SOLD OUT!Canada & Treefort 2019
Look for the leaf!
Canada and Idaho are connected by much more than 45 miles (or 72 kilometers, eh) of a shared border, and the spirit of Treefort always makes The Gem State’s northern neighbors feel right at home. In fact, the sense of community, creativity and discovery that embodies each Fort during the festival is why this year’s Canadian presence will be the largest yet.
2019 marks the third consecutive year that the Canadian Consulate General has partnered with Treefort and with the support of Music BC, there will be more Canadian artists performing this year than ever before.
In addition to the performance schedule below each Canadian artist’s profile picture is tagged with a maple leaf (see left) to easily identify them. Clicking on the maple leaf on the Treefort app or website will provide you more information about the performers and their upcoming performances.
The best way to catch the most Canadian artists on one stage will be the Canada/Music BC Showcase on Saturday, March 23 from 1-10pm at PreFunk. For info on this and every other Canadian performance at Treefort, Filmfort or Yogafort, check out the schedule below.
BRANDON LEE
( seattle, washington )
Brandon began practicing meditation over 18 years ago to relieve stress and combat negative health issues. His practice led him on a path of self-discovery and personal growth. Being a former entrepreneur and very self-motivated he began to study meditation, breathing techniques and mindfulness. Over the years, he has attended numerous seminars, workshops and weekend retreats and now does a one-month meditation retreat each year. He also happens to be Canada’s Consulate General to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and represents the Canadian Government in Idaho! (Did you know that Canada is one of Treefort’s partners?)
OSAMA DORIAS
Warner Bros. Games Montréal
Osama Dorias is a Senior Game Designer at Warner Brothers Montreal and the co-founder of the Indie Video Game studio Magic Pants. In the past, he’s worked as a Game Designer at Gameloft Montreal, GEE Media, Ubisoft Montreal, and Minority Media. He’s taught game and level design at Dawson College where he’s now the Coordinator of the Video Game Programs. He loves to empower people in expressing themselves through game making.
Osama especially loves to give a voice to marginalized people and causes. He’s hosted game jams, workshops and other community activities to this end, which has culminated in co-founding the Montreal Independent Games Festival. He will speak at Hackfort about the last 5-6 years making games with his children, and the lessons learned from that experience.
ANN LEMAY & CERI YOUNG
Warner Bros. Games Montréal
Ann Lemay & Ceri Young are veteran writers in the gaming industry (Assassins Creed, Mass Effect to name a few). Ann Lemay is the Narrative Director and Ceri Young is the Lead Writer at Warner Bros. Games Montréal.
The funny thing about writing for games is that the writing and the dialogue is often not the most important thing. In fact, worrying about the words can be the lowest thing on a writer’s priority list. How do stories, world, and gameplay interact to make a meaningful experience? Learn how they put the pieces together from two experts in the field.
NICK NEMEROFF
( toronto, ontario )
Nick Nemeroff is a comedian from Montreal. He’s been on CONAN, Just For Laughs, and was chosen as one of Comedy Central’s #UpNext, an annual showcase designed to spotlight the most exciting new comedians working today.
PATRICIA ROZEMA, MOUTHPIECE
(kingston, canada)
Patricia Rozema’s films, though varied in style and content, have always been marked by a humane and tender sensibility. Described as “so fresh, so funny, it amazes the heart” to “visually sensuous” and “wryly sophisticated”, her work invariably shows social prescience and deep humanity.
Rozema’s latest feature, MOUTHPIECE (2018), was adapted from a play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava who also star in this powerful, funny and highly original look into a women’s conflicted psyche in the first 48 hours following her mother’s sudden death. The film premiere as the Special Presentation Opening Night Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and was named one of TIFF’s Top Ten Canadian Films of the year. MOUTHPIECE is currently touring on the international film festival circuit.
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, What Is Democracy? reflects on a word we too often take for granted.
An idiosyncratic, philosophical journey spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athens’ groundbreaking experiment in self-government to capitalism’s roots in medieval Italy; from modern-day Greece grappling with financial collapse and a mounting refugee crisis to the United States reckoning with its racist past and the growing gap between rich and poor.
Featuring a diverse cast—including celebrated theorists, trauma surgeons, activists, factory workers, asylum seekers, and former prime ministers—this urgent film connects the past and the present, the emotional and the intellectual, the personal and the political, in order to provoke and inspire. If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word even means.
GOOD BOY
A K9 officer trainee and his partner train for their first day on patrol. Play, repetition
and positive re-enforcement reveal the casual nature of manufacturing violence
on command.
Good Boy is the second instalment in a cycle of shorts exploring the relationships between human and animal minds. To me these are often relationships that transcend spoken language. Dogs are often submissive to human leadership and eager to please, the intimate relationship between dog and K9 officer is an extreme example of this which I became attached to. Over the course of three months I shadowed and interviewed K9 officers through their training process and in the field. All the events and actions featured in the film were either directly observed or described by the officers interviewed. I was fascinated by the training process, simple games, repetition and positive re-enforcement transformed the mind of the dog. The relationship between the familiar archetype of “a guy and his dog” became a way in to larger themes about authority’s use of violence and the hauntingly casual nature of the process of weaponizing a mind. Making the film left me with questions about our societal understanding of force used for protection, how violence is manufactured and the ways we’re taught to trust law enforcement’s use of violence in the name of justice.
MUSIC BC / CANADA MUSIC SPOTLIGHT
Saturday, March 23rd, 1pm-10pm @ PreFunk Beer Bar
Canada — yep, the country, has been a supporter of Treefort for the past three years! Join Treefort, the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle, and Music BC for a free 21+ party at PreFunk Beer Bar featuring some of the best new talent visiting Treefort from north of the border. Come experience some of that world-renowned Canadian hospitality, Treefort style. A beaver may or may not welcome you.
1:20-2:00 – Booty EP
2:20-3:00 – FRANKIIE
3:20-3:40 – Haviah Mighty
4:00-4:40 – Goodbye Honolulu
5:00-5:40 – Haley Blais
6:00-6:40 – Devours
7:00-7:40 – Art D’Ecco
8:00-8:40 – Blessed
9:00-10:00 – Jo Passed
Past Canadian Treefort Artists
Mac Demarco, 2017
Alvvays, 2017
Lido Pimienta, 2018
US Girls, 2018
Andy Shauf, 2017
Weaves, 2017
Jo Passed, 2018
Belle Game, 2017
Land of Talk, 2018
Partner, 2018
Motherhood, 2018
Five Alarm Funk, 2018
Michael Rault, 2018
Milk & Bone, 2018
Needles//Pins, 2018
Crosss, 2018
Ill.Gates, 2018
Fresh Kils, 2016+ 2017 + 2018
Ill-Esha, 2018
Frigs, 2018
Ora Cogan, 2017+2018
Past Canadian Foodfort Artists
Kris Komori, 2018
Past Canadian Hackfort Artists
Ann Lemay, 2017 + 2018
Sabrine Jacque, 2017 + 2018