Bernice Afriyie | Arts Editor
Featured photo: Eric Bizzarri films what hurts in his short film inspired by personal events. | Courtesy of Eric Bizzari
The annual Toronto Independent Film Festival, or Toronto Indie for short, showcases the work of filmmakers from all across North America. From small- to zero-budget films, Toronto Indie provided a space for budding artists to share their work with industry professionals and film buffs between September 8 to 17. Among the many filmmakers who shared their work at Carlton Cinema, York’s own Eric Bizzarri debuted his film “The Shallow End.”
Though this is the first time Bizzarri has had one of his films screen at a festival, he is no stranger to storytelling.
“I’ve always loved telling stories from a very young age,” says Bizzarri. “I love telling people what I’m up to and what’s happened during my day. I’ve always been attracted to movies over anything, and the way different films made me feel.”
The same desire to communicate personal moments with audiences propels the narrative of “The Shallow End.” The film is inspired by an incident Bizzarri witnessed as a swimming instructor where a child nearly drowned. When asked by his professor to workshop potential story ideas, Bizzarri taught another swimming class that night, and returned to that previous incident.
“I wrote a list of what I felt and what I would have done differently,” recalls Bizzarri. “I make mistakes and I have to learn from them. We all do. So I wrote a film about that. After his kid nearly drowns in the film, the main character Christian, played by Mark Adrian Ford, learns to find his purpose by identifying his mistake and aiming to move forward.
“Christian is a regular guy like anyone else. And once this incident happens to him, he feels as if he’s lost his entire purpose. Towards the end, Christian learns that it’s only because he’s made a mistake that he can truly understand what he’s good at.”
Bizzarri found the entire filmmaking process cathartic, learning more about himself than he anticipated. “From the beginning, I never realized how much this event affected me until I started writing about it. Ever since the incident happened, I’d always go into work and continue to teach still feeling guilty and upset on the inside.
“After the film was first screened for people, I couldn’t help but feel so overjoyed and like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
Bizzarri notes that in addition to confronting his own traumatic experience, finding suitables festival to screen it at wasn’t easy either. Addressing the past allowed Bizzarri to step happily into work and confidently into his future.
For aspiring filmmakers who tread cautiously so as not to make mistakes, Bizzarri advises them to let down their guards. “As cliché as this sounds,” adds Bizzarri, “having the power to learn from our mistakes makes us successful. Understanding where you went wrong, then trying hard to fix it. That’s the key.”
“The Shallow End” was also screened at the Durham Region Film Festival on September 18.
With his own film festival The Future of Film Showcase and another short in production, Bizzarri tirelessly shares his visions with audiences, come deep or shallow water.
