Image+Nation
Dreams of Sunlight Through Trees

Dreams of Sunlight Through Trees

THEO JOE CUTHLAND | CANADA | 2024 | 16 MIN | ENGLISH

THEO JOE CUTHLAND | CANADA | 2024 | 16 MIN | ENGLISH

VIRTUALShortMADE AU CANADAA Question of Gender

Synopsis

A middle aged trans man transitions at 44 and observes his changes over a year and nine months, with a looming ongoing news cycle of anti-trans legislation.

Filmmaker Bio

Theo Jean Cuthand is a trans Plains Cree and Scots filmmaker, artist and writer from Saskatchewan and a member of Little Pine First Nation. Since 1995, he has made experimental films and videos exploring sexuality, madness, queer identity, love and Indigeneity, screened internationally and exhibited at institutions including the National Gallery of Canada and MoMA. He has also created video games, written feature screenplays and performed internationally. Cuthand lives in Toronto, where he teaches and serves as Queer/Trans Artist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto.

Director's Statement

I wanted for years to make a video about poverty, using my own experiences at the welfare office, struggling to pay the rent and not alienate loved ones. […] This film isn't to condemn people who weren't able to save their loved ones. It is more of a memorial to people who might still be here if we had a healthier economic system for everyone that valued community care. I hope that it sparks conversation about mental health and poverty and the links between them.

Producer

Theo Jean Cuthand

Writer

Theo Jean Cuthand

Cinematographer

Theo Jean Cuthand

Cast

  • Theo Jean Cuthand
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