"Half & Half Blood Orange" (aka Eclipse Orange) - New short film!

Click here to watch the short film "Half & Half Blood Orange" (aka Eclipse Orange)

🌞🌓🍊You won't believe what I found... I call it the 'eclipse orange'. 

This is for real. An anomaly of a Sanguinelli blood orange (a variety from Spain) that was so completely unusual I was inspired to make a short video about it. 

🎥✨Watch my kooky new short "Half & Half Blood Orange" (aka Eclipse Orange) here: https://youtu.be/L1kQs9ssLCU. It's only 1 minute long and it makes for some very juicy viewing. 

P.S. This 🍊 was not half-painted deep purple, or dipped in crimson ink, or altered in any way that I can detect and this is definitely not an AI photo or video you are seeing. This was the ONLY blood orange that looked like this at my beloved local fruit store, Fruiterie Monkland, in Montreal's NDG neighbourhood. 

Have you ever seen a 'half & half' 🌓blood orange like this!? Leave your thoughts about this crazy piece of fruit, or this crazy piece of movie, in the comments below. 

🌞Happy eclipse day (April 8, 2024) and happy orange eating to all. 

B🍊n cinéma!

-Ez

"This Is Home" by Peter Gabriel - A Music Photeo by Ez

Watch "This Is Home" by clicking here or on image above

🌼📸🐝Friends, a very special story and a brand new project to share today… 

When I first heard Peter Gabriel’s new song “This Is Home” a few short weeks ago (in Oct. 2023), I was deeply moved. Moved by the gripping song itself and also by its themes of home and togetherness. 

Gabriel’s voice and lyrics struck a deep and timely chord and I was instantly inspired to create one of my ‘music photeos’ for it. 

(Music photeos are my own brand of photo-based short films that lie somewhere halfway between a music video and a souped-up slideshow. Watch all my music photeos here.)

As soon as I set out on a walk that full-moon morning, with “This Is Home” playing on repeat, I began visualizing the photeo in my mind, vividly and effortlessly. And what I envisioned was literally wild…

You see, I'm a doc filmmaker and street photographer by trade and at heart, but in recent years I've been evolving, digging deeper into wildlife and nature photography, getting out as often as I can to nature preserves, bird sanctuaries, mountains, lakes, beaches and gardens to capture glimpses of the stunning creatures that make those places their home.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and eagerly sat myself down at my editing system to summon these creatures and whip up a music photeo for this captivating new song. 

To mesh with the theme of home, I sifted through thousands of images in my photo collection, finding my favourite shots of animals and insects in their homes or natural habitats. 

I selected birds, bees and butterflies as well as tons of other critters: some fuzzy, some feathery, some sleek; a bunch of up-close macro shots of stunning flowers too.

I was happy with how it was all clicking into place so smoothly, but felt it was missing something: another visual layer to connect what we are seeing to the song. 

“What can I add to this to take it to the next level?,” filmmaker Ez wondered to himself.

After a minute of head-scratching, photographer Ez's mind blurted out: "The concert photos!” 

How did this not dawn on me (and me) sooner? 

I had been so taken by the song and so busy finding just the right nature shots to go with it, that I had overlooked the fact that a month earlier I'd actually shot photos of Gabriel in concert at Montreal’s Bell Centre. 

Fuelled by this brainwave, I began interspersing photos of him and his incredible band in THEIR natural habitat… up on stage. 

Long story short, it all just worked. 

After a few days of editing, I sent the video off to Peter and his label, Real World Records, and crossed my fingers. 

I then received emails back from both him and the label saying they thought my photos were beautiful and lovely and giving me their blessing to release my photeo. I cannot thank them enough for their faith in me and for permission to use this powerful song.

Special thanks to Anna Gabriel, fellow photographer and friend, for hooking me up with a photo pass for the Montreal concert in September. An unforgettable experience.

My hope is that this fan video brings a deeper appreciation of the seemingly infinite (but frequently threatened) species and habitats all around us. My goal is to shine a grateful spotlight on all these creatures, showing their interactions with each other and the natural world around them. 

May the colour, warmth and beauty they offer provide some much-needed hope in today’s topsy-turvy world.

After all, “This is home” and - as far as I know - it’s the only 🌎ne we and the animals have. 

Keep your eyes and ears open for Peter’s new album “i/o” coming out on December 1st. You can pre-order it here: https://lnk.to/PG21 I’ve heard nearly all the songs on it and it’s just wonderful. 

The album i/o, coming Dec. 1st, 2023

Finally, you can 🦋WATCH🐿️ my music photeo for “This Is Home” right here: 

https://youtu.be/uosjwzc1gdE

I’m thrilled to share all this with you today. Thanks for reading, thanks for watching and please feel free to share it with others if you dig it!

L❤️ve to all from Montreal,

-Ez

All photos in this post (except "i/o" album cover) by Ezra Soiferman, ©2023

"Montréal, Snowbec" A short film by Ez

Hello Ez Sez readers! I recently released a brand-new short film called “Montréal, Snowbec”. The 5-minute movie premiered on TV on the CBC’s “Our Montreal” and was released online on the CBC’s Creator Network (Read Ezra’s CBC essay on the genesis of the film here) and on my YouTube channel where the film already has over 20,000 views.

Montréal, Snowbec is my love letter to my beloved hometown.

The short “musical documentary”, which features lively and colourful footage and photos I created over seven winters, paints a timeless, intimate portrait of winter in Montreal, specifically how the city deals with all its snow.

The film bears witness to the ballet-like snow-clearing operations of the city’s mammoth plows as they prowl Montreal's 10,000 kilometres of streets and sidewalks, taking endless dump truck loads to gargantuan municipal dumps.

This is a film for those who love winter and for those who absolutely hate it and only want to watch a short film about it and not have to actually venture out into it.

The film features a soundtrack by my friend and frequent collaborator, acclaimed Montreal hip-hop producer and musician Josh "Socalled" Dolgin.

You can read Bill Brownstein’s front-page Montreal Gazette column on the film here.

You can watch me talking about the film with journalist/host Sonali Karnick on CBC’s “Our Montreal” here.

You can listen to me talking about the film on The CJN Daily Podcast with Ellin Bessner here, or you can watch the video version of the podcast here.

Enjoy the film! Stay warm! ❄️

Ez

New Music Photeo: "Stages of Psychosexual Development"

Ryan Stotland in the music photeo for "Stages of Psychosexual Development". Watch it here.

Here it is, perhaps the kookiest in a long line of strange and beloved film projects I’ve undertaken. 

I was hired to create a brand new short video for the fun, funny and very Freudian song “Stages of Psychosexual Development” by talented Montreal singer-songwriter Ryan Stotland. 

To accomplish this ‘music photeo’ (my name for something halfway between a music video and a souped-up photo slideshow - this one is my tenth - watch them all here: https://tinyurl.com/rzbp6jy5), I carefully combed through my entire digital photo archive from the past 12 years (over 100,000 images) and selected the most suggestive and appropriate (sometimes inappropriate) shots to accompany Ryan’s song that delves deep into Freud’s (sometimes discredited) 1905 theory of sexual development. 

You can watch the new video here: https://youtu.be/jSCAEqP2Z8w

Hope you get a kick out of it! 

-Ez

New Music Photeo "The Junk At My Cottage"

Michael Dworkind, aka Dworko, in "The Junk At My Cottage".
Watch it here. 

Today, September 23rd, 2022, I am thrilled to share my brand-new short musical film, “The Junk At My Cottage”! It is part 2 of my trilogy on Montreal sculptor and renaissance man, Dr. Michael Dworkind, aka “Dworko”. (Part 1 was "The Junk On My Roof from 2021. Watch it here.)

Michael, a dear friend, has three distinct passions: medicine, environmental activism and art.

This 5-minute ‘music photeo’ presents photos I have taken of some of the dozens of whimsical and fantastical sculptures made by Michael up at his wonderland-for-the-senses country cottage, Villa Miriam, up in the Laurentians, an hour north of Montreal.

These quirky sculptures are entirely composed of recycled and natural materials and represent a vivid peek into Michael’s endlessly creative soul. 

It’s Michael’s almost unbelievably varied and accomplished story that first attracted me... 

On the medical front, he was senior academic staff at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital and the Herzl Family Practice Centre and the founder and Director of the Palliative care training program for 30 years.

Now retired from hospital work, Michael serves at the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Santé Cannabis, the leading education and resource centre for the use of medical cannabis in Quebec. 

On the activist front, Dr. Dworkind won Nobel Peace Prizes in 2015 and 1985 as part of international physician groups working to abolish nuclear weapons.

It is as an artist, though, that Dworko finds true peace and tranquility. Whether it's at his home in NDG or on weekends and summer vacations up at Villa Miriam, he beautifies the world one recycled masterpiece at a time.

Watch “The Junk At My Cottage” and please share it with friends, family and fellow art lovers. 

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/iCX520sWQ6Y

Follow Dworko on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/michaeldworkindart

New 'Music Photeo': "Purple Clouds"

 

Still from "Purple Clouds".
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

🎸☁️🚗I took a magical road trip out to Shawinigan, Quebec, last week to see friends and unexpectedly ended up shooting a brand new music photeo (a music video featuring my photos) for the incredibly talented James Forest on a secret lake near his place just outside “Shawi”. 

James Forest at the lake

The brilliant tune is called “Purple Clouds” and the impromptu video came about when I asked him to play it once we got to the lake.

The sweet “behind-the-scenes” photo below of me filming
James was shot by Ilana Block.

WATCH the full video for “Purple Clouds” in HD at the YouTube link here: https://youtu.be/ucxQM3rqPMQ

Hope you dig James Forest’s music as much as I do! Look for it on all the music streaming platforms. His sound is reminiscent of Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Harmonium. 

Enjoy the video and your discovery of this gem of a dude…

-Ez

P.S. To see other music photeos I've done over the years, please click here. 

"The Wildlife - The Walled Life" - new 'music photeo'!

Click here to watch the music photeo
“The Wildlife - The Walled Life” (5:25 mins.)

It was my 49th birthday this week and I have big furry news.  🐻🦊🦆🦅🦉🦋🦓🐘🦒🐠 My friend Ilana Block and I are excited to share a brand new ‘music photeo’ we made together!

“The Wildlife - The Walled Life” is a 5-minute, photo-based music video that blends Ilana’s spectacular wildlife photography with my photos of some of the stunning animal murals up on the walls across our beloved Montreal. 

Top row wildlife photos by Ilana Block,
bottom row mural photos by Ezra Soiferman

Oh, and we sing on it too!

Wait... adorable animals, Montreal murals AND the velvety voices of heretofore unknown Canadian singing sensations Lani n’ Ez?!

You sez:  “Okay, THIS I gotta see...” 

Ez sez: “Go ahead, see it!”

WATCH “The Wildlife - The Walled Life” right here: https://youtu.be/TS33tonG_K0

Mike Cohen, “Cohen in the City” host, with
photographers Ezra Soiferman and Ilana Block. Watch.

Once you’re done watching, learn about the behind-the-scenes of our project at this “On Air - Cohen in the City” feature Ilana and I were guests at on at the Suburban:

https://tinyurl.com/SuburbanWalledLife

Special thanks to our friend Gregg Silver who co-produced the video’s soundtrack and arranged it so beautifully. 

Extra special thanks to all the incredibly talented mural artists who brighten the walls of Montreal with their art and special thanks to all the animals who share their planet with us. 

As the song sez: “May the animals live long, may the chaos settle down…” We made this project to let the animals bring colour, joy and light to us all in these trying times. 

Finally, big thanks to Ilana for creating this with me. Your passion for animals is inspiring. 

Friends, strangers, and animals with a wifi signal, if you dig the new video, please bark, meow, baa, roar, speak and spread the mothercluckin’ word. 

Feel free to share this music photeo with your friends, co-workers and even with kids too. This is an all-ages adventure and we want these creatures to travel. They have lots to teach.  🐇🦩🐿🦜🦌🐎🐙🐞🦄

For my birthday - and for the love of dog - please strap on your safari hat and experience “The Wildlife - The Walled Life” right here:

https://youtu.be/TS33tonG_K0

❤️ to all from Montreal! 💫

Ez

Hemp for the Homeless 2021

 

We did it! With all your help after my fundraising plea in December, my Hemp for the Homeless project raised close to $3500 - THANK YOU!!! We took the 150 Hemp Help Kits we assembled and brought them over to

Resilience Montreal,

a crucial downtown shelter serving the primarily Native community of homeless people in and around Cabot Square across from the Old Forum. The experience was an eye-opening one, as you’ll see from our new video. There is great need out on the streets these days and we witnessed it first-hand.

Please watch my brand new 3-minute short film on the project here: https://youtu.be/7BKw_kbn__M

My daughter and Hemp for the Homeless volunteer,
 Lulu Soiferman

The Hemp Help Kits we assembled were filled with functional and nutritious hemp goods sent up to Montreal from hemp companies the world over. This included: Hemp face masks, soap, hand sanitizer, thick socks, hulled hemp seeds, hemp-oatmeal cookies, energy bars, a letter explaining the contents of the bag and the environmental and health benefits of hemp, and of course a reusable hemp tote bag.

Oatmeal-hemp cookies by Rustique Montreal

Special note: The incredible oatmeal-hemp cookies

Rustique

Pie Kitchen in St-Henri made for our kits were so crazy good that they are now also available for you to purchase from Rustique. And… for every single one of those beauties Rustique sells from now until the end of February, they will donate one cookie to Resilience Montreal! So, order up... www.tinyurl.com/RustiqueHemp

The contents of one of the Hemp Help Kits
 shared with clients of Resilience Montreal

If this ‘philhempthropic’ project I founded in 2007 strikes a chord and you are in a position to help support future Hemp Help Kit giveaways, please donate at our freshly updated web page: http://www.ezrasoiferman.com/hemp-for-the-homeless .

You can also donate directly to Resilience Montreal's GoFundMe page here: https://gofund.me/78c3d331 This week, Hemp for the Homeless donated $1006 of additional donations we received to this great cause.

Thank you to my team of fellow volunteers who helped film the new video, take photos, pack and deliver the Hemp Help Kits and gave me so much support along the way:

Gregg Silver, Lulu Soiferman and

Ilana Block

Handing out Hemp Help Kits to a client of
 Resilience Montreal

Thank you to our 30+ partner hemp companies over the years for all the help and all the hemp!

Our magnificent partners this year are:

Dr. Bronner's

Magic Soap http://www.drbronner.com

Friends of Hemp

http://www.friendsofhemp.org

Hello 123 Monkland

(home of the Ezra Burger) https://www.hello123forever.com/quebec

Rustique

Pie Kitchen http://www.rustiquepiekitchen.com

evo hemp

http://www.evohemp.com

EnviroTextiles

https://www.envirotextile.com

Hemp Foundation

https://hempfoundation.net

And, of course, our partner

Resilience Montreal

. http://www.resiliencemontreal.com

Some of the functional and nutritious hemp goods 
included in the Hemp Help Kits

Finally, thank you to my fellow hemp believers around the world. You have taught me so much and inspire me constantly with your love for this plant and your infinite stream of original ways to use it.

If there’s one message that drives our mission, it is that this incredibly versatile and planet-friendly plant can do so much good. #hempcanhelp

Love to all from Montreal. Truly.

-Ez

Ezra Soiferman

Montreal, Quebec

"It's the Winter Again"

 

Watch the short film by clicking HERE.

I made a fun new short film called "It's the Winter Again". 

I filmed this action-packed sledding film in January 2021 at Murray Hill Park in Westmount, Quebec, a neighbourhood in Montreal, Canada. I used to toboggan at this hill as a kid and it was nice to return there with my daughter (who makes a cameo at 33 seconds into the film, jumping up and down) to enjoy the slope. 

The short features a song I wrote, sang and recorded back in 1999. 

You can watch the 49-second film by clicking HERE. 

CBC-Montreal's Debra Arbec introduces "It's the Winter Again"

The film premiered on January 14th on CBC-Montreal's 6 o'clock newscast, hosted by Debra Arbec. You can watch the short clip of the news segment featuring the film by clicking HERE. 

Enjoy the short!

Ez

 

The Ezra Burger kicks off new Hemp for the Homeless documentary

The Ezra Burger at Hello 123 on Monkland Ave. in Montreal

Hello, Friends!

I am thrilled to announce that a burger has been named after me.

Wait, what?!

That's right, a juicy new vegan hempburger, called The Ezra Burger, is now officially on offer at the popular new vegan comfort food restaurant Hello 123 at their beautiful, plant-filled Monkland location in Montreal.

And, get this... the burger was featured on the front page of today's Montreal Gazette and called "To die for..." by renowned columnist Bill Brownstein! (Read his article here.)

More good news... $1 from each Ezra Burger sold goes to my Hemp for the Homeless project (founded in 2007) which brings functional and nutritious hemp goods to people experiencing homelessness.

Click image above to watch the brand new Hemp for the Homeless short film 

But wait... there's more good news:

Today also marks the release of my brand new short documentary about the history of Hemp for the Homeless and the long, strange trip the project has taken over the years.

This 'philhempthropic' project is supported by Canopy Growth, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and 35+ other incredibly generous hemp companies.

You can learn more about The Ezra Burger and the Hemp for the Homeless project it helps support at my official website, EzraSoiferman.com. The new film can be viewed there too. Enjoy!

Stay hempy, stay happy and try an Ezra Burger soon!

Ez

Ez and a little friend

Halloween 2.0 (A very short film by Ez)

Watch the short "Halloween 2.0" by clicking here or image above 

Booyehkasha!, it's the 2nd day of Halloween?!

T’was the second day of Halloween in Montreal (the Mayor cancelled trick-or-treating on October 31st due to bad weather and related safety issues) and as I left my power-outage-riddled NDG home on November 1st to brave a fierce windstorm, I got an idea to try to take the silliest selfie of my life and make a movie about it too.

So, voila! I present: "Halloween 2.0"! (Click to watch)

-Ez

Street Stream - New short film

Click image above, or HERE, to watch "Street Stream"

Hello Friends & Strangers,

I was walking up the block on a beautiful fall day in Montreal and spotted a stream of water flowing down the street. I followed the drifting leaves to see where they were going. The way they coupled together and also drifted alone downstream reminded me of people, especially parents swimming with children. 

Here is the short film that resulted from that adventure. It's only a minute and a half long, so I hope you'll watch. If you like it, please share it with leaf-minded friends. 

Special thanks to the band The Mammals for their kind permission to use an excerpt from their powerful song "My Baby Drinks Water" as the soundtrack to this film. Explore more of their music if you like their vibe and message as much as I do. 

Here's to water and all it brings to our planet,

Ez

Behind-the-Scenes on The Dark Crystal Set!

Dark Crystal director Louis Leterrier (left) and a Skeksis (right) on set in London (photo by Ezra S.)

A year ago, almost to the day, my 9-year-old daughter Lulu and I were lucky enough to be on set of the brand new Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (trailer), produced by Netflix and The Jim Henson Company. The series is based on, and serves as a prequel to,  Jim Henson's groundbreaking 1982 feature film The Dark Crystal.

I'd been invited to the set by my old NYU classmate Louis Leterrier who executive produced and directed the new series alongside executive producer Lisa Henson, Jim's daughter. I decided to grab the opportunity (and grab my daughter!) and fly off to London as soon as I could.

Lisa, Lulu and Louis. Kermit too! (Photo by Ezra S.) 

We absolutely loved the day we spent on set with Louis, Lisa, the puppeteers, and crew, and we're thrilled to share our new 6-minute video with you today!

You can watch our video here on YouTube (click here)  If you like it, please share it with a friend!

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the epic 10-episode series, premiered on Netflix on August 30th. There's a terrific 82-minute behind-the-scenes doc on Netflix too ("The Crystal Calls").

All the best from me n' Lulu,

Ez

Ez, Lulu and Louis on set at Langley Studios in London 

"Sandulé on Screen" - New, very short film!

Sandulé Bobaru, busker, watch my new short here

Surprise new summer short!

Meet Sandulé Bobaru, accordionist, music teacher and busker who plays up on my awesome local high street, Monkland Avenue in Montreal’s leafy NDG.

Enjoy this new, very short film I whipped up called “Sandulé on Screen”. You can read the backstory on this film there too.

Watch the film by clicking HERE.

Regards to all from Montreal,

Ez

"Ecuadoria" - A new 'music photeo' by Ez

(Click image above to watch "Ecuadoria" on YouTube)

I just spent an unforgettable week touring and photographing in Ecuador. It was my first time there and I'm pretty sure it won't be my last. 

Enjoy the sort 'music photeo' I made featuring buskers Julio Herrera (vocals/guitar) and Diego Gonzales (percussion) playing Julio's spirited, rag-tag love song "Si Tu No Estas Que Hago".  

The video, "Ecuadoria" (3 mins) features their impromptu musical performance, filmed in Quito, as well as a selection of my favourite shots from my trip in a few locations in Ecuador. 

An English translation of the lyrics can be found in the video description at YouTube at the above link.

Diego (Lt; percussion) and Julio (Rt; guitar/vocals), after singing the song for me on the streets of Quito, Ecuador