6:00PM-8:30PM | Dundas West Studio
✦ Tangled Webs by George Malcolm | Jamaica | 2025 | 14min
✦ If Only You Knew by Safiyah Chiniere | USA | 2025 | 20min
✦ Loneliness Doesn’t Come Alone by Amanda Valle | Dominican Republic | 2025 |12min
✦ My Father, Winston by Ingrid Hart | Canada | 2025 | 10min
✦ Father’s Day by Ayana O’Shun | Canada | 2025 | 01h14min
—–
Filmmaker Talkback
“The paths we walk are often shaped by those who came before us. The films in Footsteps explore the enduring influence of fathers through stories of love, absence, memory, reconciliation, and resilience. Whether seeking connection, reflecting on loss, or celebrating lives well lived, these works reveal how family relationships leave lasting impressions across generations.
Together, the films invite us to consider the legacies we inherit, the wounds we carry, and the possibility of healing through understanding. They remind us that every family story leaves its mark, shaping not only where we come from, but who we become.”
Directed by George Malcolm, Jamaica, 2025
Logline: After years of absence, a father returns hoping to reconnect with his estranged son, only to confront painful truths and the consequences of the choices that fractured their family.
Synopsis: Tangled Webs is a Jamaican drama exploring fatherhood, forgiveness and the emotional scars left by abandonment. When Craig returns seeking a second chance with his son Jamal, buried resentments and difficult truths force both men to confront the past and decide whether broken relationships can truly be repaired. Through intimate performances and authentic storytelling, the film examines family, identity and the cycles we inherit.
Runtime: 4m 7s
Directed by Safiyah Chiniere, USA, 2025
Logline: A woman confronting her father about his absence.
Runtime: 20m
Directed by Amanda Valle, Dominican Republic, 2025
Logline: A little girl lives through days that repeat themselves between routines and waiting, marked by the promise of a father who is supposed to arrive every Tuesday at two in the afternoon, but never does.
Synopsis: A little girl moves through days that are all the same, made of repeated gestures and endless waiting. Every Tuesday at two in the afternoon her father is supposed to arrive, but that promise remains hanging in the void. In this time that seems stuck in on itself, loneliness expands until it becomes the true protagonist.
Runtime: 12m 6s
Directed by Ingrid Hart, Canada, 2025
Logline: Through music, memory, and faith, a daughter reflects on the life of her father, Winston Hart—a Jamaican-born singer-songwriter whose journey from Jamaica to Canada is marked by resilience, family, and devotion.
Synopsis: My Father, Winston is a documentary short about my dear father, Winston Hart. A father, great-grandfather and singer-songwriter, Winston shares stories of his life in Jamaica, his move to Canada, his love for his music and his faith in God.
Runtime: 10m 20s
Directed by Ayana O’Shun, Canada, 2025
Logline: Through her own fractured relationship with her father and the stories of women in Canada and Guadeloupe, a filmmaker investigates the roots and consequences of father absence in Black communities across the Americas.
Synopsis: Father’s Day is a deeply personal documentary that explores the impact of absent fathers in Black communities through the experiences of the filmmaker and a group of women from Canada and Guadeloupe. Using intimate testimonies as a starting point, the film examines questions of Black masculinity, family, identity, and intergenerational trauma. As participants reflect on loss, abandonment, resilience, and healing, the documentary considers the historical legacies of slavery, colonialism, and migration that continue to shape family structures across the Americas. Blending personal narrative with social inquiry, Father’s Day offers a nuanced exploration of love, inheritance, and the enduring search for connection.
Runtime: 1hr 14m