Transported – A Film Screening and Conversation with Newcomers to Guelph

Transported – A Film Screening and Conversation with Newcomers to Guelph

Join us for an afternoon of stories and community as we celebrate the launch of the 2026 edition of Transported: Objects of Meaning and the Immigrant Experience, a project that explores who we are and where we come from through the objects we carry. The premiere of the Transported films includes a conversation with the participants and from their homelands.

Transported features five short films, starring newcomers to Canada who have chosen Guelph as their home. The participants, E. Nguyen Dinh (Vietnam), Wranus Saleh (Afghanistan), Allie and Baylie … (USA), (Iraq), and Alejandra Velarde Lopez (Mexico) share stories of personal objects that reflects their experience of migration, survival, innovation, culture, and identity.

Dawn Matheson, creative director of the Transported project, says that “the objects hold unique personal significance; they are more than a ‘thing’ — they represent memory, legacy, and part of a journey.” Following a screening of the short films, Matheson will lead the participants in a conversation about their experiences.

The short films in the 2026 edition of Transported were directed and edited by Matheson, with cinematography by Jhunren Baluyot and editing by Todd Buttenham. The project is a partnership with Matheson, Guelph Museums, and the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition, supported in part by The Musagetes Fund, held by the Guelph Community Foundation.

The first edition of Transported took place in 2017, featuring stories and objects from Mwangi Wa Wairimu (Kenya), Oluwaseun Jilani (Nigeria), Amira AL Tahhan (Syria), Nicola Maggs (England) and Farshad Mazloumi (Iran). The project was directed by Dawn Matheson, with cinematography and editing by Erin MacIndoe Sproule, as part of the Guelph Film Festival’s “Hidden Histories” program, in partnership with The Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition and Ed Video Media Arts Centre with funding in part from The Guelph Community Foundation.

The films and objects in the 2026 edition of Transported will be on view in the new Gathering Gallery at Guelph Civic Museum, opening in early 2027.