christie pits film festival
sunday, august 7, 2022

learn to swim

With the short film Broken Orchestra

The directorial début of Toronto filmmaker Thyrone Tommy, Learn To Swim paints an artful and formally unique portrait of Dezi, a talented Jazz musician. He moves through his usual Toronto spots each day without momentum, nursing debilitating jaw pain and strangely paralyzed from moving forward while haunted by trauma that he keeps guarded. Following his award-winning short film The Mariner, and Learn to Swim, his short film inspiration for the feature project, Tommy’s beautifully shot, gorgeously scored, first feature will leave you contemplating how your past experiences manifest in your physical, emotional, and creative body.

Local neighbourhood filmmaker Charlie Tyrell – whose studio space overlooks Christie Pits Park – is a veteran filmmaker of the festival. His short documentary Broken Orchestra screens alongside Learn to Swim, an inspired pairing that addresses the systemic lack of opportunities for young Black and Brown musicians. Broken Orchestra features a collective of educators, volunteers, advocates, and musicians who came together to create Symphony of Broken Orchestra, a performance project that endeavoured to get instruments repaired and into the hands of Philadelphia public school students. The film connects a generation of accomplished musicians with younger students who may never have the same opportunities to become masters of their craft, uncomfortably drawing parallels to under-funded school systems in our own communities.