Film Alumni Sofia Bant and Beth Warrian’s journey from thesis project to national recognition
Joining together their skills in writing, directing and producing, Film alumni Sofia Bant and Beth Warrian submitted their final-year thesis project, called Adore, to the CBC Short Film Face Off. This opportunity entails their film being streamed on live television across Canada, along with eight other short films over the course of three weekends in September. Following that, the country will have the chance to vote on the best short film and the winner is awarded $30,000 to invest in their next project.
In the short time that it’s been publicly streamed, Adore has had no shortage of success. After completing the film at The Creative School, Adore went on to premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and was named Best Canadian Short at the 2023 Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Short at the 2023 International Film Festival of Ottawa. Adore continues its festival run, with upcoming screenings in Atlanta, Chicago and France.
“Producing Adore was one of the major formative events of my life! It was very empowering to work together with Beth and spearhead this project together,” said Bant. “We tried our best to follow the filmmaking rules we were taught, but ultimately we were just placing as much energy into it as we could, even if we had our amateur moments. And that had amazing results.”
Channeling lived experiences into film
The idea behind the film, Warrian explained, was their own lived experience as a queer person from a fairly conservative background, trying to navigate their identity and embark on a journey of self-discovery. They explained a situation they encountered where an older family member happily embraced their identity; something that Warrian didn’t think was possible.
“I was immediately struck by all the years of the past, and all the potential years into the future, that I could have been needlessly keeping that person, who was very dear to me, at arm’s length,” Warrian explained. “I will always remember one of the first things they said was, “why were you shutting me out?” Adore is an effort to unpack the layers behind that question. By anchoring the film in the perspective of a well-intentioned but deeply flawed protagonist, I hope to create space for self-reflection, encouraging the audience to question their own insecurities and assumptions— and to realize that often, the world can be a kinder place than we expect!”
Embracing camaraderie in Film
A large part of starting to create your own film, Bant says, is finding your voice and style as a new filmmaker. She credits the faculty in the Film program for helping her with this and overcoming challenges in the production process.
“I have to shout out our Professor Karen Harnisch who really helped me understand what producing is generally, but was also amazingly helpful by explaining smaller, practical things. It made a huge difference in terms of my identity as a producer,” said Bant. “The Film program also always encouraged teamwork and learning to adapt to work with different people and take up different roles. Leading up to the fourth year, I felt confident that we would be supported by our peers and vice versa.”
Engaging with other students, having new conversations and trying new film techniques are just a few of the ways that Film students learn outside of the classroom. Warrian notes that the bond and support of their peers in the program inspired them to think outside the box.
“One of my biggest takeaways from the Film program is the irreplaceable gift of being surrounded by talented peers. It’s so incredibly fruitful to be immersed in the diverse skills and perspectives of other artists,” they said. “I can’t overstate how much this helped me advance my own filmmaking in a relatively short period of time.”
Adore is now available to stream on CBC Gem here (external link, opens in new window) September 16 at 8:00 p.m. Adore will also air as part of a live episode of Short Film Face Off with director interviews and panelist commentary on CBC and CBC Gem Saturday Sept 16th at 8:00 p.m. From September 16 at 9:00 p.m. to September 17 at 9 p.m., the online voting system will open and anyone in Canada can cast a vote here (external link, opens in new window) .
The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University
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