Boldly Announces 3 Short Films at Slamdance

Vancouver-based production studio Boldly announced their upcoming line up of short films that will be screening at Slamdance this week. Having just celebrated its 10th anniversary, Boldly, which is focused on fostering up and coming directors, will see the World Premiere of Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos’ poetic short documentary Ask The Plantain at Slamdance in Park City, Utah on January 19th, 2024. Two other films produced by Boldly will also be screening at Slamdance this year: Our Grandmother The Inlet from directors Kayah George and Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos and Janessa St. Pierre’s Hair or No Hair. 

Friday, January 19th 

• 7:30PM - Ask The Plantain, The LUMIX Theatre @ The Yarrow Hotel
• 8:45PM - Hair Or No Hair, The Summer and David Theatre @ The Yarrow Hotel 

Sunday, January 21st 

• 5:00PM - Our Grandmother The Inlet, The LUMIX Theatre @ The Yarrow Hotel 

Monday, January 22nd 

• 3:00PM - Ask The Plantain, The LUMIX Theatre @ The Yarrow Hotel
• 6:30PM - Hair Or No Hair, The Student Union Theatre @ University of Utah 

Thursday, January 25th 

10:30AM - Our Grandmother The Inlet, The LUMIX Theatre @ The Yarrow Hotel 

This news builds on Boldly’s momentum from winning the Jury Award for Best Music Video at SXSW for Amanda Sum’s Different Than Before, starring Tzi Ma (Mulan, The Farewell), Olivia Cheng (SEE, Warrior) and directed by Mayumi Yoshida, to recently premiering Kasey Lum’s Bloom starring Jodi Balfour (Ted Lasso, The Crown) at TIFF. 

“We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to bring a slate of compelling films to Slamdance this year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to share new voices, diverse perspectives, and a window into the immense talent residing on Canada’s West Coast,” say Geoff and Shelby Manton, the brother/sister producing duo at Boldly. 

These three films are each unique in storytelling, aesthetic, and tone, but highlight a throughline that is consistent across Boldly’s diverse slate of originals - stories that are intimately personal to the filmmaker yet have the power to deeply resonate with wider audiences.

Still from 'Ask The Plantain'

About to celebrate its World Premiere, Ask The Plantain is a short poetic documentary film that will surely leave a mark on audiences in Park City. In a powerful exploration of her Greek Canadian heritage, Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos embarks on an introspective journey through the depths of her heart, akin to traversing a black hole, in search of the gifts hidden within her wounds. Guided by the presence of the plantain, a resilient plant often referred to as 'white man's footprints' due to its association with European settlers, she unravels the fragmented threads of an ancient myth and pre-Hellenic ceremony. Through this profound exploration, she seeks to rediscover the art of navigating the loss of identity and the cyclical nature of life's transitions.

Still from 'Our Grandmother The Inlet'

Our Grandmother The Inlet is a short poetic documentary that examines the lives of Kayah George, a young Indigenous woman, and her grandmother Ta7a, the daughter of the renowned Chief Dan George. Delving into their ancestral lineage, the film takes you on a poignant journey as it highlights the significance of Kayah’s deep connection to water, revered in the Tsleil-Waututh Nation as their oldest grandmother and the birthplace of creation. Amidst the backdrop of industry dominance, the film sheds light on the mental health challenges faced by Indigenous youth and their enduring spirit of gentle reclamation as they strive to reconnect with their culture, water, and land as kin and relatives. With its powerful imagery, infused with cultural nuances and the echoes of past and present Indigenous-led struggles, this timely production carries a profound and relevant message. 

Having had its World Premiere at VIFF and having screened at imagineNATIVE and the American Indian Film Festival, Our Grandmother The Inlet will continue its festival run throughout 2024 following Slamdance.

Still from 'Hair Or No Hair'

Selected by the Unstoppable Program at Slamdance, which showcases films made by filmmakers with visible and non-visible disabilities, Hair or No Hair is the debut short from Vancouver writer/director Janessa St. Pierre. Based on her personal experience with Alopecia, Janessa shows us the quiet struggle that comes with hair loss and the erosion of self-confidence. Janessa not only wrote and directed this moving film, she also starred as the lead character, letting us into the deep emotional journey of breaking free of the shame she felt towards her baldness, and the power that comes from unapologetically being yourself. Janessa was awarded Best Actor at both the Micheaux Film Festival and the LA Shorts Film Festival and won the Spirit Award at the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival. Janessa is currently expanding the world of Hair or No Hair into a feature project. 

The team behind Boldly attributes the recognition its slate of films have received so far to its values-based producing model built around a culture of care, community and vision. By empowering filmmakers, and prioritising the positive experience of the crew, the result is films that are made by talent who feel appreciated and who are given the space to bring their best work. Hopefully, the Boldly team notes, a refreshing counterpoint to the status quo of Hollywood.