Parenting is a leap into the void. Anything you do can and will be used against you whether you're conscious of it or not. Four finely crafted, intensely thoughtful films provide insight into the emotional minefield of parent-child relations.  

Shift  
(Shaun Cathcart, Ontario, 1997, 21 min.) 
A middle-of-nowhere motel provides the backdrop for a young woman's sexual awakening, and her mother's flight from a troubled marriage. Vancouver director Shaun Cathcart and Ontario writer Tricia Fish create a very tight, highly naturalistic gem of a short film - the cinematic equivalent of an Alice Munro story. 
Print Source: Canadian Film Centre  

Permission  
(Daniel MacIvor, Ontario, 1997, 23 min.)  
When Albert's seven-year-old son James asks him for a doll, Albert has a dilemma - this is either a huge issue or none at all, depending on your point of view. Told with wry humour and deceptive simplicity, Permission is acclaimed playwright and actor Daniel MacIvor's directorial debut.  
Print Source: Water Pictures / Da Da Kamera  

Night of the Living 
(Andrew Currie, Ontario, 1997, 17 min.) 
A young boy watches in helpless horror as his alcoholic father turns into a zombie before his very eyes. Vancouver's Andrew Currie adeptly builds tension as young Zack wrestles with the twin demons of imagination and reality.  
Print Source: Canadian Film Centre 

White Cloud, Blue Mountain  
(Keith Behrman, British Columbia, 1997, 30 min.)  
When James hears that his dad is close to dying, he travels home to visit and hopefully reconcile with his affectionless father. His single-minded quest to heal his emotional wounds blinds James to his own son's needs. Keith Behrman's film is a moving, meditative and beautifully wrought study of emotional isolation and parental angst.  

Print Source: Flying Rhino Pictures Limited