Screening: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 7:00 pm to Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 7:00 pm

Writing Workshop: September 23, 2020 7:00-9:00 pm

Watercolour Workshop: September 30, 2020 7:00-9:00 pm

Imagining BIPOC Futurisms features short-format experimental films by Thirza Cuthand, Rah, Danielle Peers and Alice Sheppard. All three films will be available for flexible online viewing for 72 hours, starting at 7:00 pm on  September 23 until 7:00 pm on September 26. The link to watch the films will be released at the start of the event. Watch the films in your own time. In partnership with SACHA, Imagining BIPOC Futurisms shorts program is hosted as part of Hamilton Artists Inc.’s ongoing Screening Series, presented every summer between June and September.

This Online Screening and Workshop Series Presented in Partnership with SACHA (Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area) SACHA is a fem­i­nist, non-prof­it, com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tion that pro­vides sup­ports to peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced sex­u­al­ized vio­lence at any point in their lives. They work to end vio­lence and oppres­sion through edu­ca­tion, advo­ca­cy, out­reach, coali­tion build­ing, com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships, and activism.

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Program screening time: 37:41 minutes

All films include Closed captioning.

Reclamation
Director: Thirza Cuthand

SuperNova
Director: Rah

Inclinations
Director: Danielle Peers, Alice Sheppard

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About the Films:

Reclamation
Thirza Cuthand, 2018, 11:00 minutes

Reclamation is a documentary-style imagining of a post-dystopic future in Canada after massive climate change, wars, pollution, and the after effects of the large scale colonial project which has now destroyed the land. When Indigenous people are left behind after a massive exodus by primarily privileged white settlers who have moved to Mars, the original inhabitants of this land cope by trying to restore and rehabilitate the beautiful planet they belong to.

Thirza Jean Cuthand was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Saskatoon. Since 1995 they have been making short experimental narrative videos and films about sexuality, madness, youth, love, and race, which have screened in festivals internationally.

SuperNova
Rah, 2019, 19:08 minutes

SuperNova is a game show parody that mimics the tropes of American Idol reality tv shows and consists of seven characters in which Rah performs. The characters perform in the galaxy Messier 82 and present their talent in front of a panel of judges; Sirius, Mira and Bellatrix. The talent show sets an ideal stage to critically examine race and ethnic performance. SuperNova is the first video in which all these characters simultaneously engage and coexist. SuperNova also serves as an entry into ethnifuturist discourse, scholarship and aesthetics and re-contextualizes historical markers of identity and presents them in the future to be deconstructed, re-evaluated and reconfigured.

Rah is an Iranian-Canadian video, photo and performance artist. Her work has been published and exhibited in galleries and museums internationally.

Inclinations
Danielle Peers and Alice Sheppard, 2019, 05:40 minutes

Inclinations began as a moment of ‘crip’ play. Alice Sheppard and Danielle Peers finding themselves on a 90-foot ramp on “social street”: the main entrance of the Kinesiology building at the University of Alberta. After a lifetime of climbing awkward, ugly ramps hidden away behind buildings with barely enough room for one chair user, this wide-open slope-scape sent us both literally somersaulting over the rails in our wheelchairs for nearly an hour.

Danielle Peers is a community organizer, an artist, and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta. They have made seven activist-oriented films, co-curated three art shows, and co-founded two arts collectives (KingCrip Productions and CRIPSiE).

Alice Sheppard is an emerging, award-winning choreographer, who creates movement that challenges conventional understandings of disabled and dancing bodies. Engaging with disability arts, culture and history, Alice attends to the complex intersections of disability, gender, and race by exploring the societal and cultural significance of difference.

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Workshops:

Join us for a two-part, online workshop series, which will accompany the screening program. Participants must be located in the Hamilton area in order to receive a personal art kit as part of the workshops. We are prioritizing the participation of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. The workshops are free to attend, but spots are limited! To register, please email Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Jasmine Mander, at community@theinc.ca by September 18, 2020. You must be available to attend both workshop sessions on September 23 and 30.

Workshop 1, taking place on September 23 from 7:00- 9:00 pm will provide an opportunity to watch the screening program and unpack the topics of BIPOC futurisms explored through the short films in a safe space setting.

Workshop 2, taking place on September 30 from 7:00-9:00 pm will build on the previous workshop and provide an opportunity to imagine BIPOC futurisms through art making. All participants will receive a personalized art kit for this workshop which will be used to draw, paint and write while participating in further conversations.

These workshops will be lead by Danielle Boissoneau, Coordinator - Diverse Communities Outreach Program, SACHA.

Danielle Boissoneau is Anishnaabekwe from the shorelines of the Great Lakes. Currently living in Hamilton, Ontario, she uses her skills and tools to create intentional space for healing and community building amongst BIPOC communities, prioritizing the experiences of queer, trans and 2spirit peoples, who survive the violence of racism, colonialism and sexual violence. Danielle is also a multi disciplinary artist who writes and performs her stories as a method for reclaiming her power.

About Diverse Communities Outreach Program

The Diverse Com­mu­ni­ties Out­reach Pro­gram offers sup­port­ive pro­gram­ming for sur­vivors of sex­u­al vio­lence from Hamilton’s diverse racial and cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ties, in par­tic­u­lar women who are Black, Indige­nous, Queer, Trans, Peo­ple of Colour.

“We have an inter­sec­tion­al fem­i­nist analy­sis. We believe that to end sex­u­al vio­lence, we must end all forms of oppression."

"Sex­u­al vio­lence is an expres­sion of social inequal­i­ty. Sex­u­al assault takes place with­in a social, polit­i­cal, cul­tur­al and eco­nom­ic con­text of his­tor­i­cal dis­ad­van­tage and oppres­sion. We know that those from mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties such as Indige­nous folks, peo­ple liv­ing with dis­abil­i­ties, peo­ple of colour, immi­grant and refugees, LGBQT2S folks, and oth­er mar­gin­al­ized groups are at an increased risk of expe­ri­enc­ing sex­u­al vio­lence. Because of this, our ser­vices need to be acces­si­ble to every­one, espe­cial­ly the most marginalized.”

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The Inc.’s Screening Series is made possible through project support by the Canada Council for the Arts, Incite Foundation and Hamilton Community Foundation. Hamilton Artists Inc. would like to thank Vtape for sponsoring this collection of short films to share with audiences in Hamilton and the surrounding area.