Tying Your Own Shoes

A gentle tale of love told in halting words. A film about healing after profound loss. John and Michael pays homage to two men with Down's syndrome who shared an intimate and profoundly loving relationship that deeply affected the filmmaker. Animated with clay backlit on glass, the film shimmers like stained glass in motion. Narrator Brian Davis, also intellectually challenged, brings the men alive with great sensitivity. The audience shares in the various emotions that infuse their everyday living. John and Michael, by its artistry, rises above society's traditional ideas around disability, sexuality and death. When the heart is touched, differences melt. Love is what defines humanity.

En laçant mes souliers jette un regard lucide sur l'attitude et la vie affective exceptionnelles de quatre artistes adultes trisomiques. œuvre inventive à quatre voix sur le thème de la capacité, ce documentaire animé s'interroge avec franchise sur ce qu'on ressent lorsqu'on est différent. Poursuivant le travail entamé avec son film précédant John et Michael, Shira Avni approfondit ici les thèmes de l'estime de soi en invitant Petra, Matthew, Daninah et Katherine à parler de leur passé, de leurs relations, de leurs ambitions. En laçant mes souliers est à la fois un documentaire d'auteur et un film d'animation, deux genres dans lesquels l'Office national du film du Canada a acquis une compétence reconnue mondialement au cours des 70 dernières années.

In this visually compelling short, Toronto artist Petra Tolley performs her soliloquy about what it feels like to be "in the middle." Petra has Down syndrome, and draws from her emotional experiences to produce a distinctive take on the social self. But Petra is not alone-a group of adults with Down syndrome use performance to explore the dynamics of seclusion, societal expectations and social support. Director Shira Avni employs rotoscopy, hand-drawn animation techniques and subtle stereoscopic 3D, capturing Petra as she engages the camera with unflinching directness, heightening our sense of intimacy, alienation, bonding, and ultimately, dignity.