This is Worldtown

04/10/2020

This is Worldtown is re-launching as TIWT Films. The goal, as always, is to support women of color filmmakers tell stories that comprise the fullness of our Black, Brown, Indigenous and diasporic selves. Our original production focus is on documentary and scripted narrative work.

Keep an eye on this space for upcoming news about our latest productions.

26/02/2019

"As human beings, we are born into bodies that we did not choose. These bodies inherently carry histories and stereotypes that affect the way we are received, and thus treated in the world. We are constantly coming to understand ourselves through the eyes of others."

"I am of African descent. I am a woman. And I specifically chose to center these aspects of my identity because they have shaped my lived experience."

22/02/2019

Check out the final piece from our series, "Still Life at Twelve in the Morning," a poem by Oyin Olalekan. ✨ https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-still-life/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

18/02/2019

Next up in our series is "unlearning love," a poem by Anushka Ataullahjan. ✨Check it out! https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-unlearning-love/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

15/02/2019

"As a first generation Canadian and a member of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, some of my first memories are of stories being told in hushed whispers, of people escaping terror and of those who could not get out. These stories have taken up residence in my psyche and create a visceral cognizance, a deeply empathic understanding of what my closest family members have endured. As such, I feel as though I am living two parallel lives and that I have another history, an unspoken one that inflects every action and though that occurs." 🔮✨

Check out Maya Bastian's "Post-Memory" an audio-visual piece exploring inter-generational transmission of experience, part of our series.

https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-post-memory/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

13/02/2019

Next up in our series is "When I Refuse You" a poem written by Fiona Raye Clarke. 🌊✨

Check it out! https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-when-i-refuse-you/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

11/02/2019

Check out the beautiful artwork by Hafsa Khizer in her piece, "27" as part of our series. 🌸

https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-27/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

08/02/2019

Start your weekend with some poetry! Check out "Capes" written by Elizabeth Mudenyo, as part of our series. 💖

https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-capes/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

06/02/2019

Next up in the series is "burnt-butter skin," a poem by Sabrina Sukhdeo. ✨

Check it out: https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-burnt-butter-skin/

The idea behind this series was to curate stories and pieces that reclaim the love that isn’t always visible. The love that makes us question what defines heartbreak, what defines a connection, how we learn and unlearn, how we teach and feel love. These questions are brought to the surface through...

04/02/2019

We're back with a new series of visual and written works by women of colour artists reflecting on the theme of "Invisible Love." 💖🔮✨

Your mother never said it. Your first crush was the girl you couldn’t tell. The love of your life you couldn’t share with the world. The feeling of being desired but never wholly loved. The ways in which our chosen family cares for us. The way the love we desire is about undoing the patriarchy. The way we feel seen but not always loved. The way we feel love that isn’t always seen. This is Invisible Love.

Check out the first in the series, Espejo, a short film written and directed by Shireen Alihaji.

https://thisisworldtown.com/invisible-love-espejo/

cc Blue Veil Films

This series was inspired by thinking about what it means to love fully. Like in all of our work at This is Worldtown, we considered the invisible forces that carry the most power in this world. We considered all the ways that women of color exhibit love that isn’t always seen. And we wanted to …...

10/12/2018

ICYMI: We attended the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival's Reel Ideas Conference a few weeks back and shared the tips and tricks we learned from industry professionals in our latest post. Check it out!

https://thisisworldtown.com/reelasian22-recap/

Photography by Michael Tjioe From November 8 – 16, The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival celebrated it’s twenty-second of showcasing contemporary Asian films and videos from East, South and Southeast Asian artists in Canada and around the world A big part of the festival is the Reel...

07/12/2018

"I want people to know that as an artist, I want to bring certain stories to life and I intend to do so through visual narrative. There are stories that need to be told, there are conversations that need to happen, and there are more genuine artworks that need to be created." 🔮

Check out our latest post by mediamaker Aniqa Rahman about her photography project, The Layers They See.

https://thisisworldtown.com/the-layers-they-see/

By Aniqa Rahman Co-written and edited by Glamma Kimaiyo Over the next few months, we will be featuring the projects from our Behind the Dust Visual Series Mediamakers. The Layers They See by Aniqa Rahman is the final in the series. A colleague of mine once confided in me that she did not like to …...

03/12/2018

“It’s important to remember that whatever women have suffered at the hands of a predominantly white and male photography corps, there is perhaps no group more robbed of their own narrative than women of colour.”

A diverse band of female image-makers has begun to disrupt narratives that misrepresent and disempower, exposing the medium's flaws...

03/12/2018

ICYMI: We presented at PhotoEd Magazine's Event a few weeks ago with mediamakers Aleia Robinson-Ada, Samah Ali and Eli Farinango. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=Te-btEn52dQ

In case ya missed our TORONTO 2018 PHOTO INSPIRATION Pecha Kucha Event- or wanna see it again, THIS IS WORLDTOWN tells us about how they work together to sha...

30/11/2018

"I didn’t choose where I was born, I didn’t physically migrate from one place to another, but my ancestors did, my parents did. This movement is in my blood. Carrying their stories, also means carrying their trauma." 🔮

Check out our latest post, a reflection on ancestry, identity and the search for connection in between - from Montreal-based poet and artist Anne-Audrey Remarais.

https://thisisworldtown.com/diaspora-and-shame-stories-under-my-tongue/

By Anne-Audrey Remarais my tongue moving in different ways spirals jumps slides left, right the way it moves around dances around, in my mouth the choreography initiated by you and sustained by me under the umbrella of shame shame building stages where my tongue can dance, where my tongue can be sho...

27/11/2018

"For some, affection comes easy, bright and unmistakable. And for others, it takes time and a special sort of compromise. From shoot-to-shoot, home-to-home, I found myself returning to the same place. What does it mean to be loved? How is love expressed and received? What becomes of what is lost in translation?"

Check out our latest post, featuring mediamaker Soko Fong Negash and her project, HAVE YOU EATEN? ✨

https://thisisworldtown.com/have-you-eaten/

By Soko Fong Negash Over the next few months, we will be featuring the projects from our Behind the Dust Visual Series Mediamakers. Have You Eaten? by Soko Fong Negash is the fifth in the series. * * * A study of the languages of love between Chinese mothers/daughters and the things that may be … ...

26/11/2018

Get to know Kristin Cheung and Megan Lau, co-founders of The Future is you and me, a Vancouver-based program designed to support young women of colour to take on leadership positions in creative and arts organizations. ✨

https://thisisworldtown.com/get-to-know-the-dynamic-duo-of-the-future-is-you-and-me/

The Future Is You and Me is a program designed to support young women of colour to take on leadership positions in creative and arts organizations. Based in Vancouver and co-founded by Kristin Cheung and Megan Lau, The Future is You and Me aims to use workshops and mentorship to engage and inspire t...

06/11/2018

There's less than 10 days to support Danielle Ayow's short documentary project, But You're Not Black. Check it out here and support today! 🎥🎬

https://thisisworldtown.com/but-youre-not-black-this-short-doc-is-redefining-the-correlation-between-race-colour-and-culture/

BUT YOU’RE NOT BLACK is a short documentary that shines a light on how society’s conceptions of culture and heritage are often perceived based entirely on someone’s visible race — and the impact that can have on an individual’s sense of identity. This film challenges and redefines the corr...