Derek Howard
Camera
Biography
Derek Howard is a director and cinematographer from Vancouver, Canada. His collaborations on short and feature length documentary and fiction films have led to screenings at the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, HotDocs, IDFA, Clermont-Ferrand, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (Montreal), Festival des Films du Monde (Montreal), and many more. Derek has participated in the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam's Summer School, IDFAcademy, Reykjavik International Film Festival's Trans Atlantic Talent Lab, and the Berlinale Talents program. Derek was the assistant director and 2nd DOP on renowned director Victor Kossakovky's Venice Film Festival opening night gala film "Vivan Las Antipodas" (2011), and Oscar shortlisted "Aquarela" (2018). He shot Brett Story's latest documentary "The Hottest August," (True/False, SXSW, & Hotdocs 2019) as well as Emelie Mahdavian's feature length debut documentary "Bitterbrush." Most recently, Derek directed a short documentary called "The Harvesters" that premiered at the VIFF (2018) and True/False (2019), and is completing another short called "Underground" about sexual harassment on the subway.
Known For

A former marine fights to keep his life from unraveling as his son tries to force him out of his longtime family home and a series of gruesome murders begin targeting the people around him.
Eugene the Marine

A spate of robberies in Southern California schools had an oddly specific target: tubas. In this work of creative nonfiction, d/Deaf first-time feature director Alison O’Daniel presents the impact of these crimes from an unexpected angle. The film unfolds mimicking a game of telephone, where sound’s feeble transmissibility is proven as the story bends and weaves to human interpretation and miscommunication. The result is a stunning contribution to cinematic language. O’Daniel has developed a syntax of deafness that offers a complex, overlaid, surprising new texture, which offers a dimensional experience of deafness and reorients the audience auditorily in an unfamiliar and exhilarating way.
The Tuba Thieves

Delve into the life and times of Stormy Daniels as she shares her story and account of events that have become part of American history.
Stormy

In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.
BRATS

The story of The Satanic Temple, a controversial movement that combines religion and activism with the apparent purpose of questioning the basic foundations of US society.
Hail Satan?

In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the US, labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. By no accident, the themes targeted are the usual scapegoats of the American Right—LGBTQ+ issues, Black History, and women’s empowerment—impeding the power of future generations to develop their own thoughts and opinions on critical social issues. By weaving together a lyrical montage of young readers and authors, THE ABCs OF BOOK BANNING reveals the voices of the impacted parties, and inspires hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.
The ABCs of Book Banning

On October 27th, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing eleven people as they prayed, in what would become the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. This documentary is a deeply personal portrait of the survivors, victims and family members, who share their harrowing first-hand accounts of the impact of the shooting on the community.
A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Sam Green's intimate portrait of Annea Lockwood shares with us a glimpse into the enthralling world of sound that she has been exploring and creating for many years. It is a touching and personal story of imagination and love.
Annea Lockwood: A Film About Listening

On New York’s packed subways, violations of personal space are unavoidable—an inevitability that emboldens more predatory behavior. Underground brings these stories into the light.
Underground

Three track star sisters face obstacles in life and in competition as they pursue Junior Olympic dreams in this extraordinary coming of age journey.
Sisters on Track

This German documentary looks inside a nearly idle restaurant in a dowdy building in the country of Georgia, its listless workers waiting for business to pick up. The mournful atmosphere serves as a metaphor for the uncertain future of Georgia.
Bakhmaro
Frederico Fellini's unmade film ll Viaggio di G. Mastorna Detto Fernet became a graphic novel, just before Fellini's death in 1993. This is the story of how that came to be, as told by long time Fellini collaborator and illustrator for ll Viaggio di G. Mastorna, Milo Manera. Combining still photography and moving images, the piece which was produced in conjunction with Fabrica, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. The short is anchored by an interview with Milo Minara shot entirely in stills. The interview discusses his personal take on the main existentialist themes of the book; this interview has been intercut with the actual graphic novel and what appears to be the lost footage (via recreation) of the story's first scene. This short doc is an exploration into dreams and fantasy, moving through different realities. Shot between Milan, Italy and Koln, Germany.
Derailments

Set in motion by a tragic police-involved shooting, two communities of color navigate fraught perceptions of injustice, inequality, and discrimination in the eyes of the law.
Down a Dark Stairwell

The story of Moldovan migrant worker Damian, navigating the postmodern world in foreign country, within the walls of a German warehouse, where an artificial mind named “Lydia” guides his every move.
How to Talk to Lydia?

A feature film that follows Jason Logan, who creates unique inks for some of the world’s most celebrated artists by using highly unconventional materials, many of which he finds while foraging in locations ranging from the landfill beaches of Toronto’s Leslie Street Spit to the Mojave Desert. Among the more unusual materials he employs are weeds, rocks, and even rust. Logan’s fans range from the legendary Robert Crumb to New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck and Japanese artist Koji Kakinuma.
The Colour of Ink

A hidden grassroots organization doggedly fights to expand access to abortion pills across the United States keeping hope alive during a global pandemic and the fall of Roe v. Wade.
PLAN C

A true Canadian iconoclast, acclaimed transgender country/electro-pop artist Rae Spoon revisits the stretches of rural Alberta that once constituted “home” and confronts memories of growing up queer in an abusive, evangelical household.
My Prairie Home

Brett Story's visionary look at New York City as it braces for an uncertain future.
The Hottest August

Formerly incarcerated people reassemble their lives at The Castle, a singular housing facility and a supportive home base created by The Fortune Society.
The Castle
Stray cats abound in New York City, and Steven Hock seeks to save them. The more cats he rescues, the more he feels rescued.