Focus Thirza Cuthand
Discover the interview between Thirza Cuthand and Nicole Gingras, Head of Programming of FIFA Expérimental.
The tribute to Thirza Cuthand is an opportunity to celebrate one of the most powerful voices in Canadian video art and experimental cinema. The artist tackles sexuality, madness, race, colonialism, queer identity, magic and spirituality head-on. This selection of eight works made since 1996 speaks to a mature oeuvre spanning nearly 25 years in which she has made her voice, her body — her presence — at once the subject and the object of her experimental narrative shorts. Of Cree and Scottish heritage, Thirza Cuthand currently lives in Toronto.
My Sister — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 1996. 5 min. English.
Two thoughtful young friends openly discuss their relationship with their sisters, both of whom are intellectually challenged, in one of Thirza Cuthand’s earliest videos.
Anhedonia — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 1999. 9 min. English.
Depression and suicide are met head-on with Cuthand’s honesty. Anhedonia shoots directly to the point with poetry and images that evoke controversy in one mindset and passion in another.
Love & Numbers — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2004. 9 min. English.
A Two Spirited woman surrounded by spy signals and psychiatric walls attempts to make sense of love, global paranoia, and her place in the history of colonialism.
Madness in Four Actions — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2008. 8 min. English.
Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke proceed to beat each other. The text, from psychiatrists and ex-patients, discusses the violence in some forms of psychiatric care, while the struggle for autonomy rages.
Sight — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2012. 3 min. English.
Super 8 footage, layered with Sharpie-marked lines and circles obscuring the image, illustrates the story of the artist’s experience with temporary episodes of migraine-related blindness and her cousin’s self-induced blindness later in life.
Just Dandy — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2013. 7 min. English.
Invited to speak at an Indigenous Revolutionary Meeting, the narrator describes an intimate encounter with an Evil Colonizing Queen which leads to Turtle Island’s contraction of an invasive type of European flora.
Quebec Premiere
Thirza Cuthand is an Indian Within the Meaning of the Indian Act — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2017. 8 min. English.
Contemplating mixed race identity in Canada, this video situates the artist’s body in historical trauma and ongoing colonial survival.
Medicine Bundle — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2020. 9 min. English.
Thirza Cuthand discusses a medicine bundle in her family, and the bear cub spirit attached to it, as it heals her family through trauma and disease brought about by colonization.
Quebec Premiere
Discover the interview between Thirza Cuthand and Nicole Gingras, Head of Programming of FIFA Expérimental.
The tribute to Thirza Cuthand is an opportunity to celebrate one of the most powerful voices in Canadian video art and experimental cinema. The artist tackles sexuality, madness, race, colonialism, queer identity, magic and spirituality head-on. This selection of eight works made since 1996 speaks to a mature oeuvre spanning nearly 25 years in which she has made her voice, her body — her presence — at once the subject and the object of her experimental narrative shorts. Of Cree and Scottish heritage, Thirza Cuthand currently lives in Toronto.
My Sister — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 1996. 5 min. English.
Two thoughtful young friends openly discuss their relationship with their sisters, both of whom are intellectually challenged, in one of Thirza Cuthand’s earliest videos.
Anhedonia — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 1999. 9 min. English.
Depression and suicide are met head-on with Cuthand’s honesty. Anhedonia shoots directly to the point with poetry and images that evoke controversy in one mindset and passion in another.
Love & Numbers — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2004. 9 min. English.
A Two Spirited woman surrounded by spy signals and psychiatric walls attempts to make sense of love, global paranoia, and her place in the history of colonialism.
Madness in Four Actions — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2008. 8 min. English.
Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke proceed to beat each other. The text, from psychiatrists and ex-patients, discusses the violence in some forms of psychiatric care, while the struggle for autonomy rages.
Sight — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2012. 3 min. English.
Super 8 footage, layered with Sharpie-marked lines and circles obscuring the image, illustrates the story of the artist’s experience with temporary episodes of migraine-related blindness and her cousin’s self-induced blindness later in life.
Just Dandy — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2013. 7 min. English.
Invited to speak at an Indigenous Revolutionary Meeting, the narrator describes an intimate encounter with an Evil Colonizing Queen which leads to Turtle Island’s contraction of an invasive type of European flora.
Quebec Premiere
Thirza Cuthand is an Indian Within the Meaning of the Indian Act — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2017. 8 min. English.
Contemplating mixed race identity in Canada, this video situates the artist’s body in historical trauma and ongoing colonial survival.
Medicine Bundle — Thirza Cuthand. Canada. 2020. 9 min. English.
Thirza Cuthand discusses a medicine bundle in her family, and the bear cub spirit attached to it, as it heals her family through trauma and disease brought about by colonization.
Quebec Premiere
| Director | Thirza Cuthand |
In Partnership with
Image tirée du film Anhedonia // Image from the film Anhedonia
Image tirée du film Just Dandy // Image from the film Just Dandy
Image tirée du film Love & Numbers // Image from the film Love & Numbers
Image tirée du film Madness in Four Actions // Image from the film Madness in Four Actions
Image tirée du film Medicine Bundle // Image from the film Medicine Bundle
Image tirée du film My Sister // Image from the film My Sister
Image tirée du film Sight // Image from the film Sight
Production
Thirza Cuthand
Thirza Jean Cuthand was born in Regina, Saskatchewan (Canada) and grew up in Saskatoon. Since 1995, she has been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race, which have screened in festivals and in galleries internationally. She is of Plains Cree and Scots descent and a member of Little Pine First Nation, and she currently resides in Toronto.
Biographical notes provided by the film production team.
Biographical notes provided by the film production team.
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