As the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) gets ready to turn the spotlight on movies from around the world, moviegoers in Mississauga may not have to travel downtown to find interesting films.
Some of the most compelling stories are being made much closer to home.
CreativeHub 1352 is bringing local filmmakers together this week for Made Here: A Night of Local Short Films, an evening showcasing three short films created by filmmakers from Mississauga and surrounding communities.
The event takes place Thursday, Aug. 27, inside the historic Small Arms Inspection Building in Lakeview.
The films offer very different perspectives, ranging from a family drama dealing with mental health and tragedy to a story about a man who has put his musical ambitions aside and a documentary-style exploration of identity and the pressures of everyday life.
For CreativeHub 1352, the evening is about more than simply putting films on a screen.
It is an opportunity to give local filmmakers an audience while introducing residents to creative voices that may be working right in their own neighbourhoods.
The three films being shown are It Happens To Us, written, directed and produced by Anubhav Singh; Shelf Life, written and directed by Emmanuel Teji; and Do We Have Time?, directed by Sabrina Narzoles Aly.
In It Happens To Us, the Baig sisters find themselves dealing with a difficult family situation after their father, Umar, struggles with schizophrenia following the death of his wife, Abida.
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On the anniversary of Abida’s death, Umar experiences a panic attack that sets off a series of events that changes the family.
The film explores difficult themes including mental health, violence, police violence, suicide, self-harm and abuse.
Shelf Life follows Abraham, a man who has abandoned his dream of becoming a musician and settled into a job selling HVAC systems.
His unlikely friendship with an eccentric co-worker named Sadru provides some companionship, while a visit to an Indian grocery store repeatedly brings him into contact with Ayesha, a cashier he has grown fond of.
When Sadru loses his job and Ayesha is forced to leave the country, Abraham is left facing the ambitions he had pushed aside.
The third film, Do We Have Time?, takes a quieter approach.
Directed by Sabrina Narzoles Aly, it explores identity and the question of who people are beneath the roles and responsibilities they carry.
The film uses conversations with people from different disciplines to look at vulnerability, self-discovery and the complicated process of becoming who we are.
The version being screened Thursday has been shortened and features five individuals.
While the filmmakers are the focus of the evening, the setting is an important part of the story too.
CreativeHub 1352 operates out of the Small Arms Inspection Building, a historic Lakeview building on Lakeshore Road that has undergone a remarkable transformation of its own.
The organization’s roots go back to 2008, when a group of community-minded residents formed the Lakeview Legacy Community Foundation after plans were proposed to demolish the remaining Small Arms Inspection Building.
The group recognized the historic importance of the building and site and pushed for its preservation.
The City of Mississauga subsequently designated the building under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2009.
The organization became the Small Arms Society in 2014 and continued working with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to preserve the building and find a new purpose for it.
That effort eventually helped lead to the city acquiring the building and five acres of land in 2017.
The South Building was restored and opened to the public in June 2018.
What had once been an industrial inspection facility was beginning a very different second life.
The Small Arms Society helped develop creative partnerships and programming in the restored building, helping establish the Small Arms Inspection Building as a cultural destination in Lakeview and across Mississauga.
In 2020, the organization changed its name to CreativeHub 1352, reflecting its evolving role in bringing creative programming and community activity to the building.
Today, the organization describes its mission simply: connect, collaborate and create.
Its programming extends well beyond film, including artistic exhibitions, hands-on workshops, creative and culinary festivals, movie nights, community experiences and the Lakeview Farmers’ Market.
That makes Made Here a particularly fitting event for the building.
The Small Arms Inspection Building was saved because residents saw the possibility of giving an important piece of Mississauga’s past a new future.
CreativeHub 1352 is now doing something similar with the city’s creative community — providing artists and storytellers with a place to connect with audiences and with one another.
And while TIFF will soon be drawing movie lovers toward downtown Toronto, Made Here offers a chance to discover original stories much closer to home.
The films may be short, but the creative community behind them is growing.
Made Here: A Night of Local Short Films takes place Aug. 27 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Small Arms Inspection Building, 1352 Lakeshore Road East.
Ticket information can be found here.
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