Documentary Now is a two-week festival taking place in June, 2009, that exhibits the thesis work of the artists in the Documentary Media MFA Program at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. With four gallery exhibitions, three days of film screenings, an artist-panel talk and other special events our festival extends Ryerson’s reputation as a cultural production house to the arts community, industry professionals and the Toronto public.
What makes our program innovative is our approach to documentary through film, photography and new media technologies. Many of the artists in our program expand, challenge and experiment with the documentary form through nascent technologies and innovative approaches. At the same time we tackle contemporary political, social and cultural issues. Among our ranks are artists focusing on issues such as American female soldiers who have experienced military sexual trauma, the evolution of a so-called “gay gene”, the natural burial movement, histories of black lesbians in South Africa, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, female boxing and personal immigration stories from Pakistan to Canada.
Ryerson’s School of Image Arts has chosen a strong direction by creating an MFA program that focuses on documentary. This makes us distinct from other MFA programs in the nation and this festival is our opportunity to showcase our particular outlook. Being the first class to graduate, our festival seeks to establish the school on the forefront of documentary production and scholarship.
