corktown common
Thursday, July 3, 2025

dazed and confused

With the short films The Fake Calendar & Chesterfield

Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused helped kick off a streak of American indie cinema that authentically and poignantly captured the aimlessness, anarchy, and amusement of young adulthood. Saturated with 1970s nostalgia, it stages a memorable, hilarious, and endlessly quotable ensemble cast of teens celebrating the last day of school and the start of the summer (played by then-unknown actors on the edge of stardom, including Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, and Milla Jovovich). A poignant ode to misspent youth, the meandering cliques of high schoolers explore the unknown possibilities and anxieties that exist beyond the school halls, where everyone is out to find themselves, someone to make out with, and a cooler party, all before the sun comes up.

Linklater’s day-long adventure is paired with local filmmaker Florence Soffia’s whimsical short Chesterfield. Car-less and new to the city, chill 20-something Lewis is forced to move his new couch across Toronto by hand, which leads him – and his heavy acquisition – on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood journey from High Park to Chester over the course of a long, sweaty, summer’s day, forging new friendships along the way. Meanwhile, Atikamekw artist Meky Ottawa’s colorfully animated The Fake Calendar brings the novelty of early adulthood independence to life, celebrating the simple joy of ditching your plans and staying home to have a night just for yourself.