows each night for the next four nights in a row,”  says Amelia Cumming, an employee at Magic Lantern Carlton Theatre. “Films are shown once during the festival which make each night special, and unique.”

Open to all short films under 50 minutes in length, entry fees to submit for the festival range from $20 to $30 (five dollars more if submitted late). Submissions are divided into one of the following categories:

Best Short Film, Best Experimental Short Film, Best Short Documentary, Best Animated Short, Best Short Short Film, Best Sci-Fi Short Film, Best Horror Short Film, and Best Music Video

(Photo Description: The Magic Lantern Carlton Theatre)