Nuit Blanche North York X JAYU

ARTWORK/
PHOTOGRAPHY

ARTWORK by

Leilah Dhore | IG: leilahdhore | Website: leilahdhore.com

Jasmine Vanstone
IG: @articulately_jasmine | Website: jasminevanstone.carrd.com

Jasmine Vanstone is a Jamaican-Canadian multi-disciplinary artist and arts administrator based in North York. A graduate of York University, she earned a BFA with Honours in Visual Art-Studio and a Certificate in Cultural and Artistic Practice for Social and Environmental Justice (CAP). In 2018, she received the Jennifer Ivey Bannock Digital Award for excellence in digital photography. Jasmine was also the recipient of the Ferdous Akhtar Khan Award, Tim Whiten Award, and Joseph Drapell Award for multidisciplinary expertise. She was recently exhibited at VIBE Arts NExT III Exhibition:Persephone's Panganat, Gallery 44xJAYU Outreach: Metamorphosis, and Workman Arts: Hypothetically February 15th. In her art, Jasmine shares visual reflections navigating the liminal space between multiple identities and contrasting cultures.

Through York University's CAP program, Jasmine interned under a welcoming team at North York Arts as the Program and Outreach Intern. In 2021, Jasmine pursued further arts administration experience and graduated from Centennial College’s Post-Grad Arts Management Program. Here she was mentored by Onika Powell, a visionary in community arts, and began to flourish as an arts leader. Since graduating, she has worked at Art Starts and is currently the Education & Engagement Programming Coordinator at TO Live. With hopes to inspire, impact, and amplify marginalized voices through community engagement and arts education, Jasmine continues learning and pursuing opportunities such as Sketch's NextUp! Leaders Lab, VIBE Arts Desire Lines Mentorship Program, and JAYU iAM programming.

Theia Ramsammy
IG: @cyberlimbix

Justice Daye-Fraser | Full Work

Autumn Daye-Fraser | Full Work

Payton Daye-Fraser | Full Work

PERFORMANCE

AFRO ANTHOLOGY

by Martin Gomes & Lex

Afro Anthology was co-created by Lex & Martin Gomes. The poetry and digital design piece takes the audience on a journey through several stories told through a Black lens to showcase that, while there are many parts of the Black experience that are shared, to be Black is not to be part of a monolith.

Written & Directed by Martin Gomes

Illustrated & Animated by Lex, with Music & Poetry

Performances by Martin Gomes & Desiree Mckenzie

FILMS

Wonder (4m 49s)

Description:

This film is dedicated to those who question life, but are left unanswered. Take a journey through one's mind who is venturing through the struggles we all face and know too well.

Credits:
Director/D.O.P: Maliha Khalid
Main Cinematographer: Aishah Memon
Co-Cinematographer: Neha Modgil
Three Friends/"Insecurities":
Khalifa Salisu
Maya Marcus
Christopher DeLeon

Call Me Krishna (9m 57s)

Description: After trying on a binder and a packer for the first time, Krishna, a trans male, has to face his own insecurities, and is on a journey of overcoming his fear of passing and coming out. Luckily, he is not alone. His best friend Skyler, a post-operation trans female, is there to support him.

Writer: Aneel Vyas, Rojelio Palacios
Director: Rojelio Palacios
Producer: Aneel Vyas
Key Cast "Krishna": Claudia Liz
Full Credits below*

Dreams (1m 39s)

Animated Short by Theia Ramsammy

Rooted (6m 15s)

Description: A dramatic short film where Kai is forced to attend a family dinner reunion bombarded by personal questions from gossiping aunties and pestering ignorant relatives and their societal pressures resurfaces Kai's struggle with identity, in finding her voice, and the cycle of healing their inner child.

Anne Vo (Writer/Director/Editor)
Setareh Saleh (1st Assistant Director)
Tofunmi Adebise (Line Producer)
Kimberly Miller-Pryce (Director of Photography)
Jaiden Campbell (Camera Operator)
Stephanie Hanson (Production Designer)
Mohammed Abdulaziz (Sound)
Elizabeth Nhu Mai (Production Assistant)
Maya Gonzalez-Fuentes (Production Assistant)
Mikayla Kwan (Lead Actor)
Jamielle Elizen Alviar (Supporting Actor)
Voice Actors: Glenn Alviar, Lhankee Alviar, Jonaleah Baguan, Nguyen Thi Hoan, Elizabeth Nhu Mai, Henry Rivas
Special Thanks: Gilad Cohen, Celeste Cole, Chrisann Hessing, Radha Pithadia, Leah Vlemmiks

Sounds of Our Bodies (2m 53s)

Description: A dancer explores their roots through dance.

Film by: Lateefa Farah
Edited by: Lateefa Farah
Directed by: Sara YH and Lateefa Farah

Call Me Krishna (9 mins 57s) Full Credits

Written by Rojelio Palacios & Aneel Vyas
Director Rojelio Palacios
Producer Aneel Vyas
Aria/Krishna Claudia Liz

Skyler Taylor Violet Ross
Mom Gauri Prasad
Cashier Celeste Chiguichon
Riley Atticus Longman
Luis Rafael Martinez

Director of Photography Katerina Zoumboulakis
Editor Cindy Long
Production Designer Amy White
Production Sound Mixer Mark Matusoff
Composer Carmen Elle
1st Assistant Director Kali Williams
Script Supervisor Itzel Martinez
Hair and Make Up Raquel Dailey

1st AC Andrew Lim
2nd AC/DMT Reuben Ward
Gaffer Robert Wharry
Key Grip Liam Cassidy
Hair/Make-up Assistant Zaniffa Finlayson
Production Assistant James Sheppard
Stills & BTS Photographer Lindsay Duncan
Catering and Craft Service Begoña Palacios & Veronica Vyas

Post Production Services provided by REDLAB
Post Production Facility REDLAB
Post Production Managing Director Mark Stevens
Executive In Charge of Production Lora Campbell
Poster Designer Katie Liang
Insurance provided by:
Front Row Insurance

Artworks
Just Another Friday: T day Rojelio Palacios
Lost In Translation: The Origin of the World Pink  Rojelio Palacios
Lost In Translation: The Origin of the World White Rojelio Palacios
One Becomes All  Rojelio Palacios
Transitions Taylor Violet Ross
Glamour Taylor Violet Ross
Marsha Taylor Violet Ross
My Normal Taylor Violet Ross
Mask for Masc Justin Fortier
Hello My Name Is: Not Important Justin Fortier
phobic Stephanie Camille
will you bring me some cheap rose please? Jessika Pouget
Self-portrait Erica Jochim
billy Par Nair 
billy Par Nair 

Special Thanks
George Stroumboulopoulos
Lora Campbell
Abhirami Balachandran

Production Equipment Supplied By:
William F Whites
Grande Camera
Trew Audio

Filmed on location at Glad Day Book Shop Downtown in the City of Toronto, Ontario

Produced in association with the Inside Out LGBTQ Film Festival and ASAAP

JAYU iAM Films

iAM (12m 38s)

FILMMAKERS: SHANIK TANNA & CHRISANN HESSING | 2016 | IN FOCUS: CANADA

Taking a deeper look at JAYU's iAM Gallery, an initiative that empowered 25 newcomer youth from the Middle East in Toronto to share their versions of home.

We’ve Been Here (5m 19s)

DIRECTOR: LEAH VLEMMIKS | YEAR: 2021 | ORIGIN: CANADA

AN INDIGENOUS YOUTH EXHIBITION AND FILM

In August 2021, 8 youth participated in a two-week intensive photography, poetry, and social justice mentorship program in Kitchener, Ontario in partnership with JAYU, White Owl Native Ancestry and Wisahkotewinowak. Through art, youth explored themes of truth, reconciliation, trauma, healing, and connection to land. this exhibition is the culmination of the participants’ creativity, bravery, and hard work.

In addition, a documentary filmmaker joined us for the duration of the two-week program and created a short film below titled We’ve Been Here which documented the entire experience.

Mentors: Gilad Cohen, Desiree Mckenzie, Dave Skene, Sarina Perchak

Collection of iAM Exhibition Films

Here I Am

Youth standing in their Blackness and the beauty of it.
Curator: Lateefa Farah

In 2020, JAYU has hosted and provided a platform for young and upcoming Black artists in Toronto to showcase their creativity, message and artistic abilities. Ten special youth, coming from different backgrounds have created and produced artwork, ranging from poetry, music, photography, and collaging that highlights this year's exhibition theme around the beauty in Blackness. So often we are met with a negative perception of Blackness, nor do we rarely see it being glorified. We asked these youth to take charge and create their own narrative of what Blackness is to them, and what they would love to see in their media outlets, in relation to what we see today.

Let’s continue to support and uplift our young Black artists here in Toronto.

AM I WRONG TO LOVE?

From May - July 2019, JAYU presented AM I WRONG TO LOVE? in partnership with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to highlight the specific adversities facing LGBTQI+ refugees.

While receiving one-on-one mentorship from an accomplished photographer in Toronto, 17 iAM graduates mastered storytelling through portraiture and explored the stories of 20 LGBTQ2I+ refugees. Originating from ten countries, each subject came to Toronto in search of safety after suffering persecution for their gender expression, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

iAM: An Exhibition on Reconciliation

What does moving forward from an unjust legacy look like?

The 2017 iAM exhibition explores reconciliation through the personal stories of Indigenous youth. Over 2017 summer, nine participants took part in a two-week photography mentorship program, run by JAYU in partnership with the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto.
The youth were guided through storytelling workshops to record and reflect on personal experiences with the support of Dave Skene, a mentor from the Metis community. Additionally, twenty outstanding emerging and established photographers provided mentorship and skill-sharing sessions, allowing the youth to express themselves through the medium of photography. iAM 2017 is an opportunity to share their stories and celebrate the culmination of their hard work.