Image+Nation
Nani's Kitchen

Nani's Kitchen

STEPHANIE SONNY HOOKER | CANADA | 2025 | 10 MIN | ENGLISH

STEPHANIE SONNY HOOKER | CANADA | 2025 | 10 MIN | ENGLISH

VIRTUALShortMADE AU CANADA

Synopsis

After losing her husband, Nani embraces newfound freedom in her home until a visit from her daughter unearths a family secret: her late husband’s queerness. Through love, grief, and defiance, Nani reclaims her story, embodying the strength of an Indo-Caribbean matriarch forging joy amid loss.

Filmmaker Bio

Stephanie Sonny Hooker is a Toronto-based filmmaker of Trinidadian and British descent and a first-generation Canadian. As the co-founder of Hometeam Films, she produces features, music videos, and web series, cultivating diverse and collaborative sets in the process. Her work includes Edging, Acquainted, and This Place. She is currently working on her feature debut, Wrong End of the Rainbow.

Also playing with

PosterShort
Report from the Interior[MADE AU CANADA]4 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

An animated pop-poetic incantation to unconventional intimacy.

PosterShort
Rosa's Flowers[MADE AU CANADA]18 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

In 1998 Indonesia, two girls promised to be friends forever. Twenty-five years later, a traumatic event resurfaces memories of their shared childhood.

PosterShort
Their World in Colour[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

From Bye Bye, Binary to Love, Violet, Charlene Chua, an award-winning illustrator and author, embraces the challenges of fostering inclusivity through children's books.

PosterShort
Becoming Ruby[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

Becoming Ruby follows Ruby Chopstix, Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, as they navigate the challenges of being an underrepresented drag performer while preparing a special showcase to highlight and create space for other queer BIPOC artists.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[QUEERMENT QUÉBEC]12 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
Quinonia[MADE AU CANADA]6 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

When the church forces a choice between authenticity and acceptance, one person decides to carve out a new path.

PosterShort
The Palace[MADE AU CANADA]9 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

At a secret forest hideout, suburban teen Dani meets her crush Jayde, only to encounter a mysterious, otherworldly presence.

PosterShort
Report from the Interior[MADE AU CANADA]4 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

An animated pop-poetic incantation to unconventional intimacy.

PosterShort
Rosa's Flowers[MADE AU CANADA]18 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

In 1998 Indonesia, two girls promised to be friends forever. Twenty-five years later, a traumatic event resurfaces memories of their shared childhood.

PosterShort
Their World in Colour[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

From Bye Bye, Binary to Love, Violet, Charlene Chua, an award-winning illustrator and author, embraces the challenges of fostering inclusivity through children's books.

PosterShort
Becoming Ruby[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

Becoming Ruby follows Ruby Chopstix, Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, as they navigate the challenges of being an underrepresented drag performer while preparing a special showcase to highlight and create space for other queer BIPOC artists.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[QUEERMENT QUÉBEC]12 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
Quinonia[MADE AU CANADA]6 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

When the church forces a choice between authenticity and acceptance, one person decides to carve out a new path.

PosterShort
The Palace[MADE AU CANADA]9 minutesThis programme includes 8 filmsMADE AU CANADA: STORIES WE TELL 279 minutes

At a secret forest hideout, suburban teen Dani meets her crush Jayde, only to encounter a mysterious, otherworldly presence.

You might also like

PosterShort
Becoming Ruby[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutes

Becoming Ruby follows Ruby Chopstix, Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, as they navigate the challenges of being an underrepresented drag performer while preparing a special showcase to highlight and create space for other queer BIPOC artists.

PosterShort
Pink Elephant[MADE AU CANADA]13 minutes

A long-standing friendship faces tension over gender identity, but everything shifts when one friend receives life-changing news, transforming their bond and perspectives forever.

PosterShort
Queen Mother (Inang Reyna)[MADE AU CANADA]14 minutes

When a mother visits her son, a drag performer, a night of raw confessions forces them to confront the unhealed wounds of their past.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[MADE AU CANADA]12 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterShort
Quinonia[MADE AU CANADA]6 minutes

When the church forces a choice between authenticity and acceptance, one person decides to carve out a new path.

PosterShort
The Palace[MADE AU CANADA]9 minutes

At a secret forest hideout, suburban teen Dani meets her crush Jayde, only to encounter a mysterious, otherworldly presence.

PosterDocumentary
FORBIDDEN LOVE: THE UNASHAMED STORIES OF LESBIAN LIVES[MADE AU CANADA]85 minutes

Mixing lively testimonials from unforgettable women at the forefront of mid-century lesbian bar culture with scripted segments taking the Hollywood melodrama in provocative new directions, Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is an eye-opening cultural history—and one of the most memorable Canadian films of the ’90s. This documentary chronicles the era of lesbian-themed pulp romance paperbacks of the 1950s, a time when titles such as “Odd Girl Out” spoke to the isolated and confused young lesbians of the era. Ten women (including one of the authors of these novels), talk about being queer in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, discovering these books, and going through their own first love affairs and painful breakups. The hardships they faced (from being shunned by their families to enduring police raids) are interspersed with archival footage and four dramatized chapters from a pulp novel, Forbidden Love. The desperate measures resorted to by the protagonists in these works of pulp fiction are shown to have been quite tame compared to the real-life experiences of these women. “It is testimony to how clever the film and filmmakers are that a documentary about history continues to seem so utterly timeless.” – Matthew Hays, POV Magazine

PosterShort
The Pack[MADE AU CANADA]1 minutes

Snarling beasts.

PosterShort
fastLOVE[MADE AU CANADA]16 minutes

On New Year's Eve, a broke and restless young man is drawn into a risky encounter with a hustler's client at a hotel. After being assaulted and scammed, with no help from the staff, he must face the consequences of his choices.

PosterShort
Becoming Ruby[MADE AU CANADA]10 minutes

Becoming Ruby follows Ruby Chopstix, Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, as they navigate the challenges of being an underrepresented drag performer while preparing a special showcase to highlight and create space for other queer BIPOC artists.

PosterShort
Pink Elephant[MADE AU CANADA]13 minutes

A long-standing friendship faces tension over gender identity, but everything shifts when one friend receives life-changing news, transforming their bond and perspectives forever.

PosterShort
Queen Mother (Inang Reyna)[MADE AU CANADA]14 minutes

When a mother visits her son, a drag performer, a night of raw confessions forces them to confront the unhealed wounds of their past.

PosterShort
Itty Bitty Betty[MADE AU CANADA]12 minutes

Betty, driven by fear of rejection, lives isolated at home among her miniature figurines. When she meets a woman she can’t stop thinking about, she faces a difficult choice: remain in her safe, private world or step outside and risk vulnerability for a real connection.

PosterShort
Supa Cottonelle[MADE AU CANADA]5 minutes

A celebration of House Mother Cotton and her sisters during Vancouver's ballroom scene of the 2000s. A tribute to the pioneering Canadian LGBTQ+ community and its dazzling legacy.

PosterShort
Quinonia[MADE AU CANADA]6 minutes

When the church forces a choice between authenticity and acceptance, one person decides to carve out a new path.

PosterShort
The Palace[MADE AU CANADA]9 minutes

At a secret forest hideout, suburban teen Dani meets her crush Jayde, only to encounter a mysterious, otherworldly presence.

PosterDocumentary
FORBIDDEN LOVE: THE UNASHAMED STORIES OF LESBIAN LIVES[MADE AU CANADA]85 minutes

Mixing lively testimonials from unforgettable women at the forefront of mid-century lesbian bar culture with scripted segments taking the Hollywood melodrama in provocative new directions, Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is an eye-opening cultural history—and one of the most memorable Canadian films of the ’90s. This documentary chronicles the era of lesbian-themed pulp romance paperbacks of the 1950s, a time when titles such as “Odd Girl Out” spoke to the isolated and confused young lesbians of the era. Ten women (including one of the authors of these novels), talk about being queer in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, discovering these books, and going through their own first love affairs and painful breakups. The hardships they faced (from being shunned by their families to enduring police raids) are interspersed with archival footage and four dramatized chapters from a pulp novel, Forbidden Love. The desperate measures resorted to by the protagonists in these works of pulp fiction are shown to have been quite tame compared to the real-life experiences of these women. “It is testimony to how clever the film and filmmakers are that a documentary about history continues to seem so utterly timeless.” – Matthew Hays, POV Magazine

PosterShort
The Pack[MADE AU CANADA]1 minutes

Snarling beasts.

PosterShort
fastLOVE[MADE AU CANADA]16 minutes

On New Year's Eve, a broke and restless young man is drawn into a risky encounter with a hustler's client at a hotel. After being assaulted and scammed, with no help from the staff, he must face the consequences of his choices.