One of my favourite entries from this year’s list of finalists was FLIP HOP: che kothari x elicser x skam, a new edit of three longer pieces that were originally done for the Contact Photography Festival. The innovative “flip book” animation won 3rd prize. The series pays tribute to the amazing talents of local Toronto hip hop practitioners.

Che Kothari is a photographer and community leader and Executive Director of Manifesto Community Projects. He is also a founding member and the managing director of one of Canada’s leading online music websites, Earwaks.com.

It was a great year this year for TUFF. Congratulations to Sharon and the team at OneStopMedia.

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The Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF) returns to transit screens across the Toronto subway system, September 9 – 18, 2011. The popular festival will show a mixed program of 1-minute, silent shorts at 10-minute intervals throughout the day. Genres include animation, film and video. Films also screen continuously at three subway stations: Bloor (north and southbound platforms), St Andrew (southbound platform), and Dundas (southbound platform).

This year, TUFF has teamed with The Drake Hotel to offer non-transit-taking film fans a way to watch all 67 films. The Screening Room will offer all eight TUFF programs in a 67-minute loop, beginning Friday, September 16th. Screenings take place from 11 AM to 5 PM in Room 222.  Admittance is free.

The TUFF experience kicks-off Friday, September 9th at a public event and press conference hosted by TTC Chair Karen Stintz, Michael Girgis and Sharon Switzer on the southbound platform at the Dundas subway station. Watch for winners to be announced September 18th at an event attended by this year’s Guest Judge, Atom Egoyan.

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This is the fifth edition of TUFF, which was named one of MovieMaker Magazine‘s “20 Coolest Film Festivals” of 2010. TUFF takes place September 9 – 18, 2011 (concurrent with TIFF) on Onestop platform screens across the Toronto subway system.

The call for submissions is now open.

Submissions are free prior to June 1, 2011. After that date, there will be submission fees: $10 (June 1 – June 30) and $15 (July 1 – July 15). Final deadline is July 15, 2011. Films can be submitted through the TUFF Website.

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Writing for MovieMaker, Jennifer M. Wood said:

More akin to a public art installation than a traditional film festival, the Toronto Urban Film Festival (TUFF) takes “undergound” moviemaking to a literal level. This 10-day, totally public, September event actually screens urban-themed films to more than one million commuters via the ONESTOP TTC subway platform screens in Toronto. By the numbers: Films screen every 10 minutes on 270 screens in 50 subways stations across the city.

Congratulations to TUFF Executive Director, Sharon Switzer, and all the team. TUFF will kick-off again in the spring with a call for submissions for the 2011 version of the festival.

Last year, we helped TUFF grow its national submissions by 40 percent and its international submissions by 100 percent.

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The CFC Media Lab and Art for Commuters’ Executive Director, Sharon Switzer, presented a number of works from the Art For Commuters library at the 2010 01SJ Biennial in San Jose, California.

The biennial is a project of ZER01, a nonprofit arts organization whose mission it is to inspire creativity at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture.

Art for Commuters spoke on the theme of conscious creation and presented several juried shorts from the 2009 Toronto Urban Film Festival.

This year’s 01SJ Biennial was focused under the theme “Build Your Own World” and featured hundreds of artworks, performances, events, and artist talks.

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