How To See The Future screenings and Q&A

How To See The Future | Short Film Screenings, Talk, and Q&A
Thursday August 31, 2023 7pm–9:30pm (doors at 6:30pm)
Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Ave, Toronto, ON)

Screenings:

A Deaf Man's Symphony
2019 | dir. Eli Meadow Ramraj
18 mins

"When a stage actor (Sheldon Graham) performing a one-man show becomes over shadowed by a competitor who is identical to him, he stumbles down a path of self-destruction in an effort to protect his art." A Deaf Man's Symphony is Eli Meadow Ramraj's debut short film, which played a significant role in earning him the University of Toronto's National Scholarship.

The Only Bar on King Street
2023 | dir. Eli Meadow Ramraj) 16 mins

The Only Bar on King Street was conceived as a musical/drama/comedy feature film in April, 2020. After a tumultuous pre-production journey, it became clear that producing the full feature in the way the team had initially envisioned would be impossible. Doubling down on their dedication to the project, writer/director Eli Meadow Ramraj and his team pivoted to producing a proof-of-concept short film. The product is the opening 16-minute real-time sequence where a young aspiring comic Jay (Sheldon Graham) must prove himself to a failed songwriter-turned-bar-owner, Marc (Beau Dixon).

Eli Meadow Ramraj graduated from the University of Toronto this past June with a degree in cinema studies, philosophy, and creative expression and society. Upon graduating, Eli received the 2023 Norman Jewison Fellowship in Film Studies an outstanding graduate of the Cinema Studies Institute. In September, he will be moving to Berlin to complete a master's in film directing and to pursue his academic interest in the philosophy of consciousness.

A note from Eli: With every film that I’ve written, I’ve found myself personally living out its themes during the course of making it. Sometimes more directly than others, but always somehow. If this pattern continues to hold true, we have a problem here – unless your themes are all sunshine and rainbows, having life imitate art in this way isn’t always going to be entirely pleasant. Why would anybody, after recognizing this pattern, choose to write about about anything other than happiness and love? Why is it that this pattern exists? How do we make sense of voluntarily entering darker thematic territory? What are the personal implications of this pattern, considering the films I plan to write and direct in Berlin? After the screenings, I’ll be giving a talk covering these questions, and end the evening with a Q&A.