Reimagining Queer Liberation (In-Person Screening: April 26)

Join us for our first in-person screening of the year at Small World Centre in Toronto. Guest programmed by Jacob Crepeault, this screening features 10 short works made by 2SLGBTQIA+ Canadian and international artists between 2020-2022. The works by Lina Wu, Chanelle Lajoie, Madi Piller and Sina Âwsémoon, Madeleine Scott, Trâm Anh Nguyễn, Sam Gurry, M.O. Guzman, Kym McDaniel, Jo Güstin, and Yace Sula reflect different understandings and re-imagining of what queer liberation means today.


When: Wednesday, April 26 at 7pm

Where: Small World Music Centre, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Unit 101

Defining freedom yields many interpretations, especially when you ask a queer person. What does freedom look like to you? And what are you being freed from? These questions are pondered and interpreted through the works presented in this series. The works speak to each other in vital ways, creating a deeply rich dialogue that ultimately answers the ways in which we, as queer individuals, free ourselves from the restraints that try to hold us back. These restraints, be they physical, mental, or social burdens from others, societal pressures to conform to heteronormativity, or troubled perceptions of the self, are examined and confronted in bold ways by the artists in this series. They define the act of freeing oneself physically, mentally, spiritually, socially, and sexually through a beautifully queer lens. This series consists of 10 short works made by 2SLGBTQ+ Canadian and international artists, including trans and non-binary artists. All of the works were made between 2020-2022, and were vetted during our open-call submission process in 2022.

Screening programme:

Madi Piller and Sina Âwsémoon, Anymore, 10 mins, 2021

Madeleine Scott, Aesop Hand Soap, 5 mins, 2022

Lina Wu, Rain to Eaves, 3 mins, 2021

Trâm Anh Nguyễn, To Boyhood, I Never Knew Him, 4 mins, 2022

Chanelle Lajoie, Grand Mother Tongue, 4 mins, 2022

Sam Gurry, Up Close, 3 mins, 2021

Kym McDaniel, A Story That Doesn’t Have To Do With Me, 7 mins, 2021

M.O. Guzman, Is This Liberation?, 7 mins, 2020

Yace Sula, Ele of the Dark, 13 mins, 2022

Jo Güstin, Don’t Text Your Ex, 14 mins, 2021

Total running time: 1 hour, 10 mins

Following the screening, we will have a Q&A with the curator Jacob Crepeault and the artists Lina Wu, Madeleine Scott, Sina Âwsémoon, and Trâm Anh Nguyễn.

The screening is free and open to the public. Non-alcoholic refreshments will be available.

Image credit: Yace Sula, Ele of the Dark, 13 mins, 2022